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The application of Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS data for geological mapping: A case

study from SE Iran

Conference Paper · October 2014

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 Regional Hydrothermal Alteration Mapping
Using Landsat-8 Data
Amin Beiranvand Pour*, Mazlan Hashim
Geoscience and Digital Earth Centre (Geo-DEC)
Research Institute for Sustainability and Environment (RISE)
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM)
81310 UTM Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
a.beiranvand@utm.my; mazlanhshim@utm.my

Abstract— This study presents the applicability of
recently launched Landsat-8 data for hydrothermal
alteration and lithological mapping. Sar Cheshmeh copper
mining district in the southeastern part of the Urumieh-
Dokhtar volcanic belt, SE Iran has been selected as a case
study. Several Red-green-Blue (RGB) color combination
images and specialized band ratios were developed. Band
ratios derived from image spectra (4/2, 6/7, 5 and 10 in
RGB) allows the identification of altered rocks, lithological
units and vegetation. Fieldwork and laboratory analysis
verified the image processing results. Thermal infrared
bands of Landsat-8 significantly improved the quality and
availability of thermal infrared remote sensing data for
lithological mapping. The achievements of this
investigation should have considerable implications for
geologists to utilize Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS data for
geological purposes in the future.
Keywords— Landsat-8 data; Sar Cheshmeh copper mining district;
ASTER; Hydrothermal alteration mapping
longwave thermal bands. They have high signal to noise
(SNR) radiometer performance, enabling 12-bit quantization
of data allowing for more bits for better land-cover
characterization. Landsat-8 provides moderate-resolution
imagery, from 15 meters to 100 meters of Earth’s surface and
polar regions [2]. Landsat-8 data have been distributed to the
general public on nondiscriminatory basis at no cost to the
user. The data can be easily downloaded from the
(http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov and http://glovis.usgs.gov/)
online linkages.
This study evaluates the capability Landsat-8 data for
mapping hydrothermal alteration area and lithological units.
Sar Cheshmeh copper mining district has been selected as a
case study, which is located in the southeastern part of the
Urumieh-Dokhtar volcanic belt, SE Iran (Fig. 1), where Cu
and Mo are actively being mined. The main objective of this
study is to evaluate Landsat-8 spectral bands for detecting
hydrothermal alteration minerals and rock units associated
with porphyry copper mineralization at regional scale.

