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CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
150
CHAPTER – 6
HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING
USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND
RATIO TECHNIQUES
6.1 INTRODUCTION
Hydrothermal alteration zones mapping is one of the most common applications
of remote sensing for mineral exploration in which the presence of altered rocks is the
main indicator of the possible ore deposit (Sabins, 1999; Rajesh, 2004). Many techniques
have been developed to get significant performance and image quality enhancement of
specific features (Achalakul and Taylor 2000; Novak and Soulakellis, 2000; Ferrier et al.,
2002; Moghtaderi et al., 2007; Tommaso and Rubinstein, 2007). Principal Component
Analysis (PCA) and band ratios are two examples of these techniques.
The use of PCA and band ratios during the early stages of mineral exploration has
been very successful in pointing to hydrothermally altered rocks. Many researchers have
proposed that PCA is an effective approach to delineate anomalous concentrations (e.g.
Chica-Olmo and Abarca, 2000; Tangestani and Moore, 2000; Ranjbar et al., 2004).
Initially PCA and band ratios were applied to different Landsat sensors by many
researchers in order to study the alteration zones. Band ratio images are generated from
bands in which specific geological materials have either relatively high or relatively low
total reflectance (Abdelsalam et al., 2000b). The band ratio technique is well proven to
identify geological materials through the detection of diagnostic absorption bands of the
component materials (Vincent, 1997). It has been used successfully since the advent of
CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
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multispectral scanners in 1970. Science 2000 ASTER data enable alteration zones to be
identified before field work is undertaken.
Both ASTER and ETM+ data are suitable for mapping the altered rocks, but with
ETM+ data it is less effective comparing with the ASTER data because of its limited
spectral resolution. ASTER image is more suitable to map silica alteration because of its
5 thermal bands as compared to the single band of ETM+. The main objective of this
chapter to map the hydrothermal alteration zones in north east of Hajjah using PCA and
band ratios techniques.
6.2 Principal Component Analysis (PCA)
PCA, which is also called as Principal Component Transformation (PCT), is an
image processing technique which transforms the original remotely sensed data set into a
substantially smaller and easier to interpret set of uncorrelated variables that represent
most of the information present in the original data set (Fig. 6.1) (Jensen, 2005). The
main objective of PCA is to remove redundancy in multispectral data and extract new
information. It builds up a new set of axes orthogonal to each other (i.e. non-correlated
data) (Gupta, 2003), and can be performed on as many spectral bands as possible. PCA is
also widely used for mapping of alteration in metallogenic provinces (Abrams et al.,
1983; Kaufman, 1988; Loughlin, 1991; Bennett et al., 1993; Tangestani and Moore,
2001; 2002; Crosta et al., 2003; Ranjbar et al., 2004; Zhang et al., 2007). By applying
PCA a new data set with fewer variables is created (Lillesand and Kiefer, 2000). Crosta
technique is known as a feature of oriented principal component selection; it indicates
where the materials are represented as bright or dark pixels in the PC (Ranjbar et al.,
2004).
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The idea of applying PCA to derive mineral abundance maps using high spectral
resolution data was proposed by Crosta et al. (1996) and Prado and Crosta (1997). The
PC1 is generally the weighted average of all data and represents albedo and topographic
effects found in the scene (Drury, 1993; Ranjbar et al., 2004). The PC1 contains the
largest percentage of data variance and the PC2 contains the second largest data variance,
and it continuous like that. The last PC appears noisy because it contains very little
variance, much of which is due to noise in the original spectral data or uncertainty in the
data. It is possible to combine any three of different PCs in R-G-B to create a colour
image (Sabins, 1997).
A limitation of PCA is the gray-tone statistics of a PC image which are highly
scene dependent and can not be extrapolated to other scenes. Further, geologic
interpretation of PC image also requires great care as the surface information dominates
the variation (Gupta, 2003). In some cases different materials are enhanced with same
brightness as for example, in the study area vegetation cover and altered clays are
enhanced with the same brightness.
PCA technique was applied to VNIR and SWIR bands of ASTER (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,
7, 8 and 9) and ETM+ (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7) imagery using ERDAS Imagine 9.1 model
(Fig. 6.2).
CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
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Fig. 6.1 Diagram showing principal component transformation technique. The creation of principal component by shifting and rotating the coordinate system a) scattering of two original highly correlated variables x1 and x2 with means µ 1 and µ 2. b) The new coordinate system x′′′′ found by shifting the original x axis system. c) the principal components (PC1-PC2) are the new coordinate system by rotating the shifted axis system x′′′′ about the point (µ 1, µ 2) (Jensen, 2005).
Fig. 6.2 ERDAS model which was used in PCA of the study area
CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
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6.2.1 Principal Component Analysis of Landsat-7 ETM+
PCA of ETM+ data is shown in Table 6.1. The PC1 contains the largest amount
(93.817%) of total variance of six bands, which decreases until it reaches 0.108 % for PC
7. PC1 has positive loadings from all bands (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7); with the highest loading
is in band 5 (0.621) and band 7 (0.575). The other components showed decreasing
variance caused by differences between spectral regions and individual bands.
PC1 does not contain spectral feature relevant to this analysis as it is a
combination of all bands (Fig. 6.3-PC1). It provides information mainly on albedo and
topographic effects. In the PC2, the spectral bands are separated into visible and infrared
bands with the negative sign for bands 1, 2, and 3 and positive sign for bands 4, 5, and 7.
This PC shows the contrast between the visible red and the near infrared (de Jong and van
der Meer, 2004).
PC2 contains 3.355% of the total variance of six bands. Vegetation cover, Amran
limestone, Kohlan sandstone and granitic rocks are enhanced in this component with
bright pixels. Akbra shale and quartz-graphite-biotite-sericitic schist are represented by
dark pixels (Fig. 6.3-PC2). The PC3, which contains 1.978% of the total variance of six
bands, has positive loading in band 7 (0.453) and low negative loading in band 4
(-0.875). In this component the vegetation cover is enhanced with dark pixels (Fig. 6.3-
PC3), because it has a higher reflectance in band 4 of ETM+ and lower reflection in band
3 (Fig. 4.1).
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Table 6.1 Principle Component Analysis of ETM+ data
In PC3, band 5 represents the negative loading and band 7 the positive loading so
that the altered clay minerals appear in this component as dark pixels. The PC4 contains
0.433 % of the total variance, and has positive loading in band 1 (0.690) and low positive
loading in band 3 (-0.467). This component shows areas with iron oxide as dark pixels
because they possess higher reflection in the red region of the spectrum and absorption in
the blue region (Fig. 6.3-PC4).
The PC5 explains 0.309% of the total variance, and has the highest positive
loading value in band 5 (0.550) and the lowest loading value in band 7 (-0.595). In this
component the hydroxyl bearing altered zones are seen as bright pixels (Fig. 6.4-PC5).
PC5 has higher loading of band 5 with positive sign and band 7 with negative sign so that
the hydroxyl bearing altered zones are enhanced with bright pixels. The spectral feature
of the clay minerals exhibits absorption feature in band 7 of ETM+, and higher
PC Band No. PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC7
Band 1 0.159 -0.363 -0.036 0.690 -0.304 -0.523
Band 2 0.250 -0.424 -0.145 0.268 -0.123 0.806
Band 3 0.410 -0.646 0.012 -0.467 0.362 -0.254
Band 4 0.196 0.145 -0.875 -0.241 -0.324 -0.111
Band 5 0.612 0.450 -0.085 0.336 0.550 0.004
Band 7 0.575 0.217 0.453 -0.250 -0.595 0.010
variance % 93.817 3.355 1.978 0.433 0.309 0.108
Cumulative variance %
93.817 97.173 99.151 99.583
99.892
100
CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
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reflectance in band 5 (Fig. 4.3). This explains the higher pixel values of the altered areas
in this PC. PC7 contains 0.108% of the total variance and has high positive and negative
loading in band 2 (0.806) and band 1 (-0.523), respectively. In this component the
features are not clear probably due to the noise (Fig. 6.4-PC7). The colour combination of
PC5, PC3 and PC2 as R-G-B, respectively highlights altered area represented by the red
color (Fig. 6.5).
