1. ASTER for Global Geoscience Mapping
Prepared by Michael Abrams, Jet Propulsion Laboratory/California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA
Presented by Stephane Chevrel,
CA-06 PoC, France
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

2. ASTER on NASA’s Terra Platform
The 1st (and only…) geoscience-tuned satellite sensor
Launched in 1999 on Terra Platform
Joint project of U.S. NASA and Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry
Wide Spectral Coverage
- 14 bands in VNIR, SWIR, TIR
High Spatial Resolution
- 15m to 90m
Along-Track Stereo Capability
60 km Swath Width
Systematic global coverage
SWIR module failed in 2009
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

3. ASTER spectral bands and reflectance spectra
ASTER VNIR-SWIR-TIR band positions
Spectral discrimination capabilities
3 VNIR bands : vegetation, iron oxy-hydroxydes
6 SWIR bands : clay minerals, alteration minerals
5 TIR bands: silicates
(left) ASTER VNIR to SWIR mineral spectra
(right) ASTER SWIR mineral spectra
Figures courtesy R. Hewson, CSIRO
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

4. Mineral Exploration with ASTER
Alteration mapping with ASTER VNIR and SWIR bands; Central Iranian Volcano-Sedimentary Complex
Sarcheshmah, Sereidun, Darrehzar copper deposits shown in B, C, D enlargements
. Porphyry copper deposits of the Dehaj-Sarduiyeh Copper Belt, SE Iran
. Mineral Exploration and Alteration Zone Mapping Using Mixture Tuned Matched Filtering Approach on ASTER Data at the Central Part of Dehaj-Sarduiyeh Copper Belt, SE Iran
. Thanks to its spectral coverage, ASTER enables mapping minerals or group of minerals of interest in mineral exploration
. sericite–illite is the dominant alteration mineral group exposed at the area.
. The discriminated minerals at most occurrences, including Sarcheshmeh, Sereidun, Darrehzar, and Kuhepanj showed circular to elliptical pattern with illite–sericite as dominant zone, scattered kaolinite–dickite and sparse alunite–pyrophyllite, surrounded by a combination of epidote, chlorite, and calcite
jarosite-sericite, sericite-illite, pyrophyllite-alunite, kaolinite, chlorite-epidote-calcite
Zadeh et al., 2014
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

5. Mineral Exploration with ASTER
Alteration mapping, Mt. Fitton in east-central Australia. Talc mineralization precious metals are exploited.
Alteration is associated with both types of deposits.
False color IR
Al-OH group content
MgOH group composition
MgOH group content
Hewson et al., 2015
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

6. Mineral Exploration with ASTER
Mt. Fitton: comparisons between ASTER mineral mapping and geophysical data (radiometrics and aeromagnetics)
R: AlOH
G: Ferric Fe
B: Silica
R: K
G: Th
B: U
ASTER AlOH composition product highlights variations in mica chemistry, related to structurally active versus inactive areas, whilst the radiometric potassium highlights broader changes in host rock mica (and feldspar) chemistry.
Aeromag
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

7. ASTER Geoscience Maps of Australia
Australian ASTER mosaic comprises 3500 ASTER scenes spanning a 10 year period. Mosaic was cross-calibrated (reduced to reflectance) using Hyperion satellite hyperspectral imagery. Spatial resolution is 90 m.
False Colour Infrared
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

8. ASTER Geoscience Maps of Australia
17 Geoscience maps were created
False Color IR
Landsat TM regolith ratios
Green vegetation
Ferric oxide content
Ferric oxide composition
Ferrous iron index
Opaque index
AlOH group content
AlOH group composition
Kaolin group index
FeOH group content
MgOH group content
MgOH group composition
Ferrous iron in MgOH/Carbonate
Silica index
Quartz index
Gypsum index
Using simple ratios and thresholds, mineral indices were created using all ASTER bands. VNIR for vegetation, iron oxides; SWIR for hydrous minerals and carbonates; TIR for silica, quartz and gypsum
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

9. ASTER Geoscience Maps of Australia
Silica Index
Proportional to SiO2 content but also affected by particle size.
low high
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

10. ASTER Geoscience Maps of Australia
AlOH Group Composition
e.g. Al-Clays: phengite, muscovite, paragonite, lepidolite, illite, brammalite, montmorillonite, kaolinite, dickite, beidellite
White mica chemical
gradients (exploration)
Transported versus in situ regolith materials.
Productive agricultural soils.
Surface permeability
(water catchments).
pH indicator.
Al-rich muscovite/illite kaolinite paragonite
beidellite
Al-poor muscovite/illite (phengite)
montmorillonite
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

11. ASTER Geoscience Maps of Australia
Halls Creek Mobile Zone, WA
published 250K geology
ASTER AlOH Group composition
phyllic zone
argillic zone
oxidised zone Au Cu
The continental ASTER Australia geoscience maps are used at local scale thanks to 90 m spatial resolution. The AlOH map highlights phyllic alteration in mining district in Western Australia
5 km
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016

12. ASTER Global Geoscience Maps
From ASTER Geoscience Maps of Australia to ASTER Global Geoscience Maps
CSIRO
Share software with JPL
Provide tech support
QC finished products
Distribute maps
JPL
Provide all ASTER L1T data
Cloud-mask data
Mosaic, cross calibrate
CSIRO (Australia) and NASA/JPL (U.S.) are planning to produce global geoscience maps using the techniques developed by CSIRO for Australian maps.
Estimated completion date: 2018
CA-06 Energy and Mineral Resources Management
GEO-XIII Plenary St. Petersburg November 2016