Application of Landsat-8 and ASTER satellite remote sensing data for porphyry copper exploration: a case study from Shahr-e-Babak,Kerman, south of Iran

Abstract

The Shahr-e-Babak region located in the Kerman metallogenic belt is one of the high potential segments of Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic arc for porphyry copper and epithermal gold mineralization in the south of Iran. This high potential zone encompasses several porphyry copper deposits under exploitation, development and exploration stages. The aim of this study is to evaluate Landsat-8 data and comparison with the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer data-sets for mapping hydrothermal alteration zones related to Cenozoic magmatic intrusions in Shahr-e-Babak region. Previous studies have proven the robust application of ASTER in lithological mapping and mineral exploration; nonetheless, the Landsat-8 data have high capability to map and detect hydrothermal alteration zones associated with porphyry copper and epithermal gold mineralization. In this investigation, several band combinations and multiplications, developed selective principal component analysis and image transformations were developed for discriminating hydrothermal alteration zones associated with porphyry copper mineralization using Landsat-8 data.     

Alteration Mapping for Porphyry Copper Exploration Using ASTER and QuickBird Multispectral Images,Sonajeel Prospect,NW Iran

The Sonajeel prospect is located in the Arasbaran belt which is one of the significant copper mineralization belts in NW Iran. There are mostly Eocene volcano-sedimentary rocks and Post Eocene intrusive units which are the source for mineralization in the area. ASTER multispectral images were used for delineation of alteration zones as a key feature of porphyry copper mineralization. Due to the need for geometric correction and ortho-rectification of the ASTER images, a high resolution QuickBird image with pixel width of about 60 cm (in PAN) was employed as a reference image in order to boost the rectification process. Ortho-rectification has been done by using digital elevation model which is created by topographic map in scale 1:1000. Potassic alteration as one of the essential alteration types in porphyry copper deposits, distributed mostly in the north of the Sonajeel prospect that determined by Thermal infrared bands processing. Phyllic and argillic alteration zones detected by creating relative absorption band-depth grids which are comparable to field observations. Moreover, silica rich areas which are remnants of hydrothermal circulation and form at the top of porphyry copper systems were detected for recognition of epithermal deposits (with 1 km distance from Sonajeel porphyry system). Finally, Remote Sensing results were compared by field evidences especially for determination of an epithermal system. Most parts of the alteration zones were observed of the surface confirmed with the remote sensing alteration (in average about 75% matched fittingly), displayed concentrations anomalous in the NE and NW parts of the studied area.     

Utilization of ASTER Data and Spectral Analysis to Discriminate Hydrothermally Altered Areas over Rabor,South of Kerman,Iran

This study attempts to evaluate the capability of the advanced spaceborne thermal emission and reflection radiometer (ASTER) and the advantages of ground knowledge for generating maps portraying hydrothermally altered areas in relation to porphyry copper deposits. The northern part of the Rabor area in the Urumieh–Dokhtar magmatic belt, containing some copper mineralization occurrences, was investigated as a case study. Several image processing techniques, namely minimum noise fraction, pixel purity index, and n-dimensional visualization, contributed to the extraction of pure pixels as endmembers. The spectra of some rock samples collected around the well-known altered zones of the study area were resampled to ASTER bands and used to identify the image-extracted endmembers. Spectral analysis of the endmembers and ground sample spectra led to the identification of three types of hydrothermal alterations: (1) phyllic, (2) propylitic, and (3) argillic. The identified endmembers were used as the specified targets for mapping hydrothermal alteration zones over the study area by using a mixture tuned match filtering algorithm. Results demonstrate that high abundances within pixels correspond closely to the altered areas. Field observations, thin section, and X-ray diffraction of collected samples confirmed the accuracy of the alteration maps prepared by the application of the proposed methods. The final classified hydrothermal alteration maps showed the overall accuracy and kappa coefficient values of 85.41 and 0.72%, respectively. These results ascertain that ASTER data that use suitable image processing techniques appear consistent in mapping out the distribution of hydrothermally altered areas. In addition, ground knowledge data can act as a valuable information source to increase the image classification accuracy and reliability.     

