Utilization of Hyperion data over Dongargarh, India, for mapping altered/weathered and clay minerals along with field spectral measurements

Abstract

Hyperion data acquired over Dongargarh area, Chattisgarh (India), in December 2006 have been analysed to identify dominant mineral types present in the area, with special emphasis on mapping the altered/weathered and clay minerals present in the rocks and soils. Various advanced spectral processes such as reflectance calibration of the Hyperion data, minimum noise fraction transformation, spectral feature fitting (SFF) and spectral angle mapper (SAM) have been used for comparison/mapping in conjunction with spectra of rocks and soils that have been collected in the field using Analytical Spectral Devices's FieldSpec instrument. In this study, 40 shortwave infrared channels ranging from 2.0 to 2.4 μm were analysed mainly to identify and map the major altered/weathered and clay minerals by studying the absorption bands around the 2.2 and 2.3 μm wavelength regions. The absorption characteristics were the results of O–H stretching in the lattices of various hydrous minerals, in particular, clay minerals, constituting altered/weathered rocks and soils. SAM and SFF techniques implemented in Spectral Analyst were applied to identify the minerals present in the scene. A score of 0–1 was generated for both SAM and SFF, where a value of 1 indicated a perfect match showing the exact mineral type. Endmember spectra were matched with those of the minerals as available in the United States Geological Survey Spectral Library. Four minerals, oligoclase, rectorite, kaolinite and desert varnish, have been identified in the studied area. The SAM classifier was then applied to produce a mineral map over a subset of the Hyperion scene. The dominant lithology of the area included Dongargarh granite, Bijli rhyolite and Pitepani volcanics of Palaeo-Proterozoic age. Feldspar is one of the most dominant mineral constituents of all the above-mentioned rocks, which is highly susceptible to chemical weathering and produces various types of clay minerals. Oligoclase (a feldspar) was found in these areas where mostly rock outcrops were encountered. Kaolinite was also found mainly near exposed rocks, as it was formed due to the weathering of feldspar. Rectorite is the other clay mineral type that is observed mostly in the southern part of the studied area, where Bijli rhyolite dominates the lithology. However, the most predominant mineral type coating observed in this study is desert varnish, which is nothing but an assemblage of very fine clay minerals and forms a thin veneer on rock/soil surfaces, rendering a dark appearance to the latter. Thus, from this study, it could be inferred that Hyperion data can be well utilized to identify and map altered/weathered and clay minerals based on the study of the shape, size and position of spectral absorption features, which were otherwise absent in the signatures of the broadband sensors.