Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
DOI 10.1007/s12517-012-0725-0
ORIGINAL PAPER
Remote sensing techniques using Landsat ETM+ applied
to the detection of iron ore deposits in Western Africa
Andrea Ciampalini & Francesca Garfagnoli &
Benedetta Antonielli & Sandro Moretti & Gaia Righini
Received: 27 February 2012 / Accepted: 16 October 2012 / Published online: 30 October 2012
# Saudi Society for Geosciences 2012
Abstract Remote sensing methods enable the rapid and
inexpensive mapping of surface geological and mineralogi-
cal features. This capability proves highly useful when
working on isolated or inaccessible areas. In this study,
several enhancements of Landsat Enhanced Thematic
Mapper plus (i.e. band ratios, false colour composites and
principal component analysis) were used and evaluated to
obtain the best possible visualisation of iron deposits hosted
in the Devonian sedimentary rocks of northwestern Africa.
In particular, two test sites were chosen: southern Algeria
(Djebilet area), where the literature mineralogical and geo-
logical data on iron mine fields were already available, and
the Western Sahara (the southern flank of Tindouf Basin),
which was investigated during a field campaign and was
where the occurrence of an analogous sedimentary succes-
sion led us to hypothesise the possible presence of exploit-
able iron deposits. This work demonstrates the usefulness of
multispectral imagery in the detection of iron-rich areas
and establishes a full remote sensing procedure, which
can be profitably applied to a wider region of Western
Sahara and can provide interesting perspectives on the
possibility of detecting new exploitable iron ore deposits
in arid environments.
Keywords Iron . Western Sahara . Landsat 7 ETM+ .
Mineral detection . PCA . OIF
A. Ciampalini (*) : F. Garfagnoli : B. Antonielli : S. Moretti
Department of Earth Sciences, University of Firenze,
Via La Pira 4,
50121 Firenze, Italy
e-mail: andrea.ciampalini@unifi.it
G. Righini
ENEA (Italian National Agency for New Technologies,
Energy and Sustainable Economic Development),
Via Martiri di Monte Sole 4,
40129 Bologna, Italy
Introduction
The extraction of metallic minerals (e.g. hematite, limonite,
goethite and magnetite) derived from iron ores is important
for the product industries utilising iron and steel and for the
infrastructure requirements of agriculture, where the ores
can be used as fertilisers. The determination of the spatial
distribution of iron oxyhydroxides becomes crucial in plan-
ning for the exploration of mineral resources. In remote
sensing, satellite and airborne multispectral or hyperspectral
sensors are used to measure the properties of the land, sea
and atmosphere. Compared to the most traditional methods,
this technique offers the possibility of covering large areas
quickly and often at a relatively low cost. This method is
generally used to monitor the state of the environment, to
observe and study Earth surface processes and to map
lithologies and natural resources, such as iron ore deposits.
The multispectral sensors carried by the Thematic Mapper
(TM) and the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+)
mounted on the Landsat satellites are the most used in
mineral exploration (Salem et al. 2011). Interesting results
were obtained using the TM/ETM+ data in mapping iron-
rich deposits (Dogan 2008, 2009; Ferrari 1992; Kaufmann
1988; Kenea 1997; Kenea and Haenisch 1996; Sabins
1999). For instance, iron oxides were mapped in the
Zagros Belt (Tangestani and Moore 2000), in Sudan
(Elsayed Zeinelabdein and Albiely 2008) and in Egypt
(Ramadan and Kotny 2004).Various image-processing tech-
niques (band ratios, colour composites, principal component
transformation, intensity hue saturation decorrelation pro-
cessing) aimed at emphasising band spectral contrast have
been used to map mineral distributions, such as those of iron
oxides (Al Rawashdeh et al. 2006; Dehnavi et al. 2010;
Madani 2009; Shalaby et al. 2010). Other more recent
remote sensing data have been used to enhance the detection
of iron ore deposits but must be purchased, while the
4530
Landsat ETM+ data are free. The correct choice of enhance-
ment method is crucial to highlight the target mineral. The
research described in this paper has been conducted in the
framework of a project executed in cooperation with the
Cooperation Office of the Saharawi Arab Democratic
Republic (SADR), which has the final goal of enhancing the
development and emancipation of the Saharawi population
through the discovery of new economic mineral deposits. The
aim of this work is to evaluate the presence of iron ore deposits
in the northeastern part of the Western Sahara using remote
sensing techniques (Landsat ETM+ imagery). The selected
area (Fig. 1) is not easily accessible due to the present political
situation in that area and remains almost completely unex-
plored, with few detailed geological maps and other ancillary
data. To overcome these problems, a field campaign was
performed in the primary test area in the SADR. A second
test site 350 km to the east in the Djebilet area of southern
Algeria (Fig. 1) was chosen as a comparison and studied with
the same techniques; it was characterised by the same lithol-
ogies and hosted three well-known iron ore deposits. Two of
them (Gara Centre and Gara East) were considered in this
study. The data collected in Western Sahara during the field
campaign, the bibliographic data regarding the mineralogy
and geochemistry of the Algeria test site (Guerrak 1988a, b,
1991) and the processed images of Algeria have been used to
adjust the results obtained from the Western Sahara images.