西藏多不杂斑岩铜矿ASTER遥感蚀变异常特征

采用ASTER数据,利用"掩模+定向主成分分析"方法提取了多不杂斑岩铜矿的遥感蚀变异常。对蚀变异常的特征、蚀变异常与地面蚀变对应关系、蚀变异常与已知矿体的关系等几个方面进行了初步探讨,认为利用ASTER数据提取的蚀变异常效果较好,为西藏自治区矿产资源潜力评价多龙铜矿预测工作区的最小预测区圈定提供了遥感依据。     

Remote sensing of Carhuarazo volcanic complex using ASTER imagery in Southern Peru to detect alteration zones and volcanic structures – a combined approach of image processing in ENVI and ArcGIS/ArcScene

A combined approach to detect hydrothermal alteration zones and their mineral distribution is proposed for a relatively remote area around the Carhuarazo volcanic complex in southern Peru encompassing 2222 km². In this region, tertiary volcanic structures associated with hydrothermal alteration are well known to host epithermal ore deposits. We make an attempt to detect and to quantify alteration minerals based on spectral analysis using ASTER reflectance data product provided by LP-DAAC. Besides commonly used ratio images, mineral indices (MI) and relative band depth images (RBD), we also extracted endmember spectra using Pixel-Purity-Processing preceded by minimum noise fraction transformation. These spectra are thought to represent the spectrally purest pixel of the image and show the typical absorption features of the main constituents. Based on this assumption, we used different spectral analysis methods in order to extract the most important alteration minerals for such an environment. These minerals were then used for matched filter processing in areas showing high values in MIs and RBDs. Using this method, we detected and mapped argillic alteration and variations in the distribution of important minerals like alunite, kaolinite or nacrite. There were no indications for the presence of propilitization at ASTER spatial resolutions. Our method can be applied easily to any ASTER scene and provides information about the intensity of alteration and the character of alteration zones. The intensity is highest in the centre of the Carhuarazo volcanic complex and is mostly argillic with a high content of alunite, dickite and other clay minerals.     

A general framework of TOPSIS method for integration of airborne geophysics,satellite imagery,geochemical and geological data

This work presents the promising application of three variants of TOPSIS method (namely the conventional, adjusted and modified versions) as a straightforward knowledge-driven technique in multi criteria decision making processes for data fusion of a broad exploratory geo-dataset in mineral potential/prospectivity mapping. The method is implemented to airborne geophysical data (e.g. potassium radiometry, aeromagnetic and frequency domain electromagnetic data), surface geological layers (fault and host rock zones), extracted alteration layers from remote sensing satellite imagery data, and five evidential attributes from stream sediment geochemical data. The central Iranian volcanic-sedimentary belt in Kerman province at the SE of Iran that is embedded in the Urumieh–Dokhtar Magmatic Assemblage arc (UDMA) is chosen to integrate broad evidential layers in the region of prospect. The studied area has high potential of ore mineral occurrences especially porphyry copper/molybdenum and the generated mineral potential maps aim to outline new prospect zones for further investigation in future. Two evidential layers of the downward continued aeromagnetic data and its analytic signal filter are prepared to be incorporated in fusion process as geophysical plausible footprints of the porphyry type mineralization. The low values of the apparent resistivity layer calculated from the airborne frequency domain electromagnetic data are also used as an electrical criterion in this investigation. Four remote sensing evidential layers of argillic, phyllic, propylitic and hydroxyl alterations were extracted from ASTER images in order to map the altered areas associated with porphyry type deposits, whilst the ETM+ satellite imagery data were used as well to map iron oxide layer. Since potassium alteration is generally the mainstay of porphyry ore mineralization, the airborne potassium radiometry data was used. The geochemical layers of Cu/B/Pb/Zn elements and the first component of PCA analysis were considered as powerful traces to prepare final maps. The conventional, adjusted and modified variants of the TOPSIS method produced three mineral potential maps, in which the outputs indicate adequately matching of high potential zones with previous working and active mines in the region.     

