Digital maps of hydrothermal alteration type, key mineral groups, and green vegetation of the western United States derived from automated analysis of ASTER satellite data
Dates
Publication Date
2016-04-06
Citation
Rockwell, B.W., and Bonham, L.C., 2017, Digital maps of hydrothermal alteration type, key mineral groups, and green vegetation of the western United States derived from automated analysis of ASTER satellite data: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7CR5RK7.
Summary
Mineral groups identified through automated analysis of remote sensing data acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) were used to generate a map showing the type and spatial distribution of hydrothermal alteration, other exposed mineral groups, and green vegetation across the western conterminous United States. Boolean algebra was used to combine mineral groups identified through analysis of visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared ASTER data into attributed alteration types and mineral classes based on common mineralogical definitions of such types and the minerals present within the mineral groups. Alteration types modeled in this way can be stratified relative to acid producing [...]
Summary
Mineral groups identified through automated analysis of remote sensing data acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) were used to generate a map showing the type and spatial distribution of hydrothermal alteration, other exposed mineral groups, and green vegetation across the western conterminous United States. Boolean algebra was used to combine mineral groups identified through analysis of visible, near-infrared, and shortwave-infrared ASTER data into attributed alteration types and mineral classes based on common mineralogical definitions of such types and the minerals present within the mineral groups. Alteration types modeled in this way can be stratified relative to acid producing and neutralizing potential to aid in geoenvironmental watershed studies. This mapping was performed in support of multidisciplinary studies involving the predictive modeling of mineral deposit occurrence and geochemical environments at watershed to regional scales. These studies seek to determine the relative effects of mining and non-anthropogenic hydrothermal alteration on watershed surface water geochemistry and faunal populations. The presence or absence of hydrothermally-altered rocks and (or) specific mineral groups can be used to model the favorability of occurrence of certain types of mineral deposits, and aid in the delineation of permissive tracts for these deposits. These data were used as a data source for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Sagebrush Mineral-Resource Assessment (SaMiRA). The maps are in ERDAS Imagine (.img) format and have been attributed by pixel value with material identification data that can be queried in most image processing and GIS software packages. Three files are included with each map product: a file with .img extension contains thematic image attributes and geographic projection data, a file with .ige extension contains the raster data, and a file with .rrd extension includes pyramid data for fast display.
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Related External Resources
Type: Method
Description and Validation of an Automated Methodology for Mapping Mineralogy, Vegetation, and Hydrothermal Alteration Type from ASTER Satellite Imagery with Examples from the San Juan Mountains, Colorado
