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Abrams, M. J.

Publications and source records attributed to Abrams, M. J..

At least 19 records
All sourcesNASA NTRSDOE OSTI
NASA NTRS2001

Current Activity of the U.S. ASTER Science Team

The U.S. ASTER Science Team is currently engaged in numerous ASTER related activities, many of them jointly with our Japanese colleagues. These include vicarious instrument calibration, algorithm development and validation for higher level data products, assistance to ERSDAC for scheduling activities (primarily for U.S. users), assistance to data users other than Science Team members, and science applications of ASTER data, notably in the areas of glacial monitoring, volcanic monitoring, heat balance determinations, geologic mapping, and cloud studies.

ASTER instrument calibration algorithm development↗
NASA NTRS1988

Mapping in the Oman ophiolite using enhanced Landsat Thematic Mapper images

The level of apparent lithological discrimination possible with Landsat TM images in the Oman are discussed. It is found that by using parts of the short-wavelength IR spectrum, the discrimination revealed by the TM data is sufficiently uniform throughout the Oman ophiolite to produce lithological maps at 1:100,000 scale. Decorrelation stretching of the data produces images in which allows for the recognition of variations in gabbro composition, the identification of small acidic, gabbroic, and ultramafic intrusions, the discrimation of the uppermost mantle from the deeper mantle, the precise location of the Moho, and the delineation of gossans and areas subject to choritic-epidotic alteration.

Abrams, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1986

Imaging spectrometry: Aircraft and space program

Imaging spectrometry for the remote sensing of the Earth is introduced. Reflected solar energy from the surface is dispersed in a spectrometer and used to form up to 200 registered spectral images. Each pixel has associated with it sufficient information for the reconstruction of a complete reflectance spectrum. The technique allows the diagnostic narrow band spectral features that are characteristic of many surface materials to be used to identify those materials. These spectral features are typically 20 to 40 nm wide; spectral imaging systems which acquire data in contiguous 10 nm bands therefore have sufficient resolution for direct identification of those materials with diagnostic spectral bands.

Abrams, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Imaging spectrometry: Past, present, future

Imaging spectrometry for the remote sensing of the Earth from aircraft and satellites is discussed. Results with an aircraft instrument show that remote, direct identification of surface materials is possible. The airborne and spaceborne sensors can acquire images in 100 to 200 spectral bands. The next generation aircraft scanner (AVIRIS) is expected to be operational in 1987. Plans are underway for a Shuttle instrument (SISEX) to fly in 1991.

Abrams, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1985

Performance evaluation and geologic utility of LANDSAT-4 thematic mapper data

The overall objective of the project was to evaluate LANDSAT-4 Thematic Mapper (TM) data in the context of geologic applications. This involved a quantitative assessment of the data quality including the spatial and spectral characteristics realized by the instrument. Three test sites were selected for the study: (1) Silver Bell, Arizona; (2) Death Valley, California; and (3) Wind River/Bighorn Basin area, Wyoming. Conclusions include: (1) Artificial and natural targets can be used to atmospherically calibrate TM data and investigate scanner radiometry, atmospheric parameters, and construction of atmospheric Modulation Transfer Functions (MTF's), (2) No significant radiometric degradation occurs in TM data as a result of SCROUNGE processing; however, the data exhibit narrow digital number (DN) distributiosn suggesting that the configuration of the instrument is not optimal for each science applications, (30 Increased spatial resolution, 1:24,000 enlargement capability, and good geometric fidelity of TM data allow accurate photogeologic/geomorphic mapping, including relative age dating of alluvial fans, measurement of structural and bedding attitudes, and construction of such things as structural cross sections and stratigraphic columns. (4) TM bands 5 and 7 are particularly useful for geologic applications because they span a region of the spectrum not previously sampled by multispectral scanner data and are important for characterizing clay and carbonate materials.