As discussed in PC3 the vegetation cover is displayed with dark pixels, but after
inversing (inverse PC3) using the following equation it displays the vegetation cover with
bright pixels (Fig. 6.6).
)1.6()7(453.0)5(085.0
)4(875.0)3(012.0)2(145.0)1(036.03
bandband
bandbandbandbandPC
−++−+=
CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
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Fig. 6.3 PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4 of ETM+ of the study area
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Fig. 6.5 Band color combination of ETM+ PC (5-3-2) as R-G-B of the study area
Fig. 6.6 Result of inversing PC3 of ETM+ of the study area
Fig. 6.4 PC5 and PC7 of ETM+ of the study area
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6.2.2 Principal Component Analysis of ASTER data
PCA of subsystems VNIR and SWIR bands (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9) of ASTER
data is shown in Table 6.2. The PC1 explains the largest amount (90.456%) of total
variance among nine bands. It has positive loadings of all bands with the highest loading
in band 2 (0.460). This component generally represents the albedo and the topographic
effects (Fig. 6.7-PC1). PC2 accounts for 6.081% of the total variance, and has the highest
positive loading in band 4 (0.314), and the negative loading in band 1 (-0.526). In this
component the sedimentary and granite rocks appear with bright pixels and the
Precambrian basement rocks with the dark pixels (Fig. 6.7-PC2). PC3 accounts for
1.655% of the total variance, and has the highest positive loading in band 3 (0.907) and
high negative loading in band 2 (-0.277).
Vegetation cover is enhanced in this component and appears as bright pixels, as
this PC3 has higher loading of band 3 with the positive value and lower loading with
negative value in band 2 (Fig. 6.7-PC3). The spectral feature of vegetation cover (Fig.
4.1), exhibits strong absorption feature at 0.45µ m and 0.65µ m and maximum
reflectance at 0.55µ m, and as such it appears in this component as bright pixel. The PC4
explains 0.585% of the total variance, and has the highest positive loading in band 4
(0.722) and negative loading in band 7 (-0.401). Hydroxyl bearing area is enhanced in
this component by bright pixels, as this PC has positive loading of band 4 and negative
loading of bands 7, 8 and 9 (Fig. 6.7-PC4). The spectral feature of different types of clay
minerals (Fig. 4.3) shows, that clay minerals exhibit higher reflectance in band 4 and
higher absorption in bands 7, 8 and 9.
CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
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PC5 explains 0.384% of the total variance, and has the highest positive loading in
band 6 (0.563) and negative loading in band 2 (-0.454). Iron oxides are enhanced in this
component with dark pixels, because this PC has higher loading in band 2 with negative
sign and positive loading in band 1 (Fig. 6.8-PC5). Iron oxide with bright pixels can be
seen when the PC5 has been inversed as mentioned in equation 6.1. PC6 explains 0.339%
of the total variance, and has the highest positive loading in band 6 (0.513) and negative
loading in band 1 (-0.475). Iron oxide is enhanced in this component with bright pixels
(Fig.6.8-PC6). PC7, PC8, and PC9 explain 0.248%, 0.126% and 0.125%, respectively of
the total variance. PC7, PC8 and PC9 are predominantly noisy images and do not
discriminate any features (Fig. 6.8-PC7, PC8; Fig. 6.9-PC9). Rocks rich in massive
sulfide materials are represented in PC9 by the bright pixels.