I. INTRODUCTION
The Landsat satellites era that began in 1972 will become a
nearly 44-year global land record with the successful launch
and operation of the Landsat Data Continuity Mission
(LDCM). Two generations of Landsat satellites has been
launched by National Aeronautics and Space Administration
(NASA) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The first
generation (Landsats 1, 2, and 3) operated from 1972 to 1985
and is essentially replaced by the second generation (Landsats
4, 5, and 7), which began in 1982 and continues to the present.
Landsat 6 of the second generation was launched in 1993, but
failed to reach orbit [1].
Fig. 1. Geological map of Sar Cheshmeh region[3].
Landsat-8 was launched on 4 February 2013 from
Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. It is an American
Earth observation satellite and the eighth satellite in the I. MATERIALS AND METHODS
Landsat program. Landsat-8 joins Landsat-7 on-orbit,
providing increased coverage of the Earth’s surface. It is in the A. Geology of the study area
form of free-flyer spacecraft carrying a two-sensor payload,
the Operational Land Imager (OLI) and the Thermal Infrared The Sar Cheshmeh porphyry copper deposit (55◦ 52′ 20″ E,
◦
Sensor (TIRS). These two instruments collect image data for 29 58′ 40″ N) is located 60 Km southwest of Kerman city in
nine visible, near-infrared, shortwave infrared bands and two Kerman province, southeastern part of Iran. Figure 2 shows
geological map of the Sar Cheshmeh area [3]. The deposit is
within a belt of Eocene volcanic rocks and Oligo-Miocene
subvolcanic granitoid rocks. Hydrothermal alteration and
mineralization at Sar Cheshmeh occur as stockworks, which
were broadly synchronous with the granitoid intrusives in their
emplacement. Early hydrothermal alteration was
predominantly potassic and propylitic, but followed later by
phyllic, silicic and argillic alteration.
B. Remote sensing data
A cloud-free level 1T (terrain corrected) Landsat-8 image
LC81600392013135LGN01 (Path/Row 160/39) were obtained
through the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources
Observation and Science Center (EROS)
(http://earthexplorer.usgs.gov). It was acquired on May 15,
2013 for the Sar Cheshmeh area. The image map projection is
UTM zone 40 North (Polar Stereographic for Antractica)
using the WGS-84 datum.
C. Data processing
Landsat-8 image of target site was processed using the
ENVI (Environment for Visualizing Images) version 4.8
software package. Landsat-8 data were converted to surface
reflectance using the Internal Average Relative Reflection
(IARR) method. The ability to discriminate between
hydrothermaly altered and unaltered rocks are considerable in
mineral exploration studies. Based on laboratory spectra of the
minerals related with hydrothermal alteration and lithological
units several Red-green-Blue (RGB) color combination
images and band ratios were created using Landsat-8 bands in
this research. Different Red-green-Blue (RGB) color
combination images were applied for enhancing the
hydrothermally altered rocks and lithological units at regional
scale. Band ratioing is a technique where the digital number
value of one band is divided by the digital number value of
another band. Band ratios are very useful for highlighting
certain features or materials that cannot be seen in the raw
bands [4].
II. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
The first spectral band of Landsat-8 (0.433-0.453 μm) is
designed as a deep-blue band for coastal water and aerosol
studies, so it cannot be used to detect geological features.
Band 1 excluded from RGB color combination image in this
section. A single RGB image was produced for visible bands
(2, 3 and 4) of Landsat-8 data. Band 2 has positioned in the
blue (0.450-0.515 μm), band 3 in green (0.525-0.600 μm) and
band 4 in red (0.630-0.680 μm) regions of the electromagnetic
spectrum. Natural RGB color combination image has been
assigned to bands 4, 3 and 2 for full scene of the image. Figure
4 shows the resultant image, geological features and
geomorphological framework are distinguishable at a regional
scale. Sar Cheshmeh copper mining district is located in the
southeastern part of the scene; it is within a belt of crystalline
igneous rocks. Textural characteristics of the igneous rocks
can be discriminated from sedimentary rock in the scene.
Structural features and sedimentary texture of rocks located in
the northwestern part of the scene are easily recognizable in
the natural RGB color combination of the visible bands (Fig.
2).
Fig.2. RGB color combination image of bands 2, 3 and 4 of Landsat-8 data.
RGB color combination image was allocated to near
infrared (band 5: 0.845-0.885 μm) and short wavelength
infrared bands (band 6:1.560-1.660 μm , band 7: 2.100-2.300
μm) of Landsat-8 data, respectively. Figure 3 shows the
resultant full scene image for the study area. Geological
features, including textural characteristics of the igneous and
sedimentary rocks, structural features and vegetation are
clearer than figure 2 at a regional scale. Vegetated areas are
appeared as light red color in the scene. Color and textural
features of the igneous and sedimentary rocks are more robust
in this scene. Additionally, hydrothermal altered rocks are also
recognizable as yellow color area within the belt of crystalline
igneous rocks in the Sar Cheshmeh copper mining district
(Fig. 3).
Two thermal infrared bands (bands 10 and 11) of Landsat-
8 have spectral coverage in 10.30-11.30 μm and 11.50-12.50
μm, respectively. The energy measured by TIR bands from the
Earth’s surface is a function of temperature as well as the
emissivity of the target, which is dependent on its chemistry
and texture.TIR bands of Landsat-8 have improved the quality
and applicability of the Landsat data in a variety of earth-
based and atmospheric phenomenon (Jhabvala et al., 2011).
Silicate minerals exhibit spectral features in the TIR. The
silica emissivity curve shows significant variation in 8.5 μm to
9.30 μm and 10.30 to 11.70 μm. There are clear minima in 8.5
μm to 9.30 μm while higher emissivity values can be seen in
10.30 to 11.70 μm (Watanabe and Matsuo, 2003). Figure 4
shows RGB color combination image of band 10 (10.30-11.30
μm), 11 (11.50-12.50 μm) and 7 (2.100-2.300