Characterizing hydrothermal alteration zones in Hamama area in the central Eastern Desert of Egypt by remotely sensed data

Abstract

Remote sensing techniques provide meaningful information to mineral exploration by identifying the hydrothermally altered minerals and the fracture/fault systems. In this article, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data were processed to detect the hydrothermal alteration zones in Hamama area in the central part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt. Band ratios and principal component analyses successfully revealed the extent and the geometry of the hydrothermal alteration zones that trend in an NE–SW direction. Matching pixel spectrum derived from Minimum Noise Fraction, Pixel Purity Index, and n-dimensional visualization with reference spectra allowed characterizing key hydrothermal alteration minerals, including chlorite, kaolinite-smectite, muscovite, and haematite, in a successive alteration pattern. Field investigations and X-Ray Diffraction analysis validated the results revealed by ASTER data. In addition, the present prospects of significant gold and massive sulphide mineralizations are consistent with the detected hydrothermal alteration zone.     

ASTER Data Analysis for Mineral Potential Mapping Around Sawar-Malpura Area, Central Rajasthan

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) SWIR bands are used in identification of alteration zones which have developed during hydrothermal activity. Among the available methods of hyperspectral data analysis, PCA and RBD techniques are found to be useful in delineation of clay alteration and iron oxide zones. ASTER data analysis by PCA and RBD of (B5+B7)/B6 shows delineation of two distinct alteration zones with characteristic mineral assemblages viz. propylitic zone (chlorite, epidote, montmorillonite and calcite) and phyllic zone (illite, kaolinite, white mica and quartz). Iron oxide rich zones (gossans) have been delineated using ASTER band ratio technique (B2/B1). Geochemical dispersion of soil samples shows that Pb and Zn concentration is higher in phyllic and propylitic zones around Sawar and Malpura area respectively. Thus, ASTER data shows the potential in discrimination of metasedimentary rocks and delineation of alteration zones for targeting base metals around Sawar-Malpura area in central Rajasthan.     

Identification of hydrothermal alteration minerals associated with geothermal system using ASTER and Hyperion satellite data: a case study from Yankari Park,NE Nigeria

Concealed and fossilized geothermal systems are not characterized by obvious surface manifestations like hotsprings and fumaroles, therefore, could not be easily identifiable using conventional techniques. In this investigation, the applicability of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Hyperion data-sets were evaluated in discriminating hydrothermal alteration minerals associated with geothermal systems as a proxy in identifying subtle Geothermal systems at Yankari Park, Nigeria. Feature-oriented principal component selection, spectral angle mapper, linear spectral unmixing were applied to ASTER data based on spectral characteristics of hydrothermal alteration key minerals for a systematic selective extraction of the information of interest. Analytical imaging and geophysics-developed processing methods were applied to Hyperion data for mapping iron oxide/hydroxide minerals and clay mineral assemblages in hydrothermal alteration zones. The results indicate that ASTER and Hyperion could be complemented for reconnaissance stage of targeting subtle alteration mineral assemblages associated with geothermal systems.     

陆地卫星TM及JERS-1卫星SAR数据用于西藏东部斑岩铜矿勘查

本文介绍了利用陆地卫星TM及JERS-1卫星SAR数据在西藏东部地区进行斑岩铜矿勘查项目的早期研究成果。文中通过对现有地质资料的分析认为,研究区内的矿化作用除受三叠系火山岩建造控制外,还与喜山期的中酸性侵入体有关。而陆地卫星TM图像的解译结果表明,区内的主要矿床几乎都分布在与三叠纪古火山机构相关的环形构造内。为了增强和提取出与斑岩铜矿化有关的蚀变岩信息,研究中采用了对数残差、矿物指数和HSI变换等方法对陆地卫星TM及JERS-1卫星SAR数据进行了处理与分析,所提取出的蚀变信息与目视解译所发现的环形构造位置极为吻合。实践证明,遥感图像上的环形影像及蚀变岩石信息对矿产勘查有指示价值。     

Synergetic use of remote sensing and geophysical data for exploration of porphyry copper deposits, using GIS

Darrehzar porphyry copper deposit is situated in the Urumieh-Dokhtar magmatic assemblage of central Iran. In this paper, the integration of multiple geodata sets has been carried out using geographic information system for mapping lithology or hydrothermally altered rocks and also in selecting the best discriminating data elements for exploration of porphyry copper deposits located in areas with similar geological setting and climatic conditions. Principal component analysis is found useful for reducing large data sets into a few principal components. The integration of various geophysical data with SPOT image data through GIS has shown that the hydrothermal alteration and lithology can be mapped with more efficiency.     