Table 6.2 Principle Component Analysis of ASTER data
PC Bands
PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6 PC7 PC8 PC9
Band1 0.425 -0.526 -0.206 0.193 0.438 -0.475 0.214 0.009 0.026
Band2 0.460 -0.461 -0.277 -0.109 -0.454 0.488 -0.207 -0.021 0.010
Band3 0.318 -0.177 0.907 -0.203 0.014 -0.003 -0.049 0.032 -0.011
Band4 0.337 0.314 0.123 0.722 -0.437 -0.149 0.125 -0.100 0.111
Band5 0.268 0.272 -0.081 0.066 0.203 -0.014 -0.487 0.748 0.072
Band6 0.320 0.302 -0.016 0.158 0.563 0.513 -0.021 -0.373 -0.248
Band7 0.289 0.302 -0.132 -0.401 -0.039 -0.376 -0.379 -0.472 0.371
Band8 0.297 0.273 -0.124 -0.345 -0.225 -0.243 0.276 0.117 -0.710
Band9 0.216 0.223 -0.061 -0.281 0.040 0.226 0.660 0.232 0.528
Variance % 90.456 6.081 1.655 0.585 0.384 0.339 0.248 0.126 0.125
Cumulative Variance %
90.456 96.537 98.192 98.777 99.161 99.501 99.749 99.875 100
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Fig. 6.7 PC1, PC2, PC3, PC4 of ASTER data of the study area
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Fig. 6.8 PC5, PC6, PC7, PC8 of ASTER data of the study area
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6.3 BAND RATIO
Band ratio is a multispectral image processing method and is a powerful
technique in remote sensing. It is prepared by dividing the DN of one band by the
corresponding DN in another band for each pixel and displaying the new DN value as
grayscale image (Sabins, 1987; 1997; 1999; Drury, 2001; Jensen, 2005). The band-ratio
of the images generated from orbital multi-spectral optical remote sensing data can
distinguish different rock units better than when only bands are used in band colour
combination (R-G-B) image (Abrams et al., 1983; Abrams, 1984; Jensen, 1996;
Abdelsalam et al., 2000a; b; Jensen, 2005). It highlights the spectral difference between
materials and reduces the variable effects of solar illumination and topography. Band
Fig. 6. 9 PC9 of ASTER data of the study area
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ratio is also helpful in enhancing the spectral information of images (Gupta, 2003), and
provide unique information not available in any single band which is useful for
discrimination of the surface materials (Satterwhite, 1984; Jensen, 2005). According to
Lillesand and Kiefer (2000) band ratio is often useful in discriminating subtle spectral
variations that is masked by the brightness variations in images from individual spectral
bands or standard colour compositions.
Band ratio technique has been widely utilized for visual interpretation and
thematic classification of multi-spectral remote sensing data, especially for geological
mapping. It has also been widely used to extract information about hydrothermal
alteration zones in the analysis of different satellite sensors data (Perry, 2004; Tommaso
and Rubinstein, 2007). The selection of bands for use in the development of band ratio
images depends on the spectral characteristics of the surface material to be analyzed and
the abundance of this material relative to the surrounding features of the surface
(Thurmond et al., 2006).
The band ratio is expressed mathematically as
lji
kjirji vB
vBBV
,,
,,,, = (6.2)
Where, BV rji ,, is the output ratio for the pixel at row ;i column j ; BV kji ,, is the
brightness value at the same location in band k, and BV lji ,, is the brightness value in
band l. Theoretically the range of BVrji ,, is from 0 to ∞, but actually, the range is from
1/255 to 255. Sometimes differences in brightness values from identical surface
materials may be obtained because of the topographic slope and aspect, shadows or
seasonal changes in sunlight illumination angle and intensity (Sabins, 1997; Jensen,
CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
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2005); these variations affect the viewer’s interpretations and may lead to misguided
results. In band ratio images, the black and white extremes represent the areas with the
greatest difference in the spectral reflectance of the two bands (Sabins, 1997). In the ratio
denominator will be greater than the numerator for the areas with the darkest signatures
of a band ratio image, and the brightest signatures will be for areas where the
denominator is smaller than the numerator (Sabins, 1987; 1997). Deciding which two
bands to ratio is not always a simple task (Jensen, 2005).
Band ratios are employed to map and identify altered rocks (Rowan and Kahle,
1982; Ford et al., 1990; Rowan and Mars, 2003; Hellman and Ramsey, 2004; Rowan et
al., 2006; Thurmond et al., 2006). It is also commonly used to detect the presence and to
identify the vegetation cover (Asrar, 1989; Peng, 1991; Kariuki et al., 2004; Zhang et al.,
2007). Ratio images can be combined to produce a colour image of any three
monochromatic ratio datasets as G-R-B (Sabins, 1997; 1999; Lillesand and Kiefer, 2000):
this technique provides more geological information and shows greater contrast between
rock units from as many bands in a single image and very easy for visual interpretation.
ASTER data have 14 bands by which more ratio images, more accurate results and
more lithology indicates can be derived (Zhang et al., 2007). Band ratios can enhance the
minerals response and reduce the vegetation response, but it does not work well in
regions that are densely covered by vegetation.
