Remote Sensing of Environment 99 (2005) 127 139 www.elsevier.

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Detecting lithology with Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) multispectral thermal infrared radiance-at-sensor data
Yoshiki Ninomiya a,*, Bihong Fu b, Thomas J. Cudahy c
b a Geological Survey of Japan, AIST, Tsukuba 305-8567, Japan Lanzhou Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China c CSIRO Exploration and Mining, PO Box 1130, Bentley, WA 6101, Australia

Received 1 October 2004; received in revised form 7 June 2005; accepted 20 June 2005

Abstract The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard NASAs Terra satellite measures multispectral thermal infrared (TIR) emission from the Earths surface to space. Based on analysis of TIR spectral properties of typical rocks on the Earth, several mineralogic indices including the Quartz Index (QI), Carbonate Index (CI) and Mafic Index (MI) for detecting mineralogic or chemical composition of quartzose, carbonate and silicate rocks with ASTER-TIR data are proposed. These indices are applied to the ASTER-TIR data scenes for selected study areas in China and Australia. The results show that ASTER-TIR can discriminate quartz and carbonate rocks as well as mafic ultramafic rocks, even with atmospherically uncorrected radiance-at-sensor data. Lithologic interpretations agree well with published geologic data and field observations. The mineralogic indices applied to ASTER-TIR provide one unified approach for lithologic mapping in arid and semi-arid regions of the Earth. D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Quartz; Carbonate; Silicate; Mafic; Felsic; Ophiolite; Mineralogic indices; Emissivity spectra; ASTER; Thermal infrared; Geology; Lithologic mapping

1. Introduction In a pioneering study of spectroscopy, Lyon (1965) demonstrated that silica and silicate minerals, the major components of the Earths crust, show strong fundamental spectral bands corresponding to the Si O bond length in the thermal infrared (TIR) atmospheric window (8 12 Am), although they do not cause prominent spectral features in the visible to shortwave infrared region of the spectrum (0.4 2.5 Am). Various workers (e.g., Hunt & Salisbury, 1974; Salisbury et al., 1988) have shown that TIR emissivity spectra of igneous rocks are correlated with the bulk (chemical) SiO2 content.

* Corresponding author. E-mail address: Yoshiki.Ninomiya@aist.go.jp (Y. Ninomiya). 0034-4257/$ - see front matter D 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.rse.2005.06.009

Remote-sensing for lithologic mapping using TIR spectral signatures was first demonstrated using the airborne Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner called TIMS (Kahle & Goetz, 1983; Kahle et al., 1980; Kahle & Rowan, 1980). Similar airborne systems (e.g., Fu & Chou, 1998) confirmed the usefulness of TIR multispectral remote sensing. These TIR systems were able to measure the changes in wavelength of the broad emissivity low related to the Si O bonds. Systems with higher spectral resolution, such as MIRACO2LAS (Cudahy and others, 1999) and SEBASS (e.g., Cudahy et al., 2000), are able to map more detailed TIR spectral signatures related to the abundances and chemistries of specific silicate, sulphate and carbonate minerals. The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensor was developed based on the success of TIMS, and was launched onboard

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Terra in December 1999. Terra was the first of NASAs Earth Observation System (EOS) series of satellites. It obtains multispectral image of the Earth (Yamaguchi et al., 1998) not only in the visible to near-infrared (VNIR; three bands between 0.5 and 0.9 Am, 15-m resolution, stereoscopic capability for the NIR band) and in the shortwave infrared (SWIR; six bands between 1.6 and 2.5 Am, 30-m resolution), but also in the TIR (five bands between 8 and 12 Am, 90-m resolution, NEDT < 0.3 K at 300 K). An ASTER image covers about 60 60 km. ASTER-TIR is the first satellite-borne multispectral TIR remote-sensing system with sufficient spectral, spatial and radiometric resolutions for geological applications. ASTER typically observes more than 500 scenes per day. Most of the images are processed to Level-1A. All the Level-1A images satisfying a condition on detected cloud coverage are processed for nominal radiometric and geometric corrections to generate the Level-1B radiance-atsensor data product. Level-2B data products of physical parameters including surface radiance data with nominal atmospheric corrections (Level-2B01) are generated on the basis of user request. Also, Level-4 DEMs are generated from the along-track NIR stereo images (band 3N and 3B). A geometrically well-corrected orthorectified Level-3A product with ASTER-driven DEM is generated, which is radiometrically equivalent to the Level-1B data (Yamaguchi et al., 1998). Most of the algorithms proposed so far for thematic mapping with multispectral TIR remote-sensing data, for example, an algorithm to estimate the chemical SiO2 content in the surface silicate rocks (Ninomiya, 1995), assume the input is spectral emissivity data (e.g., ASTER Level-2B05 product) calculated after atmospheric-correction and temperature separation. Radiance at sensor was thought not suitable for quantitative analysis. However, the potential applicability of Quartz Index (QI), Carbonate Index (CI) and Mafic Index (MI) defined for ASTER-TIR data in scene-independent lithologic detection is suggested through theoretical and practical analyses of the behavior of the indices, taking into consideration temperature and atmospheric parameters (Ninomiya, 2002). One advantage over methods utilizing Level-2B05 data is that the lower-level data are free of functional uncertainties introduced by the atmospheric-correction and temperature separation algorithms. Another advantage is that the lower-level data are more readily available. Additionally, the straightforward applicability of the index approach to orthorectified Level-3A data enables easy fusion with GIS. This paper focuses on the usefulness of these mineral indices calculated from ASTER-TIR Level-1B and Level3A radiance-at-sensor data. Three test sites at different elevations are selected to show the stability of the indices against temperature and atmospheric conditions, and to define the exact threshold values of the indices for lithologic mapping.