基于ASTER影像的蚀变异常提取方法研究——以赞比亚谦比希铜矿床地区为例

基于赞比亚谦比希(Chambishi)铜矿带中的多种蚀变矿物及其在ASTER影像VNIR - SWIR谱带的特征光谱分析,采用相对波段吸收深度(Relative absorption- Band Depth,RBD)和波段比值的方法对蚀变信息进行增强处理.用波段比值ASTER 2/ASTER 1和ASTER 3的RBD...     

结合PCA、多尺度分割及SVM的ASTER遥感蚀变信息提取

为了利用遥感影像进行更加精确的找矿预测,本文选择新疆东天山尾亚地区ASTER数据进行矿化蚀变信息提取方法研究。为了提高信息提取精度,本文提出了结合主成分分析(PCA)、多尺度分割和支持向量机(SVM)的遥感矿化蚀变信息提取方法。首先,分析ASTER数据的特征,选取各矿化蚀变信息的特征波段,对组合波段进行主成分分析,获得主分量图像;然后,对各主分量图像进行多尺度分割,并获得分割之后的均值图像;接着,提取训练样本,利用SVM对训练样本进行训练,采用试验方法求得最优核参数和松弛变量,构造最优SVM模型;最后,运用最优SVM模型完成矿化蚀变信息的提取。进行主成分分析时,铁染蚀变信息选择Band1、2、3、4组合,Al-OH基团蚀变信息选择Band 1、4、6、7组合,OH和CO32-基团蚀变信息采用Band 1、2、8、9组合。在运行SVM时采用了序列最小优化算法(SMO)进行求解,速度提高了12%。实验结果表明,与波段比值法、主成分分析法及基于光谱角和SVM的方法等3种方法相比,本文方法提取铁染蚀变信息、Al-OH基团蚀变信息及OH和CO32-基团蚀变信息的总体精度可达到87.98%、 90.01%及88.93%,Kappa系数分别为0.8011、0.8134及0.8023,与成矿区带、已知矿点和已有不同地质背景成矿特征相关性较好。     

Evaluating the effect of spatial subsetting on subpixel unmixing methodology applied to ASTER over a hydrothermally altered terrain

This study investigates the effect of spatial subsets of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection radiometer (ASTER) L1B visible-near infrared and short wave-infrared (VNIR-SWIR) data on matched filtering results at the central part of Kerman magmatic arc, where abundant porphyry copper deposits exist. The matched filtering (MF) procedure was run separately at sites containing hydrothermal minerals such as sericite, kaolinite, chlorite, and jarosite to map the abundances of these minerals on spatial subsets containing 100, 75, 50, and 25 percent of the original scene. Results were evaluated by comparing the matched filtering scores with the mineral abundances obtained by semi-quantitative XRD analysis of corresponding field samples. It was concluded that MF method should be applied to the whole scene prior to any data subsetting.     

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

Abstract

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.     

大型斑岩铜矿的遥感信息探讨

遥感影像解译的不同规模级别的线性构造、不同类型的环形构造和线-环组合类型以及色彩异常影像是寻找斑岩铜矿,特别是大型斑岩铜矿床最有用的遥感标志。1.砂岩铜矿的规模直接与不同规模不同级别的线性构造相联系区域性斑岩铜矿带直接受大型区域线性构造带和它们的汇聚格局控制,这种区域线性构造带多为区域压性壳断裂或超壳断裂,在遥感图像上常显示为浅色带,其长度超过100km,被称为主干边缘线性构造带(处于隆起单元向坳陷单元过渡部位,靠近隆起单元一侧).此外,一系列次级线性构造往往与主干边缘线性构造成一定角度相交,共同形成一种贯通性构造,在遥感图像上也常显示为浅色线;并直接控制斑岩铜矿田的分布和矿床的定位,被称为横向线性构造,长度一般1km-100km,主要包括三种类型(略),均显示张性特征。事实上,与斑岩铜矿有关的蚀变矿化直接受控于更低级别的线性构造(断裂和裂隙),它们常构成统一的环状和放射状断裂、裂隙系统。2.不同组合的多层环形影像是斑岩铜矿的不同呈矿环块构造的映像几乎所有的斑岩铜矿都与环块构造有关,特别是Ⅲ或Ⅳ级环块(直径50km-500km,包括环隆、环陷及褶皱-断裂环块等).它们控制了斑岩铜矿的定位。     