This adjustment was made given the assumptions that the
same succession outcropping in Western Sahara has similar
spectral properties and may host iron deposits, as well. The
samples collected in the Western Sahara test site for ground
Fig. 1 Schematic geological map of Western Africa and locations of the study areas (modified from Guerrak 1988b)
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
truth have been used to validate the remotely sensed images
that have been processed. We present the results as colour
composites from the most suitable enhancements using band
ratioing, as principal component analysis (PCA) and to note
the occurrence of possible iron ore deposits in Western Sahara.
ITTVS software ENVI® 4.7 and ILWIS 3.3 were used to
enhance the selected images.
Geological setting
After a preliminary interpretation of the ETM + multispec-
tral images, two test sites have been selected. The first is
located in southwestern Algeria near the border with
Mauritania (Fig. 1). The second area is located in the north-
ern part of the Liberated Territories of Western Sahara and is
surrounded by the Moroccan defence wall to the north and
the Mauritanian frontier to the south (Fig. 1). The Algerian
site was selected because it is formed by the same
Palaeozoic sedimentary sequence outcropping in Western
Sahara. In Algeria, the stratigraphy and the location of the
major oolitic iron ore deposits (hematite–chamosite–sider-
ite-bearing formations with an oolitic texture and lenticular
beds) are well-known (Guerrak 1988a, b, 1991; Guerrak and
Chauvel 1985; Lubeseder et al. 2009), whereas no detailed
studies of the geology of Western Sahara exist. Both areas
are located along the southern flank of the WSW–ENE-
oriented Tindouf Basin, which is approximately 800 km
long (Fig. 1). The sediments deposited in the Tindouf
Basin range date from the Cambrian to Quaternary
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
(Villeneuve 2005), but the complete sedimentary succession
is exposed only along the flanks of the basin. While the
northern flank has been extensively studied, detailed geo-
logical findings about the southern flank have yet to be
published. The sedimentary succession of the Tindouf
Basin overlaps the Reguibat Shield southwards along the
southern flank, where the succession is thinnest and almost
undisturbed (Guerrak 1988b). The Precambrian Reguibat
Shield is formed by Archaean terrains older than 3.5 Ga
(Potrel et al. 1996). The sedimentary wedge deepens gently
northward toward the basin depocentre (Lubeseder et al.
2009). The sediments of the southern flank have been stud-
ied in detail in Algeria near the village of Djebilet (Fig. 2)
(Guerrak 1988a, b), where a representative sequence crops
out. The target of this paper concerns the Ordovician–Lower
Devonian part of the sedimentary sequence, where iron ore
deposits have been detected in Algeria. The oldest sedi-
ments occurring in the study area consist of Cambro-
Ordovician continental sandstones, which have a thickness
that varies between 0 and 70 m (Guerrak 1988a, b). These
deposits comprise a coarsening upwards sequence deposited
within shallow shelf environments (Guerrak 1991). The
Silurian deposits, 80 to 200 m thick, correspond to a fining
upward sequence representing a marine transgression
formed by green and purple shales rich in graptolites
(Legrand 1969). The Silurian deposits are overlain by a
thick sequence (as much as 650 m) of Devonian sediments
(Guerrak 1988b; Villeneuve 2005). Within the Lower
Devonian deposits, three coarsening upward sequences
and one fining upward sequence were recognised (Guerrak
1988a, b).
Fig. 2 Schematic geological map of the Djebilet (Algeria) test site
(modified from Guerrak 1988b)
4531
The first Devonian sequence (Lochkovian) represents a
progradation of the environments from offshore to a shoreface
and consists of mudstones with fine-grained sandstone layers.
These sediments measuring 6 to 30 m in thickness are partic-
ularly rich in fossils (e.g. Brachiopods, Tentaculites, Bivalves,
Corals and Crinoids). In the Djebilet area, the uppermost
sediments are characterised by the lenticular calcareous sand-
stones of the shoreface environment, which are considered to
be local ironstones deposits (LOIDs) by Guerrak (1991; see
below) but are lacking in economic interest. The Lochkovian
mudstones, which are notably rich in fossils, were recognised
during the field survey in the Western Sahara test site, but the
sequence was lacking in calcareous sandstones.