2. Basics and definition 2.1. Radiance at sensor The DN of ASTER-TIR band i in Level-1B or Level-3A data is linearly related to radiance at sensor (Wm 2 sr 1 Am 1) by Lisen coef i DN i 1 ; 1 where coef10 = 0.006882, coef11 = 0.006780, coef12 = 0.006590, coef13 = 0.005693, and coef14 = 0.005225. On the other hand, L sen is related to the radiance leaving the surface (L sur), the transmissivity of the atmosphere (s ) and the atmospheric path radiance (L Aj) by the equation Lsen Lsur Is LAj : EA, Iq; k 2

L sur is related to the radiance emitted from the surface by Lsur LBB Ie 3

where L BB is the radiance emitted from a blackbody surface as (given by Planck function), e is surface emissivity, E A, is the downwelling irradiance emitted by the atmosphere, and q is surface reflectance, which for Lambertian surfaces is related to surface emissivity by the Kirchhoffs law, q 1 e: 4

From Eqs. (2) (4) and Plancks function, radiance at sensor is given as ! i i i EA c1 1 , i i i Lsen I 1 e Is LAj ; Ie 5 I i k kki exp c2 =k IT 1 5 where the radiation constants c 1 = 3.742 10 (Wm Am4) and c 2 = 1.439 104 (Am K), T is the surface temperature (K), k i is the center wavelength (Am) of ASTER band i , (i.e., k 10 = 8.3, k 11 = 8.65, k 12 = 9.1, k 13 = 10.6, k 14 = 11.3). 2.2. Spectral properties of rocks Fig. 1 shows directional emissivity spectral properties of the selected typical rocks (Ninomiya & Fu, 1999) collected at the Yushishan study area described in Section 3.1. The spectra were measured with a portable thermal infrared Fourier Transform Interferometer manufactured by Design and Prototypes, Ltd., (Hook & Kahle, 1996) and convolved into the responsivity functions of ASTER-TIR (Fujisada, 1995). Major carbonate minerals show spectral emissivity minima in ASTER band 14 (near 11.4 Am for calcite and 11.2 Am for dolomite) due to the C O bending mode, as shown in Fig. 1a. This feature in the emissivity spectra of other carbonate minerals shifts to shorter wavelengths (e.g., to 11.0 Am for magnesite). Quartz and unaltered igneous rocks composed of silicate minerals typically do not show
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oxides (Salisbury et al., 1992) and halite (Crowly & Hook, 1996) show similar spectral shape to ultramafic rocks (i.e., emissivities are high in ASTER bands 10 to 12; low in ASTER bands 13 and 14). 2.3. Definition of indices (Ninomiya & Fu, 2002) From the spectral emissivity property of a carbonate rock composed of calcite and dolomite, the two major carbonate minerals on the Earth, shown in Fig. 1a and described in Section 2.1, the Carbonate Index (CI) for ASTER-TIR data is defined as CI D13 ; D14 6

where D i is any kind of ASTER data related to ASTER band i . In this paper, we use radiance-at-sensor data without atmospheric corrections for D . CI is expected to be high for calcite and dolomite. No peculiar response is expected for other carbonate minerals. From the spectral emissivity property of quartz shown in Fig. 1b and described in Section 2.1, the Quartz Index (QI) is defined as QI
Fig. 1. Emissivity spectra of (a) carbonate rock, (b) quartzose rock, (c) granite, (d) diorite, (e) gabbro, (f) peridotite, with the convolved data to ASTER bandpasses. Each tick in Y-axis registers 1.0 / 0.75 in emissivity except for (b): 1.0 / 0.5.