The band ratio 5/7 of ETM+, which is equivalent to the ratio 4/6 of ASTER data,
is used for mapping clay minerals (Sabins, 1997; 1999; Abdelsalam et al., 2000a). Clay
minerals normally exhibit high reflectance feature in band 5 of ETM+ and band 4 of
ASTER. The absorption feature is clear in band 7 of ETM+ and 6 in ASTER data (Fig.
4.3). The band ratio 5/7 ETM+ is sensitive to vegetation cover as it filters out the
vegetation cover band ratio 4/3 that has to be subtracted from it and both are then
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weighted to optimize the result. The other method to separate the vegetation cover is
inversing of the image.
Band ratio 3/1 of ETM+ is used for mapping iron minerals because they exhibit low
reflectance in band 1 and high reflectance in band 3 of ETM+ data (Fig, 4.4) (Sabins,
1999). This ratio is equivalent to the ratio 2/1 of ASTER data. Band ratio 4/5 of ETM+
emphasizes hydroxyl and silicate minerals rather than FeO-rich minerals (Abrams et al.,
1983; Abrams, 1984; Ruiz-Armenta and Prol-Ledesma, 1998). FeO-rich Alumino-silicate
minerals have reflectance feature in bands 3 and 5 and absorption feature at band 4. Band
ratio 5/1 of ETM+ is used for discrimination of opaque minerals, because magnetite and
other opaque minerals as they exhibit spectral reflectance feature in band 5 and
absorption in band 1 (Sultan et al., 1987).
Ninomiya (2003) applied different ratios to SWIR bands of ASTER data for
mapping the alteration minerals and these include:
OHI= (band 7/ band 6)×(band 4/ band 6) (6.3)
where OHI is the index for O-H bearing minerals.
KLI= (band 4/ band 5) × (band 8/ band 6) (6.4)
ALI = (band 7/ band 5) × (band 7/ band 8) (6.5)
CLI = (band 6/ band 8) × (band 9/ band 8) (6.6)
Where, KLI is the kaolinite index, ALI is the alunite index and CLI is the calcite
index. Ninomiya et al. (2005) also proposed three lithologic indices from the five ASTER
TIR bands which are:
QI= (band 11× band 11)/ (band 11/ band 12) (6.7)
CI= band 13/ band 14 (6.8)
MI= band 12/ band 13 (6.9)
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Where, QI is the quartz index, CI is the carbonate index and MI is the mafic
index. MI reversely correlates to bulk SiO2 content in silicate rocks and it increases as the
bulk SiO2 content decreases. QI is expected to be high for quartz and low for K-feldspars
and gypsum (Ninomiya et al., 2005). Siliceous rocks typically show intense Si-O
absorption in band 12 relative to bands 13 and 14 of ASTER image, therefore band 13/
band 12 or band 14/ band 12 ratio images are particularly useful for mapping of
sandstone, quartzite, and silicified rocks (Rowan and Mars, 2003). ETM+ data are not
suitable for discrimination of these types of rocks.
Band ratio combination of 4/7-3/4-2/1 of ASTER image is equivalent to 5/7- 4/5-
3/1 of ETM+ image (Abram’s combination) and 4/7-4/1-2/3×4/3 of ASTER image is
equivalent to 5/7-5/1-3/4×5/4 ETM+ (Sultan’s combination) (Abdeen et al., 2001)
6.3.1 Band Ratio of ETM+ and ASTER data of Study Area
The band ratio technique was applied to all subsystems (VNIR, SWIR and TIR)
of ASTER image and to VNIR and SWIR bands (1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7) of ETM+ image.
The Band ratio 5/7 of ETM+ and its equivalent 4/6 of ASTER image highlighted altered
rocks containing clays. These rocks are concentrated around Sauq Sharis, Alharirah, and
Bab Muris (Fig. 6.10 a, b). The sedimentary rocks; Kohlan sandstone, Akbra shale and
Amran limestone appeared as dark coloured. This ratio 5/7 is very sensitive to vegetation
areas, which have enhanced with bright colour same as clay. The vegetation cover was
separated by inversing the ratio (Fig. 6.11). The result of band ratio image 4/5 of ETM+
and its equivalent 3/4 of ASTER are shown in Figures 6. 12-a,b. These ratios highlight
the regions which are dominated by the hydroxyl and silicate-bearing rocks.