The second coarsening upward sequence has a transgres-
sive base and shows progradation of the depositional envi-
ronments, passing from the offshore mudstones and
siltstones to the shoreface sandstones (barrier island envi-
ronment), foreshore sandstones characterised by tabular
cross-bedding (beach sediments) and finally to continental
deposits, which consist of aeolian dunes with tabular–planar
cross-bedding and fossil vegetation (Lemoigne 1967). In the
Western Sahara test site, this coarsening upwards sequence
is primarily composed of offshore mudstones and siltstones
and shoreface sandstones.
The last coarsening upward sequence (Pragian), measur-
ing 6 to 30 m in thickness, shows a transition from the
foreshore, parallel laminated argillaceous sandstones to the
sandstones containing iron ore ooliths (Fig. 3), deposited
within a lagoon or embayment environment and character-
ised by an upward decrease in quartz content to form rich
iron ore. The iron-rich sandstones are widespread in the
Western Sahara test site, where they were recognised and
sampled (Fig. 3).
During the Emsian stage (Lower Devonian), a new trans-
gression covered the entire Sahara platform, allowing the
deposition of a fining upward sequence (Legrand 1967),
formed by shallow shelf deposits (Guerrak 1988b) consist-
ing of conglomerates, sandstones and siltstones and organ-
ised in a 10-m-thick fining upward sequence. The last
coarsening upward sequence is the most interesting because,
in Algeria, the iron ores have also been found within it. Two
types of oolitic ironstone sandstone deposits (OISs) were
recognised by Guerrak (1988b) near Djebilet (Algeria): the
extensive iron deposits (EXID-OIS) extend over ten to
several hundred kilometres but are only a few metres thick
and the local iron deposits (LOID-OIS) characterised by a
restricted extension measuring as many as 30 m thick. The
OISs classified as LOIDs (Guerrak 1988a, b) in southern
Algeria are economically more important than the EXID.
From a mineralogical point of view, the iron ore deposits
consist of magnetite, hematite, goethite, maghemite, chamo-
site, siderite and pyrite, but magnetite, chamosite and hema-
tite are the most representative (Guerrak 1988b). The source
4532
Fig. 3 Iron-rich sandstones in
the Western Sahara test site. a
Overview of the Western
Sahara test site; b laminated
iron-rich sandstones; c collected
sample
of the iron contained within the Devonian deposits was
probably located southward of the study areas in the
Reguibat Shield, which was eroded by rivers flowing con-
temporaneously with the deposition of the sedimentary se-
quence. The mobilisation of iron can be related to a change
in the oxidation–reduction conditions during the post-
Silurian uplift phase, which involved the northern sector of
the Reguibat Shield (Guerrak 1991). The dissolution of iron
(III) in soils as iron (II) was favoured by reducing environ-
ments (Rajesh 2008). The removal of iron (II) in solution by
river action resulted in the bleaching of the Precambrian
rocks and the precipitation of iron in the deltaic depositional
systems of the Tindouf Basin to form iron-rich, originally
chamositic, ooids. The presence of abundant chamosite
(iron silicate) indicates a low Eh environment, which indi-
cates that intra-sedimentary processes of accretion devel-
oped around scattered grains dipped within iron-rich
(chamosite) mud in calm waters (James and Van Houten
1979). These coated grains were reworked and broken in
agitated waters and were partially oxidised, enabling the
transformation of chamosite into hematite and of the latter
into goethite (Guerrak 1988b).
Methodologies
Two subsets of many ETM+ scenes have been used to
evaluate the best approaches for the enhancement of multi-
spectral images to detect iron ore districts in arid environ-
ments. The Landsat ETM+ 201/41 image (16 March 2006)
and Landsat ETM+ 203/42 image (12 October 2000) have
been used for the Algerian test site and for the Western
Sahara test site, respectively. The difference in the date of
acquisition is not considered crucial in arid desert environ-
ments (Al Rawashdeh et al. 2007). Both images were
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
downloaded from the Global Land Cover Facilities website
(http://glcf.umiacs.umd.edu/) and calibrated using the ENVI
4.7 Landsat 7 ETM+ calibration tool to convert digital
numbers to spectral radiance. To perform a preliminary
chemical analysis, the samples collected during the field
campaign were analysed using the scanning electron micro-
scope of the MEMA (Centro Interdipartimentale di
Microscopia Elettronica e Microanalisi of the University of
Firenze). The results suggest that the iron content of ores
ranges between 45 and 66 % in weight.