D11 D11 : D10 D12

any spectral features in VNIR to SWIR. In contrast, they have prominent spectral features in TIR region due to fundamental asymmetric Si O Si stretching vibrations. Quartz, the most common mineral on the Earth, shows absorption features (i.e., emissivity minima) in ASTER bands 10 and 12, resulting in higher emissivity in band 11 than in bands 10 and 12, as shown in Fig. 1b. The series of alkali feldspars (K-feldspars), which often coexist with quartz in felsic igneous rocks, have a strong emissivity peak in band 11, resulting in lower emissivity in band 11 than in bands 10 and 12, contrary to the property of quartz described above. For silica and silicate minerals and rocks, the broad spectral emissivity low corresponding to Si O bond length shifts to longer wavelength as the chemical SiO2 content (weight percent) decreases. After this property, the ratio of the emissivity at band 12 to band 13 for silicate rocks (typically igneous rocks) increases as the SiO2 content decreases (i.e., as the rock type changes from felsic to mafic), as shown in Fig. 1c, d, e and f. In addition, some sulfate minerals including gypsum have a very strong absorption at band 11 spectral region (i.e., near 8.7 Am) due to stretching fundamentals, as a result, it exhibits lower emissivity in band 11 than in bands 10 and 12, likely the property of K-feldspars described above (Ninomiya & Fu, 2003). According to published spectral properties, some

QI is expected to be high for quartz and low for K-feldspar and gypsum. As described in Section 2.1, the broad spectral emissivity low shifts to longer wavelengths as the chemical SiO2 content in silicate rock decreases, as shown in Fig. 1c to f. This introduced the definition of the Mafic Index (MI) as MI D12 : D13 8

MI is correlated to the SiO2 content in silicate rocks, typically igneous rocks, but it is also sensitive to carbonates. To eliminate this unexpected property of MI, a series of Mafic Index separated for carbonates, MIn , is redefined as MI n D12 D12 ID14n : n D13 ICI D13n1 9

The original MI is the case for which n = 0. Comparing images of different versions of MIn series shows good separation of carbonates and silicates in MI3 (Ninomiya, 2002). Therefore, in the present paper, we use MI3 for MI. MI is expected to correlate negatively with the SiO2 content in silicate rocks. That is, it is expected to be high for ultramafic rocks, and systematically lower as the rock type changes to felsic and finally quartzose rock. MI is expected to be high for halite and some iron oxides with the spectral property described in Section 2.1. For theoretical blackbody and natural graybody materials, typically vegetation, MI 0.89, which is similar to index values for intermediate rocks with chemical SiO2 content 65% (Ninomiya, 2002).

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This MI value is expected to be a robust boundary between mafic and felsic rocks, with minimum influence of other factors on spectral contrast, for example, atmospheric downwelling irradiance and topographic effects, because blackbodies have low spectral contrast. 2.4. Stability analysis and improvement The Carbonate Index (CI), Quartz Index (QI) and Mafic Index (MI) were calculated from ASTER Level-1B data. Scene-dependent qualitative analyses were made of the grayscale images of each index and the false-color composite image of the three indices. Ninomiya and Fu (2002) pointed out the potential usefulness of these indices for discriminating rock types. A theoretical analysis of the stability of the indices with respect to surface temperature and atmospheric parameters indicates that QI and MI are insensitive to temperature, provided atmospheric conditions are good, but that CI is heavily affected by temperature differences even in good atmospheric conditions. We have confirmed these properties of the indices by analysis of multi-temporal images of known study areas (Ninomiya, 2002). Normalization of the brightness temperature for band 13 to a fixed temperature reduces the heavy dependency of CI to surface temperature. The normalized radiance at sensor at band i is defined as ( !) k13 c1 exp Iln 135 1 1 ki k L13 sen i i   nLsen Lsen ; c2 exp i 1 k nT =ea13 10
i where L sen is radiance at sensor in band i , k i is the center 13 wavelength (Am) of band i , e a is the assumed emissivity in band 13, nT is the fixed temperature (K) to be normalized, and c 1 and c 2 are the radiation constants given in Eq. (5). 13 Here in this study, e a is adopted as 1.0, and nT is adopted as 300. Case studies with the indices applied to the normalized radiance-at-sensor data suggested successful improvement on the ability of CI in mapping carbonate rocks (Ninomiya, 2003; Ninomiya, 2004; Ninomiya & Fu, 2003). The

Fig. 3. The Quartz Index (QI) calculated on simulated radiance-at-sensor data vs. atmospheric water-vapor content (kg/m2) assigned in MODTRAN at the elevation of 1000 m asl.

normalization processing is not important for QI and MI; however, here the normalized radiance at sensor is used for all the indices for the uniformity of the data processing. Hereafter, the indices applied for the normalized radiance calculated with Eq. (10) are expressed as CI, QI and MI, respectively. For analyzing the sensitivity of the indices to the atmospheric parameters, simulated ASTER-TIR radianceat-sensor data were generated for a 300-K blackbody and typical rock samples shown in Fig. 1. Spectral atmospheric transmissivity, path radiance and downwelling irradiance were derived using an atmospheric radiative transfer model, MODTRAN, a moderate-resolution version of LOWTRAN 7 (Kneizys et al., 1988), applied to the mid-latitude summer model atmosphere. The measured emissivity spectra in Fig. 1 and the calculated spectra of atmospheric parameters are convolved into responsivity function of each band in ASTER-TIR (Fujisada, 1995) to i i generate e i , s i , L Aj and E A, in Eq. (5). The spectral contrast of emissivity for the surface rocks in remote sensing is usually degraded by various factors, for example, weathering, topography and mixing with graybody materials like vegetation. The degraded emissivity, e d, can be estimated as ed e 1Ia 1; 11

where the degradation ratio, a , is between 0 and 1. Here, degradation is not considered in generating simulated ASTER-TIR radiance-at-sensor data, so a = 1. (Downwel-

Fig. 2. The Carbonate Index (CI) calculated on simulated radiance-at-sensor data vs. atmospheric water-vapor content (kg/m2) assigned in MODTRAN at the elevation of 1000 m asl.