CHAPTER 6 HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION ZONES MAPPING USING PRINCIPAL COMPONENT ANALYSIS AND BAND RATIO TECHNIQUES
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Fig. 6.11 Result of convert ratio 5/7 of ETM+ data
Fig. 6.10 a) Ratio 5/7 of ETM+ and b) ratio 4/6 of ASTER data
b
a b
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Band ratio 3/1 of ETM+ and its equivalent 2/1 of ASTER highlight regions
covered by the iron-bearing rocks as bright pixels compared to other rock units (Fig.
6.13-a, b). The combination band ratios of 5/7, 5/4 and 3/1 of ETM+ as R-G-B,
respectively is very effective in mapping the different rock units in the study area (Fig.
6.14). Altered rocks containing clay appeared as red to pink colour, iron oxides bearing
rocks as blue, shale as deep red, metavolvanic rocks as light green, and serpentinite rocks
as orange to yellow colour. In this combination, the vegetation cover appeared as the
same colour as that of the altered clay minerals. The band ratio combinations 5/7, 4/5 and
3/1 of ETM+ (Fig. 6.15) shows clay minerals-bearing alterations as greenish blue to light
blue, the iron oxides as red, sperpentinite rocks as pink, metavolcanic rocks as bluish
pink to deep red, sedimentary rocks (Amran limestones, Kohlan sandstones) as pink
colour and granitic rocks as red. Vegetation cover appeared with the same colour as that
of the altered clay minerals.
Fig. 6.12 (a) Ratio 4/5 of ETM+ and its equivalent (b) 3/4 of ASTER data
a b
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Fig. 6.14 Combination ratios 5/7,
5/4 and 3/1 of ETM+
Fig. 6.15 Combination ratios 5/7, 4/5 and 3/1 of ETM+
Fig. 6.13 (a) Ratio 3/1 of ETM+ and (b) 2/1 of ASTER of the study
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In the combination of ASTER data 4/7, 4/1 and 2/3 metavolcano-sedemintary
rocks, Akbra shale and dolomitic limestons appeared as bluish red colour and
metavolcanic as light bluish green to light yellowish brown (Fig. 6.16). Granitic rocks,
Kohlan sandstone, and Amran limestone appeared as bluish green to light green colour.
Vegetation cover shown as yellowish red to yellow colour. The combinations of band
ratio 4/8, 3/4 and 2/1 of ASTER, which are equivalent to 5/7, 4/5 and 3/1 of ETM+ image
show altered rocks containing clay minerals appearing as green (Fig. 6.17). Kohlan
sandstones, Amran limestone and granitic rocks appeared as blue to reddish blue colour
and matavolcanic rocks as bluish red to yellow red colour. The vegetation cover was
shown as yellow colour. The ratio 14/12 of ASTER is used for mapping rocks rich in
silica and sulfides (Fig. 6.18). These rocks appeared as white colourd. The dark colour of
Wadi Sharis indicated as highly wetted or flowed water.
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Fig. 6.16 Combination ratios 4/7, 4/1 and 2/3 of ASTER
Fig. 6.17 Combination ratios 4/8, 3/4 and 2/1 of ASTER
Fig. 6.18 Ratio 14/12 of ASTER data shows rocks containing silica
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6.3.2 Normalized Differences Vegetation Indices (NDVI)
Normalized Difference Vegetation Index is the ratio of near infrared reflectance
to visible red light reflectance. NDVI is the most widely used among all vegetation
indices to show the presence/absence of green vegetation and its condition. It can be
applied virtually to all multispectral data types. NDVI is least affected by topographic
features (Lyon et al., 1998). Vegetation shows a strong infrared reflection and low visible
reflectance, so that vegetation areas generally yield high positive for their NDVI
(Lillesand and Keifer, 2000). NDVI is calculated using the following formula:
NDVI = (near-infrared - red)/ (near-infrared + red) (6.10)
ETM+ = (band 4 - band 3)/ (band 4 + band 4) (6.11)
NDVI (ASTER) = (band 3 - band 2)/ (band 3 + band 2) (6.12)
The possible range of values of NDVI are between -1 and 1 (Sabins, 1997,
Barbosa et al., 2006). Vegetated regions generally fall within 0 to +1 range - higher
values indicate more active growth and productivity. Snow, water, and cloud have large
visible reflectance than near-infrared reflectance, so that they yield negative index value.