Fig. 3. RGB color combination image of band 5, 6 and 7of Landsat-8 data.
μm) of Landsat-8 at a regional scale. Rocks with high
emissivity value attributed to high silicate minerals in their
composition are manifested as red color in the image. On the
other hand, rocks with moderate and low emissivity value are
appeared as pink and blue colors, respectively (Fig. 4). Band 7
has been selected for RGB color combination image as
representative of rocks absorption features in SWIR region
due to Al–OH, Fe, Mg–OH, Si–O–H and CO3 in their
compositions (Pour and Hashim, 2012a,b). Hence, blue hue
areas contain low silicate minerals.
Fig. 4. RGB color combination image of band 10, 11 and 7 of Landsat-8 data.
For identification of hydrothermal alteration minerals
using Landsat-8 data, two band ratios have been developed
based on laboratory spectra of alteration minerals. Mapping
iron oxides is carried out using bands 2 and 4 because iron
oxide/hydroxide minerals such as hematite, jarosite and
limonite have high reflectance within 0.63 to 0.69 μm (the
equivalent to ETM+ band 3) and high absorption within 0.45
to 0.52 μm (the equivalent to ETM+ band 1). The analysis to
map clay and carbonate minerals must incorporate bands 6 and
7 attributed to high reflectance in the range of 1.55 to 1.75 μm
and high absorption in 2.08 to 2.35 μm that correspond with
ETM+ bands 5 and 7, respectively.
Band ratios derived from image spectra (4/2, 6/7, 5 and 10
in RGB) allows the identification of altered rocks, lithological
units and vegetation (Figs. 5 and 6). The alteration minerals
(hydrothermally altered rocks) are outlined in the images
where they appear as yellow color around known and mined
porphyry copper deposits, which are more visible in figure 6.
The known and mined copper deposits are highlighted by their
names in the Figures. The boundary between sedimentary
(Neogene redbed agglomerate and conglomerate) and igneous
rocks (Eocene-Oligocene volcanic rocks, Lower Eocene tuff
and volcanic rocks) units are also delimited in the resultant
images. Vegetation is manifested as red and purple colors in
the drainage system and background of both scenes (Figs. 5
and 6).
Fig.5. Band ratios of 4/2, 6/7, 5 in RGB.
The spatial distribution of the identified hydrothermally
altered rocks has been verified through in situ inspection.
Geological locations recorded by a Garmin® eTrex
Legend®H GPS. Samples for XRD analysis and spectral
reflectance measurements were collected from Sar Cheshmeh
mines and surrounding areas. According to X-ray diffraction
(XRD) analysis of collected rock samples, the minerals
predominantly was detected in altered rocks included
muscovite, illite, kaolinite, epidote, chlorite, calcite and
quartz.
Fig.6 Band ratios of 4/2, 6/7, 10 in RGB.
III. CONCLUSIONS
This study evaluates the applicability of Landsat-8 data to
extract geologic information for hydrothermal alteration and
lithological mapping using some selected image processing
methods. Sar Cheshmeh copper mining districts in
southeastern segment of the Urumieh-Dokhtar Volcanic Belt,
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SE Iran has been selected as case study. Results indicate that
Landsat-8 bands have great ability to yield spectral
information for identifying vegetation, iron oxide/hydroxide
and clay and carbonate minerals, silicate mineral and
lithological units for exploration purposes. The TIR bands of
Landsat-8 significantly improved the quality and availability
of TIR remote sensing data for lithological mapping. This
investigation demonstrates significant implications for
geologists to utilize Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS data for copper
deposits exploration in the future.
Acknowledgment
This study was conducted as a part of Fundamental
Research Grant scheme (FRGS) (Vote no:
R.J130000.7809.4F455), Ministry of Higher Education
(MOHE) Malaysia. We are thankful to the Universiti
Teknologi Malaysia for providing the facilities for this
investigation.
References
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GEOGRÁFICO AGUSTÍN CODAZZI Bogotá. Colombia 2013, pp. 3-
25, 2013.
[3] A.B Pour, M. Hashim, “Application of Spaceborne Thermal Emission
and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data in geological mapping,”
Intern.J. Physical Sciences, vol.6 (33), pp.7657-7668., 2011.
[4] J. Inzana, T. Kusky, G. Higgs, R. Tucker, “Supervised classifications of
Landsat TM band ratio images and Landsat TM band ratio image with
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