Fig. 4. The Mafic Index (MI) calculated on simulated radiance-at-sensor data by atmospheric water-vapor content (kg/m2) assigned in MODTRAN at the elevation of 1000 m asl.

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ling atmospheric irradiance also degrades the spectral contrast of emissivity as shown in Eq. (5), but this term is treated separately.) As an example, the effect of water vapor content (kg/m2) assigned in MODTRAN at the elevation of 1000 m above sea level (asl) on CI calculated from the simulated radianceat-sensor data is shown in Fig. 2. By comparing the results shown in Fig. 2 with the result derived by changing the elevation of scene, it became clear that the main atmospheric factor affecting the indices is water vapor content. Fig. 2 indicates that CI is > 1.04 for the carbonates only if the atmospheric water vapor content is less than 15 kg/m2. The corresponding relationships for QI and MI are shown in Figs. 3 and 4, respectively. Figs. 2 4 suggest each index responds sensitively for the targeted rock types. This indicates the possibility of mapping the target rock types using fixed threshold values independent of the specific scene, provided that the atmospheric conditions are good enough. Fig. 5 shows for ASTER Level-1B images a scatter diagram of the histogram peak of CI vs. precipitable water vapor content drawn from NCEP Reanalysis data provided by the NOAA-CIRES Climate Diagnostics Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA, from their Web site at http:// www.cdc.noaa.gov/. The closed dots in Fig. 5 are for highly vegetated ASTER images, which are expected to represent CI of graybody vegetation. The open dots are for sparsely vegetated ASTER images, which may be affected by the distribution of rocks in the image. Fig. 5 suggests the applicable threshold for mapping carbonate with CI would be 1.04 to 1.045 when the atmospheric water vapor content is low enough (as a guideline, < 10 kg/m2), which is consistent with the results shown in Fig. 2 and described above.

3. Results 3.1. Yushishan study area Mt. Yushishan is located in Beishan Mountains, northwestern Gansu Province, China. The study area is the entire ASTER Level-1B scene acquired on April 7, 2000. Its center is located at 41-25VN and 95-05VE. The study area has a typical continental arid climate with sparse vegetation. The elevation of this area ranges from 1500 to 2500 m asl. Precipitable water at the time of the ASTER data acquisition is estimated as 5 kg/m2 with the archived NCEP Reanalysis data. Fig. 6a displays a geological map (BGMRGP, 1989) overlaid on the VNIR false-color composite image of the Yushishan study area. Outcrops are exposed well in this study area, and consist of a variety suite of intrusive rocks ranging in composition from felsic to ultramafic, and in age from Precambrian to Permian. Rocks of the upper Precambrian Sinian system are dominated by dolomitic limestone and quartzite. For all the other sequences, older or younger than Sinian sequence, major components are silicate sedimentary, metamorphic and volcanic rocks with minor exposure of carbonate rocks. Quaternary sediments are mainly composed of debris. Fig. 6b shows a color-composite image made from the three indices, with QI assigned to red, CI to green, and MI to blue. The three components were each linearly stretched such that 99% of the data ranged between 0 and 255 DN. The usefulness for lithologic study of the color composite, together with gray-scale images of the individual indices, has been pointed out by Ninomiya and Fu (2002) in a photointerpretive study. Our present paper confirms the predicted lithologic properties through the discussion of qualitative results such as those in Fig. 6b, together with the quantitative index values. Horizontal stripes in the cross-track direction are significant in Fig. 6b and c. They arise from residual system noise resulting from insufficient corrections for sensitivity differences of each detector element in the ASTER-TIR array, and also from inaccurate chopper temperature calibration. As shown in Fig. 6a and b, clouds have similar high CI index values to carbonates, and are displayed as greenish in Fig. 6b. Even haze and thin clouds undetectable in VNIR images can cause this kind of confusion in CI, and analysis of multiple images of the target area is necessary to assure reliability. Quaternary deposits shown in Fig. 6b were divided into several parts according to provenance. The high-QI, reddish part (Qa) is expected to be quartzite debris; the high-CI, greenish part (Qb) is expected to be carbonate; and the lowQI, low-CI but high-MI, bluish part (Qc) is expected to be silicate rocks. The region Qd shows various colors, which suggests complexity of rock types and source regions. The region Qe, represented as cyan, has MI values as high as

Fig. 5. A scatter diagram of full-scene histogram peak of CI for ASTER Level-1B images vs. precipitable water-vapor content from NCEP Reanalysis data from the NOAA-CIRES Climate Diagnostics Center, Boulder, Colorado, USA.

