Mapping alteration mineral zones and lithological units in Antarctic regions using spectral bands of ASTER remote sensing data

• Main Authors: Pour, A. B., Hashim, M., Park, Y., Hong, J. K.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: unknown
• Published: Taylor and Francis Ltd. 2017
• Subjects: G70.39-70.6 Remote sensing; Antarctic; Antarctic Peninsula; Graham Land; Oscar II; Oscar II Coast; Antarc*; Antarctica
• Online Access: http://eprints.utm.my/77196/; https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85022217872&doi=10.1080%2f10106049.2017.1347207&partnerID=40&md5=60cff16a4d41d9358cd524533431f9bf

Geological mapping is one of the primary tasks of remote sensing. Remote sensing applications are especially useful when extreme environmental conditions inhibit direct survey such as in Antarctica. In this investigation, a satellite-based remote sensing approach was used for mapping alteration mineral zones and lithological units using Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data in the Oscar II coast area, north-eastern Graham Land, Antarctic Peninsula. Specialized band ratios and band combinations were developed using visible and near infrared, shortwave infrared (SWIR) and thermal infrared spectral bands of ASTER for detecting alteration mineral assemblages and lithological units in Antarctic environments. Constrained Energy Minimization, Orthogonal Subspace Projection and Adaptive Coherence Estimator algorithms were tested to ASTER SWIR bands for detecting sub-pixels’ abundance of spectral features related to muscovite, kaolinite, illite, montmorillonite, epidote, chlorite and biotite. Results indicate valuable applicability of ASTER data for Antarctic geological mapping.