Paylor, E. D.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Geologic mapping using thermal images

Thermal radiance data from the Heat Capacity Mapping Mission (HCMM) satellite has been used to measure surface reflectance data and to provide additional material composition information through remote sensing. The primary goal was to investigate the utility of HCMM data for geologic applications. Three techniques were used for displaying and combining thermal and visible near infrared (VNIR) data for two desert areas in southern California (Trona and Pisgah): color additive composites (CAC) for day and night IR and day VNIR, principal components, and calculation of thermal inertia images. The HCMM thermal data were more effective than Landsat data in producing separation of compositionally different areas including volcanic and intrusive rocks. The satellite CAC data produced an image for a 1 x 2 degree area, and the color picture was enlarged to a scale of 1:250,000. Playa composition, moisture content, presence of standing water, and vegetation cover were displayed in a variety of colors according to physical characteristics. Areas such as sand dunes were not distinguishable because of the coarse 500-mm HCMM resolution. HCMM thermal data have shown a new dimension to geologic remote sensing, and future satellite missions should allow the continued development of the thermal infrared data for geology.

Abrams, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1984

Landsat-4 thematic mapper and thematic mapper simulator data for a porphyry copper deposit

Aircraft thematic mapper (TM) data were analyzed to evaluate the potential utility of the Landsat-4 thematic mapper for geologic mapping and detection of hydrothermal alteration zones in the Silver Bell porphyry copper deposit in southern Arizona. The data allow a comparison between aircraft TV simulator data and the Landsat-4 TM satellite data which possess similar spectral bands. A color rationcomposite of 30-m pixels was resampled, in order to clearly define a number of hydroxyl bearing minerals, (kaolinite, sericite, white mica), pyrite and iron oxide/hydroxide minerals. The iron oxide minerals have diagnostic absorption bands in the 0.45 and 0.85 micron regions of the spectrum, and the hydrous minerals are characterized by an absorption in the 2.2 micron region. The position of the spectral bands allow the TM to identify regions of hydrothermal alteration without resorting to a data processing algorithm. The comparison of the aircraft and Landsat-4 TM data showed considerable agreement, and confirmed the utility of TM data for identifying hydrothermal alteration zones. Samples of some color TM images are provided.

Abrams, M. J.↗
NASA NTRS1983

Mapping hydrothermal alteration using aircraft VNIR scanners at the Rosemont porphyry copper deposit

Two Visible-Near Infrared (VNIR) scanners, the NS-001 and the M2S, were flown over the Rosemont porphyry copper deposit as part of the NASA/JPL/GEOSAT test site program. This program was established to determine the feasibility and limitations of mapping hydrothermal alteration with multispectral scanners. Data from the NS-001 at 0.83 and 2.2 microns were used to identify Fe(3+) and OH enriched outcrops. These areas were then correlated with three alteration assemblages. The first correlation, hematite-epidote, was the most obvious and appeared as a strong ferric iron signature associated with hematite stained Cretaceous arkoses and andesites. The second correlation, qtz-sericite, showed a combined ferric-hydroxyl signature for a phyllicly altered quartz monzonite. The third correlation, skarn, was identified only after a review of calc-silicate mineral VNIR spectra. Altered limestones that outcrop west of the deposit have a similar ferric iron-hydroxyl signature as the quartz-sericite altered quartz monzonite. This skarn signature has been interpreted to indicate the presence of andradite, hydro-grossularite and idocrase. Data from the second scanner, M2S, was used to search for variation in ferric iron mineral type. Resulting imagery data indicated that hematite was the dominant ferric iron mineral present in the Rosemont area.

Sadowski, R. M.↗
NASA NTRS1982

Evaluation of thermal data for geologic applications

Sensitivity studies using thermal models indicated sources of errors in the determination of thermal inertia from HCMM data. Apparent thermal inertia, with only simple atmospheric radiance corrections to the measured surface temperature, would be sufficient for most operational requirements for surface thermal inertia. Thermal data does have additional information about the nature of surface material that is not available in visible and near infrared reflectance data. Color composites of daytime temperature, nighttime temperature, and albedo were often more useful than thermal inertia images alone for discrimination of lithologic boundaries. A modeling study, using the annual heating cycle, indicated the feasibility of looking for geologic features buried under as much as a meter of alluvial material. The spatial resolution of HCMM data is a major limiting factor in the usefulness of the data for geologic applications. Future thermal infrared satellite sensors should provide spatial resolution comparable to that of the LANDSAT data.