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Fig. 6. (a) A compiled geological map overlaid on an ASTER VNIR false-color composite image of the Mt. Yushishan study area. Abbreviated names of map units: Z, Precambrian rocks; C O, Cambrian to Ordovician rocks; O S, Ordovician to Silurian rocks; P, Permian rocks. (b) Color-composite image of the indices: QI = red, CI = green and MI = blue. Index values linearly scaled to display 99% of the histogram between 0 and 255 DN. The alphabetic labels identify the targets of discussion in the main text. (c) Detected pixels with the indices as: red, quartzite (QI > 1.05); dark red, siliceous rock (QI > 1.03); yellow, carbonate rock (CI > 1.045); dark yellow, possible carbonate rock (CI > 1.035); purple, ultramafic rock (MI > 0.92). Display is of MI image with a fixed gray-scale range of 0.8 to 0.9.

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those for mafic rocks. However, further investigation is needed to determine whether the suspected mafic debris exists or not. One possible source of confusion and ambiguity is the presence of minerals showing similar values of MI, for example halite or some iron oxides. With respect to the older sequences, a part of Sinian system mapped as Precambrian and shown as A in Fig. 6a has high QI values (reddish) and we expect it to be quartzite, but most of the rest of the Sinian system (B and the area around Mt. Yushishan itself) has high CI values (greenish) and we expect it to be limestone or dolomite. Except for the Sinian system, other areas appear bluish, suggesting that the local lithologies are dominated by silicates. In the Paleozoic region, some parts (C), represented as magenta, are high both in QI and MI, but low in CI. Others areas (D F) are represented as bluish, typical for silicate rocks. Also, the Paleozoic region includes a greenish part (G) that we expect to be carbonate rocks. The rock types detected on the basis of the individual index values confirm the lithologies predicted from the colors in Fig. 6b. That is, the regions expected from the false colors to be quartzose or carbonate rocks are demonstrated to have high enough QI (> 1.05) or CI (> 1.045) to qualify. Each pixel thus classified is red or yellow, respectively, in Fig. 6c. A secondary threshold on CI (> 1.035 for this image), dark yellow in Fig. 6c, complements the detection of carbonate rocks, and a threshold on QI (> 1.03 in this case), dark red in Fig. 6c, is effective for detecting siliceous rocks with relatively high quartz and low feldspar content. The regions of Paleozoic silicate rocks are classified by MI value as follows: the region D with average MI 0.90 is expected to be intermediate to mafic; the region E with average MI 0.87 is expected to be felsic; and the region F composed of sub-regions with average MI of 0.87 0.90, is expected to be mixed felsic and mafic. Most of the region of intrusions is displayed as bluish, suggesting silicate composition. The analyses on the colors combined with the relative tone in MI gray-scale image shown in Fig. 6c, clearly indicate the different rock types. Both units H and I are mapped as felsic intrusions (Fig. 6a); however, H appears darker in the MI image (Fig. 6c), indicating a higher chemical SiO2 content than unit I. Many veins in unit H with relatively high MI values (i.e., low SiO2 content) are recognized as linear features in the MI gray scale image, which is consistent with the field observation. For the analysis based on the value of MI, the gray scale of MI (Fig. 6c) was set between 0.8 (black) and 0.9 (white), and the pixels with MI > 0.92 (colored purple) are considered to be ultramafic rocks. MI values for both units H and I are < 0.9, indicating felsic to intermediate composition. The average MI value for unit H is 0.85, and the value for unit I is 0.875, which suggests that the chemical SiO2 content in I is the lower. Unit K, mapped as ultramafic intrusions, is well-detected with MI > 0.92, and unit J, mapped as mafic intrusions, is also well-detected with MI > 0.90. Unit J is displayed as white in Fig. 2c. MI