Rock and bare soil areas have similar reflectance in the two bands of Near-Infrared and
Red, which result in vegetation index approximately to zero (Lillesand and Kiefer, 2000).
NDVI is stable and sensitive enough for studying vegetation, if it is applied to
atmospherically corrected reflectance data. However, it is not stable if it is applied to
radiance at the sensor data without atmospheric corrections (Ninomiya, 2003). To
minimize scattering and atmospheric absorption effects, the DN values have to be
converted into surface reflectance (Galvao et al., 2005).
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Gangopadhyay et al. (2005) classified the emission value from the NDVI in to
three classes:
(a) NDVI < 0.2: pixels with NDVI values less than 0.2 are considered as bare soil.
(b) NDVI > 0.5: in this case, the pixel is considered as mostly vegetated.
(c) 0.2 < NDVI < 0.5: in this case, the pixel is composed of a mixture of bare soil
and vegetation.
NDVI is applied to visible and near-infrared channels of ETM+ and ASTER data
with atmospheric corrected reflectance using the equations 6.11 and 6.12, respectively
using ERDAS 9.1 model (Fig. 6.19). The result of NDVI reveals that the vegetation cover
in the study area is very sparse ranging between -0.246 and 0.500 of ASTER and -0158
and 0.488 of ETM+ (Fig. 6.20-a,b) (Appendix-B). Moreover the NDVI has been applied
to ETM+ and ASTER with DN data. The values are ranging between -0.376 to 0.291
(ETM+) and -0.379 to 0.400 (ASTER) and this result confirms that NDVI of reflectance
data are more sensitive and shows good results.
Comparing this result with Gangopadhyay et al. (2005) classification also shows
that the vegetation cover in the study area is sparse.
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Fig.6.20 NDVI from a) ETM+ and b) ASTER data after atmospheric correction
Non vegetation vegetation
Non vegetation vegetation
Fig. 6. 19 Model used in NDVI
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PCA and band ratio have played an important role in remote sensing for mapping
hydrothermal alteration zones and different rock units. They are also effective for
studying vegetation cover. PC1 in both ASTER and ETM+ data contains the largest
amount of total variance. It is an indication of the albedo and the topography effects.
There are no clear features in the PC7 and PC8 of ASTER data and PC7 of ETM+
because of noise. The features are displayed in the other PCs with different levels. Rocks
containing altered clays were enhanced with bright pixels in both PC5 of ETM+ and PC4
of ASTER data and iron oxide with dark pixels. It is difficult to discriminate between
vegetation cover, Amran limestone, Kohlan sandstone and granitic rocks in PC2 of
ETM+ because they are enhanced with the same bright pixels. This is one of the
disadvantages of PCA in the study area.
The classic band ratio 5/7 of ETM+ and its equivalent 4/6 of ASTER data have
highlighted the clay minerals-bearing altered rocks and the ratio 3/1 of ETM+ and 2/1 of
ASTER data highlighted the areas of iron oxide. The band ratio 4/5 of ETM+ and its
equivalent 3/4 are useful for mapping the hydroxyl and silicate-bearing rocks compared
to FeO-rich minerals. Combinations of band ratio images 5/7, 4/5 and 3/1 of ETM+ and
its equivalent 4/8, 3/4, and 2/1 of ASTER data are important for mapping the
hydrothermal alteration zones, different rock units and vegetation cover.
NDVI is sensitive to reflectance data and reveals sparse vegetation cover in the
study area.
Both PCA and band ratio are more effective for mapping hydrothermal alteration
zones and different rock units in areas with a poor vegetation cover and dense exposed
rocks.
Based on the different analyses of the PCA and band ratio, it is concluded that the
rocks of the study area are affected by hydrothermal alteration and are a promising field
for mineralization.