Comparative analysis of lineaments extracted from Cartosat, SRTM and ASTER DEM: a study based on four watersheds in Konkan region, India

Abstract

In this study, lineaments have been extracted from Cartosat, Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Shuttle Radar Topographic Mission (SRTM) Digital Elevation Models (DEM) of different spatial resolution. The extracted lineaments were analysed to understand which DEM is most suitable for extraction of lineaments accurately. The results have shown that maximum number of lineaments can be extracted by using Cartosat DEM while ASTER DEM provides lowest number of lineaments. As a result of this study, it is suggested to make use of Cartosat DEM for the extraction of lineaments in Indian territory (data is only available for India), because it provides the most detailed geological information among all the datasets. Cartosat DEM is also suitable for studying very small areas as detailed surface information can be extracted by using this data. SRTM DEM can be used for countries other than India, and it has the capability to deliver moderate structural information. Likewise, SRTM data is more suitable for a large study area. ASTER DEM is not recommended for the study of structural and geological surface features because most of the features cannot be extracted and the result could not be applied in the detailed geological study.