values indicate that part of the mapped felsic intrusions (L) is, as appears, to have mafic to ultramafic composition, although it is not indicated as such in the published geologic map. 3.2. Mt. Fitton study area The Mt. Fitton study area is in the eastern central part of South Australia. It lies between 29-45V and 30-00V S, and between 139-10V and 139-30V E. The elevation there ranges from 50 to 750 m asl. The climate is arid, and vegetation is sparse. We analyzed an ASTER Level-3A image acquired over the study area on April 24, 2000, using the three mineral indices as for the Yushishan area discussed above. Fig. 7a shows the geology compiled from a published geological map (GSSA, 1965) overlaid on a VNIR false-color image of the ASTER scene. Precipitable water at the time of the ASTER data acquisition was 6 kg/m2 as estimated from the archived NCEP Reanalysis data. The Precambrian Adelaide System is developed well in the study area, with only minor exposures of Jurassic and Cretaceous sequences. Fig. 7b, c and d present the index images, CI (index values: 1.02 1.045), QI (1.0 1.06) and MI (0.8 0.9). Some rocks in the study area have been hydrothermally altered. To locate alteration minerals exhibiting Al OH spectral absorption bands, two additional indices, OHIa and OHIb, were generated (Ninomiya, 2003). OHIa is defined for ASTER SWIR data as D 4 * D 7 / D 6 / D 6, where D i is radiance-atsensor data for ASTER band i . OHIa is used to detect minerals having an absorption feature at 2.2 Am, typically montmorillonite and micas. OHIb is defined for ASTER SWIR data as D 4 * D 7 / D 5 / D 5. It is used to detect minerals having an absorption feature at 2.17 Am, typically pyrophillite. Minerals with absorption features both at 2.17 and 2.2 Am, typically kaolinite and alunite, are detectable in both indices. The results suggest that only altered minerals having absorption feature at 2.2 Am occur in the Mt. Fitton study area. Together with the geologic map, this suggests that the detected alteration minerals are mostly micas. Pixels of alteration minerals (OHIa > 4.0) are displayed as cyan in Fig. 7f. Alteration occurs in a variety of Precambrian sequences and intrusions. The region A is expected from its high CI values to be carbonate (Fig. 7b). A is displayed as cyan in Fig. 7e. Usually, pure carbonate shows high CI and low QI and MI, but in this case it shows relatively high MI (Fig. 7d). This implies that carbonate and mafic minerals or rocks occur together in the region, consistent with the published geological map and field observations of talc and tremolite there. Other thin or small units are expected from their CI values to be carbonates. The regions labeled B are an example; the southern region B is at Wildman Bluff (Fig. 7a). Marginally high CI values for pixels in lines represented by C indicate the existence of carbonate-rich layers unresolved in the 90-m ASTER-TIR pixels. Carbonate content in the layers may be low. High CI values in

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D indicate the presence of some carbonate; however, consideration of all the index values for D indicates silicate composition. Several small regions (E in Fig. 7c) with QI values > 1.05 display as reddish in Fig. 7e, indicating that they are quartz-rich and feldspar-poor stone or sand. Some of the

regions seem to be in Cenozoic deposits; however, the locations of the regions in general coincide with Mesozoic formations. Regions labeled F have marginally high QI values, but the composition cannot be specified without consideration of the other index values discussed below. The brightness of the MI image in regions G and H is

Fig. 7. (a) A compiled geological map overlaid on an ASTER VNIR false-color composite image of the Mt. Fitton study area. Abbreviations for map units: Pw, upper Proterozoic Wilpena group in Adelaide system; Pu, lower Proterozoic Unberatana group in Adelaide system. (b) Gray-scale image of CI, linearly stretched to display values from 1.02 to 1.045. Alphabetic labels identify the targets of discussion in the text. (c) Gray-scale image of QI, linearly stretched to display values of 1.0 to 1.06. Alphabetic labels identify the targets of discussion in the text. (d) Gray-scale image of MI, linearly stretched to display values of 0.8 to 0.9. Alphabetic labels indicate the targets of discussion in the text. (e) Color-composite image of the indices: QI = red, CI = green, and MI = blue. Index values have been linearly scaled to display 99% of the histogram for each color. (f) Pixels detected with the indices: red, quartzite (QI > 1.05); dark red, siliceous rock (QI > 1.04); yellow, carbonate rock (CI > 1.045); dark yellow, possible carbonate rock (CI > 1.04); cyan, Al OH bearing altered rock (OHIa > 4.0); pink, quartz-rich Al OH bearing altered rock (QI > 1.04 and OHIa > 4.0). Display is of MI image with a fixed gray-scale range of 0.8 to 0.9.

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Fig. 7 (continued ).

similar, which suggests that the chemical SiO2 contents of the surface rocks exposed there are also similar. From the MI values (0.85 0.86), it appears that the rocks are felsic silicates. On the other hand, the QI values differ: for G, QI 1.005 to 1.015, whereas for H QI 1.02 to 1.03. This indicates that the rock types are different, even if the chemical SiO2 content is the same. We interpret G to contain felsic rocks rich in K-feldspar, such as granite, whereas H may contain acidic rocks poor in K-feldspar. This interpretation agrees well with the geologic map. There are several small regions like J with very high values of MI. Values of 0.89 to 0.90 indicate intermediate to mafic silicate rock composition. The presence of tremolite in

some of the regions in J has been confirmed at the field and is consistent with the remote-sensing assessment. Also, several thin layers represented by K are expected to be relatively mafic. The region I has relatively high MI values, indicating relatively low SiO2 contents compared to massive units such as G and H. It is not certain if the high-frequency textural features in the CI and MI images at region I are topographic artifacts, or if they reflect the complicated distribution of carbonate and silicate minerals there. The joint analysis of the different mineral indices applied to Fig. 7e revealed areas having MI values of 0.8 0.9 that subdivided the region F, with relatively high QI values,

