Geological mapping using ASTER satellite imagery within the Curnamona Province.
Created: 29 Oct 2024 Revised: 07 Dec 2024

The availability of satellite-borne ASTER data, which is intrinsically "geologically-tuned" over most of the Earth's land surface, has introduced the possibility of generating seamless geological map products that can usefully span across...

The availability of satellite-borne ASTER data, which is intrinsically "geologically-tuned" over most of the Earth's land surface, has introduced the possibility of generating seamless geological map products that can usefully span across geological provinces, including those of Australia. This opportunity was tested for the Curnamona Province, which hosts the world-class Broken Hill Pb-Zn-Ag deposit, and which spans some 30+ ASTER scenes covering 52,000 square km. Seamless mineralogical maps were generated for the AlOH, MgOH / carbonate and quartz mineral groups, as described in the current report, which follows an earlier report (Hewson et al., 2003) that detailed the technical and processing issues involved in the mosaicing of the ASTER shortwave infrared (SWIR) radiance and surface emissivity data used in the generation of these mineralogical image products. Investigations into ASTER's ability to map iron oxide / iron silicate content by using its visible-near infrared bands (VNIR) were also undertaken in the presently reported study. Extraction of the geological information held in the ASTER data has involved the application of normalised band combinations which target specific spectral features within the SWIR and thermal infrared (TIR) wavelength regions, and which were applied to the Level 1B SWIR crosstalk - corrected radiance at sensor and Level 2 TIR surface emissivity data. The maps so generated depict abundances of mineral groups associated with the composition of either geological units, regolith material or possible overprinted alteration. Some success was achieved in generating image products related to AlOH composition, which carry possible implications for defining extent of alteration, however the results proved qualitative, particularly in comparison to hyperspectral HyMap and field results. Generating ferrous iron silicate abundance maps also proved possible, and this enabled discrimination between MgOH and carbonate-rich units in some areas of the Curnamona Province. Significant issues related to residual SWIR crosstalk effects or band "leakage" were observed, especially in areas of low albedo, which gave rise to possible false anomalies. When compared with HyMap, the limited spatial and spectral precision also limits the mineralogical definition application of ASTER data. Notwithstanding these calibration and resolution issues, it has been demonstrated that ASTER data provides additional mineralogical/geological information within the Curnamona Province. Examples of several mineral anomalies associated with geology or regolith not previously mapped within the Olary Domain - Curnamona Province appear to have been identified, and these invite further follow-up field investigations.

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About this record

Record No mesac20907
Topic Geoscientific Information
Type of Resource Document
Category Type
Document Type Departmental Publication - Other
Contributor CSIRO Exploration and Mining;PIRSA. Geological Survey Branch;Sumiko Consultants Co.
Sponsor
Tenement
Tenement Holder
Operator
Geological Province Curnamona Province
Mine Name
Stratigraphy
Commodity
    Notes
    Geographic Locality: Olary;Broken Hill;Mount Gipps;Billeroo Hill;Weekeroo Inlier;Outalpa Hill;Cathedral Rock;Moolooleuloo Inlier;Mundi Mundi Fault
    Doc No: Env 10727

    Geographic Locality: Olary;Broken Hill;Mount Gipps;Billeroo Hill;Weekeroo Inlier;Outalpa Hill;Cathedral Rock;Moolooleuloo Inlier;Mundi Mundi Fault Doc No: Env 10727

    Language English
    Metadata Standard ISO 19115-3

    Citations

    Use constraints License
    License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
    Persistent identifier https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac20907
    Citation Hewson, R.;Cudahy, T.;Burtt, A.;Ueda, K.;Mauger, A. Geological mapping using ASTER satellite imagery within the Curnamona Province. Departmental Publication - Other
    https://pid.sarig.sa.gov.au/document/mesac20907

    Technical information

    Status
    Maintenance and Update Frequency
    Geographic Reference GDA2020 (EPSG:7844)
    Geo bounding box {"type":"Polygon","coordinates":[[[138,-33],[141,-33],[141,-31],[138,-31],[138,-33]]]}
    Purpose
    
                        
                        
    
                        
                      
    Lineage