Selecting optimum base wavelet for extracting spectral alteration features associated with porphyry copper mineralization using hyperspectral images

Extracting a set of meaningful spectral features could enhance the classification performance. This is particularly important in hyperspectral images where the dataset are very large and time consuming to process. Wavelet transform as a powerful decomposition tool in both low and high frequency components could play an essential role in extracting spectral features of target minerals. Selecting the optimum base wavelet is an important step in wavelet transform. In this research, two criteria to select optimum base wavelet were implemented on three wavelet series including Daubechie (db), symlet (sym) and coiflet (coif). Energy criterion involves entropy factor and energy-to-Shannon entropy ratio while matching shape criterion operates according to correlation coefficients. High ranking base wavelets in both energy and shape criteria, coif1, db3 and db7, are recommended to be utilized in hyperspectral image classification. Neural Network technique was used for classification and trained by means of mineral spectral features related to typical porphyry copper deposits. Non-Linear wavelet feature extraction was employed to select the efficient features as input data. The study area covered by Hyperion data contains two well-known porphyry copper deposits, Darrehzar and Sarcheshmeh, located in the Iranian copper belt. Based on classification error matrix, it is concluded that db7 through 12 selected features exhibits the maximum consistency with the field measured data and can be recommended as an appropriate base wavelet for detecting porphyry copper deposits.     

Timing of erosion and satellite data: A multi-resolution approach to soil erosion risk mapping

Erosion reduces soil productivity and causes negative downstream impacts. Erosion processes occur on areas with erodible soils and sloping terrain when high-intensity rainfall coincides with limited vegetation cover. Timing of erosion events has implications on the selection of satellite imagery, used to describe spatial patterns of protective vegetation cover. This study proposes a method for erosion risk mapping with multi-temporal and multi-resolution satellite data. The specific objectives of the study are: (1) to determine when during the year erosion risk is highest using coarse-resolution data, and (2) to assess the optimal timing of available medium-resolution images to spatially represent vegetation cover during the high erosion risk period. Analyses were performed for a 100-km² pasture area in the Brazilian Cerrados. The first objective was studied by qualitatively comparing three-hourly TRMM rainfall estimates with MODIS NDVI time series for one full year (August 2002–August 2003). November and December were identified as the months with highest erosion risk. The second objective was examined with a time series of six available ASTER images acquired in the same year. Persistent cloud cover limited image acquisition during high erosion risk periods. For each ASTER image the NDVI was calculated and classified into five equally sized classes. Low NDVI was related to high erosion risk and vice versa. A DEM was used to set approximately flat zones to very low erosion risk. The six resulting risk maps were compared with erosion features, visually interpreted from a fine-resolution QuickBird image. Results from the October ASTER image gave highest accuracy (84%), showing that erosion risk mapping in the Brazilian Cerrados can best be performed with images acquired shortly before the first erosion events. The presented approach that uses coarse-resolution temporal data for determining erosion periods and medium-resolution data for effective erosion risk mapping is fast and straightforward. It shows good potential for successful application in other areas with high spatial and temporal variability of vegetation cover.     

Spectral discrimination of hydrothermally altered materials using ASTER short-wave infrared bands: Evaluation in a tropical savannah environment

ASTER short-wave infrared bands were used to investigate the spectral discrimination of hydrothermally altered materials, based on the presence of minerals with diagnostic spectral features in wavelengths around 2200 nm (e.g. kaolinite and K-micas). Due to the presence of widespread albitized-greisenized materials, the Serra do Mendes granitoid, located in area of tropical savannah environment in Central Brazil, was selected for this study. The Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) technique was used as an attempt to detect the presence of hydroxyl-bearing minerals in the domain of the hydrothermally altered materials. Results indicated that areas of altered materials were discriminated from the surrounding mainly due to the high overall reflectance of the whitish lithosols in these areas. The detection of hydroxyl-bearing minerals was blurred by the presence of a sparse grass cover in the alteration zone, which caused a slight increase in the SAM classification angles. As a consequence, the remote detection of hydroxyl-bearing minerals was restricted to a small number of pixels from barren areas. Results indicate that, for the environmental conditions of the study area, ASTER data are more efficacious for spectral characterization of rock–soil-vegetation associations than for the detection of alteration-derived minerals.