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into two sub-regions. The eastern part in the lower Proterozoic sequence (Pu1) seems to be siliceous, and the western part consist of upper Proterozoic sequences (Pu3, Pu4, Pw1 and Pw2) seems to be silicate rocks with lower SiO2 content. The latest formation of Proterozoic (Pw3) in the southwestern part of the study area, around Quartzose Peak (Fig. 3a), is indicated to be quartzose or siliceous rocks, with red pixels (QI > 1.05) or dark red pixels (QI > 1.04). A part of the region near Dingo Hill (Fig. 3a) appears to be mica-rich, from high values of OHIa and QI. These pixels are pink in Fig. 3e. Most of the other regions in Pw3 seem to be silicate rocks with relatively high SiO2 content. Comparing the images of the indices in and around the detected altered regions shows that some areas appear from QI values to be quartz-rich, but the remote-sensing indices alone are not sufficient to determine whether the quartz is from source rock or generated by hydrothermal silicification processes. 3.3. Xigaze study area The study area is located on the Xigaze segment of Yarlung Zangbo ophiolite belt, southern Tibet, China, from 29-00Vto 29-20VN and from 88-45Vto 89-30VE. The elevation of this area ranges from 3700 to 5000 m asl. Xigaze has a warm, semi-arid monsoon highland climate and vegetations are sparsely distributed along the river valleys. Short grasses sparsely cover the mountain regions. Two ASTER images of the Xigaze area were analyzed. The image of the western part of the study area was acquired on December 13, 2001; the image of the eastern part was acquired on November 1, 2000. Fig. 8a shows the compiled geological map (Wang et al., 1984) overlaid on the mosaicked ASTER VNIR false-color images. Precipitable water at the time of the ASTER data acquisition is estimated from archived NCEP Reanalysis data to have been nearly 0 kg/m2 for the western scene, and 3 kg/ m2 for the eastern scene. The Xigaze ophiolite represents a peculiar oceanic lithosphere, comprising from north (top) to south (bottom) marine sediments in stratigraphic contact over pillow lavas or lava flows, to fresh harzburgites and lherzolites (Nicolas et al., 1981). It is bounded by Upper Cretaceous flysch (K2) in the north and by Upper Triassic flysch (T3) or Upper Jurassic Lower Cretaceous abyssal sediments and basic lava (J3 K1) in the south. The J3 K1 sequence along the boundary with ultramafic unit partly consists of radiolarian cherts. The labels on the mosaicked color-composite image of the indices (Fig. 8b) together with the MI image scaled 0.85 (black) to 0.95 (white) (Fig. 8c) show locations of features

in the discussion below. QI values >1.05 characterize pixels showing the outcrop in T3. These appear red and are labeled A in Fig. 8c. The high QI values indicate almost pure quartz rock. The QI values around the outcrop itself are lower, which from the index values nevertheless appears to be silicate. The region K2 (B) shows many bright and dark small flecks in the CI image, and small color patches in the color-composite image (Fig. 8b). Further investigation is necessary to understand the complicated lithologic information represented here. Alternatively, the pattern may result from some kind of topographic artifact. Comparing the MI image to the VNIR image indicates that most of the outcrops in the northern part in K2 have relatively high values of MI, indicating high mafic contents. Probably the source of these sedimentary rocks is the nearby mafic ultramafic rocks. Regions in the ophiolitic belt (C) shown as white in Fig. 8c have MI values > 0.97 and correlate well to the mapped ultramafic rocks (Fig. 8a). Some of the ultramafic regions (D) in the geological map have lower values of MI. In part of one of the westernmost regions D (Fig. 8a), possible carbonate rocks appear yellow (CI > 1.045) in Fig. 8c. This occurrence is not explained in the published geological map. Region E, which has MI values lower than for ultramafic rocks but high enough (MI > 0.9) for us to expect mafic rock compositions, agrees well with the distribution of mafic rocks in the geological map. A part of region E has relatively high CI values (> 1.04) indicated as dark yellow in Fig. 8c. We interpret this to indicate carbonate content. This possibly reflects the carbonate concentrations in pores in the basalt rocks occurring in E that we observed in the field. There are several ultramafic or mafic layers detected in the MI index image. Some, labeled F, are not described in the published geological map. The regions of radiolarian cherts in J3 K1 have been identified as units with QI > 1.035, the pixels of which appear dark red or red in Fig. 8c. These are labeled G. The extent of the units may be grasped intuitively with the color-composite image of the indices (Fig. 8b).

4. Discussion The case studies reported here are at different elevations and present a set of examples that demonstrate the stability of the mineral indices to temperature and atmospheric changes. The stability of the indices, especially CI, to temperature is accomplished by normalizing the radiance-atsensor data to a fixed temperature as described in Section 2.4. Analyses of the behavior of the indices with respect to

Fig. 8. (a) A compiled geological map overlaid on an ASTER VNIR false-color composite image of the Xigaze study area. Abbreviation of map units: T3, Upper Triassic rocks; J3 K1, Upper Jurassic to Lower Cretaceous rocks; K1, Lower Cretaceous rocks; K2, Upper Cretaceous rocks; E, Lower Tertiary rocks. (b) Color-composite image of the indices: QI = red, CI = green, and MI = blue, linearly scaled to cover 99% of the histogram for each color. The alphabetic labels indicate the targets of discussion in the text. (c) Pixels detected with the indices: red, quartzite (QI > 1.05); dark red, siliceous rock (QI > 1.035); yellow, carbonate rock (CI > 1.045); dark yellow, possible carbonate rock (CI > 1.04). Display is of MI image with a fixed gray-scale range of 0.85 to 0.95.

