Detecting lithology with Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) multispectral thermal infrared “radiance-at-sensor” data

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) aboard NASA's Terra satellite measures multispectral thermal infrared (TIR) emission from the Earth's 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.