Thermal infrared multispectral remote sensing of lithology and mineralogy based on spectral properties of materials

Abstract The major minerals forming the Earth’s crust exhibit characteristic spectral properties in the thermal infrared (TIR; 7–14 µm) region of the spectrum, although most of them have few features in the visible and near infrared (0.4–2.5 µm) region. As there exists a good atmospheric window in the TIR spectral region, a number of multispectral TIR remote sensors have been developed by various agencies the world over for geological applications. This paper reviews such type of remote sensing systems, and especially focuses attention on the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER). The spectroscopic basis in analyzing and interpreting the multispectral TIR remote sensing data is discussed. It includes a review of the historical studies, methodology of spectral measurements and comparison of spectra measured in laboratory/field with that derived from the remotely sensed data. Subsequently, the studies of lithology and mineralogy using TIR multispectral remote sensing data by various workers are reviewed. The various spectral indices proposed by the authors for extracting information on the mineralogy or chemistry of the target geological materials are summarized.