Kahle, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Geologic application of thermal inertia imaging using HCMM data

Three test sites in the western US were selected to discriminate among surface geologic materials on the basis of their thermal properties as determined from HCMM data. Attempts to determine quantitatively accurate thermal inertia values from HCMM digital data met with only partial success due to the effects of sensor miscalibrations, radiative transfer in the atmosphere, and varying meteorology and elevation across a scene. In most instances, apparent thermal inertia was found to be an excellent qualitative representation of true thermal inertia. Computer processing of digital day and night HCMM data allowed construction of geologically useful images. At some test sites, more information was provided by data than LANDSAT data. Soil moisture effects and differences in spectrally dark materials were more effectively displayed using the thermal data.

Kahle, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS1981

Some examples of the utility of HCMM data in geologic remote sensing

Examples of HCMM (Heat Capacity Mapping Mission) data in geologic remote sensing are presented, and the data set is composed of HCMM and aircraft digital scanner data and ground truth data from four western U.S. test sites. Data are used in the thermal model to test thermal data effectiveness, and changes in temperature with depth and time for dry soils are described by the model. It is found that the HCMM thermal inertia image is useful in the separability of bedrock and alluvium in Death Valley, and aa and pahoehoe flows in the Pisgah basalt flow. In a color composite of HCMM day temperature, night temperature, and day visible images of the Pisgah Crater test site, it is possible to distinguish alluvium, playa, aa and pahoehoe basalt flow, rhyolite intrusives, and other elements. Ground checking of units at a few points will extend capabilities to large areas and assist in creating telegeologic maps.

Kahle, A. B.↗
NASA NTRS1980

Spectral reflectance and discrimination of plutonic rocks in the 0.45- to 2.45-micron region

Visible and near-infrared field spectral reflectance measurements of plutonic rocks were acquired in the 0.45- to 2.45-micron region with a portable field reflectance spectrometer. These spectra were used to determine spectral signatures for the various rock types and to evaluate the separability of these rocks based on their spectral characteristics. A total of 135 samples were divided into 11 groups based on their mineralogy. These 11 groups approximately correspond to traditional rock classifications and include five granitic groups, three gabbroic groups, and three ultramafic groups. The positions, intensity, and presence of iron, CO3(-2), and Al-OH and Mg-OH absorption bands varied among the 11 groups. Each rock group also had a range of albedos characteristic of the group. Stepwise linear discriminant analysis was performed on the spectral data to determine the separability of the 11 groups. Classification accuracy for 30 equally spaced wavelength bands between 0.45 and 2.45 microns was 78% with 10% serious misclassifications. The same analysis was repeated, limiting the spectral data to the wavelength regions corresponding to the proposed Landsat D thematic mapper scanner.

Blom, R. G.↗
NASA NTRS1979

Detection and mapping of hydrothermally altered rocks in the vicinity of the comstock lode, Virginia Range, Nevada, using enhanced LANDSAT images

The author has identified the following significant results. LANDSAT images enhanced by the band-ratioing method can be used for reconnaissance alteration mapping in moderately heavily vegetated semiarid terrain as well as in sparsely vegetated to semiarid terrain where the technique was originally developed. Significant vegetation cover in a scene, however, requires the use of MSS ratios 4/5, 4/6, and 6/7 rather than 4/5, 5/6, and 6/7, and requires careful interpretation of the results. Supplemental information suitable to vegetation identification and cover estimates, such as standard LANDSAT false-color composites and low altitude aerial photographs of selected areas is desirable.

Ashley, R. P.↗