Possibility of Using Remote Sensing Techniques as a Tool in Exploration of Marble Deposits in Sri Lanka
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Date
2018
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Publisher
Uva Wellassa University of Sri Lanka
Abstract
Remote sensing with the aid of hyper-spectral data are widely used in mineral
exploration. However in Sri Lankan context remote sensing has not been used for
mineral exploration due to nonexistence of most of required data and the vegetation
cover is one of the major factor that limit the remote sensing approach. From that,
the study area Balangoda and Mathale consist of rapid variation in elevation that
may cause shadow effect which restrict the reflection of solar radiation. This study
investigates the possibility of using freely accessible multispectral data for marble
exploration. Classification techniques and topographical features were used to
locate calcite and dolomite occurrences in the study area. Shuttle Radar Topography
Mission (SRTM) data were used for topographic feature identification and Sentinel2 data were used for accurate classification. Anticline-syncline formations and
fractured zones were identified using SRTM data. Effective classified images were
obtained from Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 data processing. Training polygons was
used to extract the spectral signature in each data set. Although direct spectral
signatures of calcite and dolomite are not prominent in remote sensing images,
indirect indicators help in delineating possible mineralizing zones. Decision tree for
each data set was used in classification process. This study proves that using
relatively high resolution data acquired from Sentinel-2 can be used for more
effective classification than Landsat-8 data sets in mineral explanations.
Keywords: Remote sensing, Mineral exploration, Marble, SRTM, Landsat-8, Sentinel-2.
Description
Keywords
Materials Sciences, Mineral Sciences