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atmospheric parameters indicated that the dominant atmospheric factor affecting the indices is water-vapor content. The relative insensitivity of the indices to temperature and atmospheric water vapor suggests that fixed threshold values for the indices can be applied widely to detect rock types, provided that atmospheric water-vapor content is low enough. In the case studies presented above, precipitable water-vapor content was estimated to have been <10 kg/m2 according to NCEP Reanalysis data. We conclude that: Carbonate rocks composed of calcite and/or dolomite are well-detected by the CI index and exceed a threshold value of 1.045. A secondary threshold of CI 1.035 (the value is determined case by case) is useful in complementing the detection of carbonate rocks. It should be cautioned that index values for clouds or anomalous atmospheric regions overlap with values for carbonate rocks. Even thin clouds undetectable in VNIR images can introduce ambiguity into the CI image, so that analysis of multiple images of the same area is desirable. Quartzite or quartzose rocks are detected using QI with a threshold value of 1.05. A secondary threshold of QI 1.035 (case by case) is useful in detecting siliceous rocks high in quartz but low in K-feldspar. It should be noticed that rocks rich in both quartz and K-feldspar have low QI values, which is usual for igneous rocks such as granite, but rare for sedimentary rocks. QI usually functions well as an indicator of quartz-rich sedimentary rocks. Mafic rocks (here, silicate rocks with less than 60% chemical SiO2 content) are well-detected using MI > 0.90. Ultramafic rocks (here, silicate rocks with less than 50% chemical SiO2 content) are well-detected using MI > 0.92. MI 0.89 is a stable boundary between mafic and felsic rocks. There is little effect on spectral contrast by extraneous factors because the blackbody spectrum yields similar values in MI as for intermediate rocks (Ninomiya, 2002), as indicated in Fig. 4. MI values for vegetation, a typical graybody, are similar to values for intermediate rocks; therefore, analysis is required to classify rock types with MI in the presence of vegetation. Complicated spatial patterns of index values appear as small patches in the images for some regions in the case study areas. Further investigation is needed to determine whether these reflect complicated lithologic settings, or image artifacts. Artifactual cross-track striping in ASTER-TIR images is emphasized in index images (CI, QI, MI). Striping originates from the systematic noise of ASTER Level-1 data processing. That is, residual calibration errors in the corrections for detector sensitivities, together with array and chopper temperature calibration, lead to the striping. Detecting rock types with the fixed thresholds from the indices is confirmed to be feasible. However, sometimes the striping makes it difficult to represent details in the spatial distribution of rock units. Rowan and Mars (2003) also discussed this problem affecting ASTER-TIR data. We

expect revisions to the ASTER Level-1 standard dataprocessing software will reduce the amount of striping. We find that it is better to use ASTER data resampled with a nearest-neighbor (NN) algorithm, rather than bilinear or cubic-convolution algorithms, for applications using spectral data. However, NN resampling in ASTER often cause curved linear and zonal artificial patterns in the index images. We attribute this noise to some error in the ASTER standard processing code. Because of this problem, it may be better for now to use convolution re-sampling.

5. Conclusions The Carbonate Index (CI), Quartz Index (QI) and Mafic Index (MI) defined by emphasizing the diagnostic features found in the TIR spectral emissivity data measured for corresponding rock types are applied to the ASTER Level1B and Level-3A radiance-at-sensor data scenes observing selected study areas in China and Australia. The conceptual lithologic mapping approach proposed here is applicable to radiance-at-sensor data without atmospheric corrections and has advantages over ones that require as input the atmospherically corrected spectral emissivity data produced by the ASTER Temperature-Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm. Our results indicate the robustness of the index approach in detecting rock types in spite of climate and elevation differences for each case study. This suggests the potential of this approach for global lithologic mapping in arid and semi-arid regions on a standardized basis, especially in areas where field exploration is difficult for political and geographical reasons.

Acknowledgements This study was partly funded by the ITIT project of AIST, Japan and Key Laboratory of Gas Geochemistry, Lanzhou Institute of Geology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and benefited from discussion with the ASTER science team members. The spectral emissivity data were measured with the Micro Fourier Transform Interferometer (AFTIR) owned by Earth Remote Sensing Data Analysis Center (ERSDAC). We thank Drs. Yutaka Takahashi, Keyang Ma and Maobing Wu for their help during field investigations. B. Fu would like to acknowledge the support from Postdoctoral Fellowship (P 03150) of Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) during the paper work.

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