Several examples of processing techniques using the six
bands of Landsat 7 ETM+ images have been proposed to
discriminate lithologies and to highlight the abundance of
minerals or natural resources (Al Rawashdeh et al. 2007;
Dehnavi et al. 2010; Dogan 2008, 2009; Elsayed
Zeinelabdein and Albiely 2008; Kaufmann 1988; Madani
2009; Ramadan and Kotny 2004; Rajesh 2008; Sabins
1999; Shalaby et al. 2010). Of the eight spectral bands that
form the ETM+ images, six have been used in this study.
Moreover, because the ETM+ sensor also provides a pan-
chromatic band, the spatial resolution of which is increased
from 30 to 15 m, the spatial resolution of each band was
artificially magnified through pan-sharpening. The false
colour composites (FCCs) of the ETM+ bands are often
used to discriminate lithologies (Alessandro et al. 1997;
Shalaby et al. 2010). This basic technique uses three select-
ed bands as the primary colours of red, green and blue
(RGB) to emphasise the discrepancies between areas char-
acterised by different lithologies. Furthermore, an FCC can
be used to detect alteration zones (Dehnavi et al. 2010),
especially by combining three ratio images in RGB
(Elsayed Zeinelabdein and Albiely 2008; Sabins 1999).
Time can be saved using the optimum index factor (OIF)
technique to detect the best FCC, which is able to show the
maximum amount of information contained in the available
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
Table 1 OIF ranking for the six
most representative band com- Rank ETM as RGB Algeria
binations of ETM data for the
Algerian and Western Sahara 1 157
(WS) sub-scenes 2 147
3 137
4 127
5 145
6 135
bands (Alessandro et al. 1997; Chavez et al. 1982; Patel and
Kaushal 2011; Qaid and Basavarajappa 2008; Zumsprekel
and Prinz 2000). The FCCs with the highest OIF value
statistically correspond to the more informative band com-
binations, which are composed of the less correlated bands
with the highest standard deviation. The differences in con-
trast and colour tones provide information concerning the
lithologies and/or the occurrence of altered zones. The cal-
culation of the OIF is based on the amount of total variance
and on the correlation between bands (Chavez et al. 1982).
The band ratios of Landsat ETM+ have been extensively
used to produce geological and alteration maps because the
ratioing procedure reduces the effect of variations in topog-
raphy and albedo, while this procedure highlights the differ-
ences in shape of the spectral reflectance curves (Howari et
al. 2007; Pease et al. 1999; Sabins 1999). The iron oxide and
sulphate minerals associated with hydrothermally altered or
weathered rocks have been extensively investigated using
band ratios (Al Rawashdeh et al. 2007; Dehnavi et al. 2010;
Dogan 2008, 2009; Elsayed Zeinelabdein and Albiely 2008;
Kaufmann 1988; Madani 2009; Ramadan and Kotny 2004;
Sabins 1999; Shalaby et al. 2010). Usually, the six multi-
spectral ETM+ bands are highly correlated and cause prob-
lems in spectral redundancy. A reduction of the redundancy
allows for the compression of the amount of data required to
describe a multispectral image. The PCA is generally used
to compress the multispectral data sets by calculating a new
coordinate system. This technique is a notably useful
Fig. 4 ETM+ 127 as RGB space of the Algeria sub-scene. The presence of iron oxides corresponds to the darkest zones. a Gara Centre, b Gara
East
4533
OIF Algeria ETM as RGB WS OIF WS
94.48 147 69.94
92.81 157 69.61
91.02 145 69.27
89.12 137 69.13
88.93 127 68.81
87.01 135 68.57
multivariate statistical method applied to multiple correlated
bands to obtain new uncorrelated components (Loughlin
1991), known as principal components (PCs), which can
be analysed and used to create FCCs in RGB (Al
Rawashdeh et al. 2007; Alessandro et al. 1997; Kaufmann
1988; Kenea and Haenisch 1996; Siljestrom et al. 1997;
Zumsprekel and Prinz 2000). The first PC accounts for as
much of the variability in the data as possible (i.e. it has a
high correlation). Each succeeding component axis in turn
“consumes” the highest possible variance in the remaining
data space and is orthogonal to (uncorrelated with) the
preceding components. The FCCs created using the PCs
obtained is considered the most revealing technique to de-
tect the areas characterised by superficial alteration
(Loughlin 1991). The PCA transformation can be applied
using different procedures. The most commonly used PCA
transformation is the unstandardised PCA of the six reflec-
tive bands using the covariance matrix for the entire scene
(Al Rawashdeh et al. 2007; Alessandro et al. 1997; Aydal et
al. 2007; Kaufmann 1988; Kenea and Haenisch 1996;
Loughlin 1991; Zumsprekel and Prinz 2000).
Alternatively, the standardised PCA using the correlation
matrix proposed by Kenea and Haenisch (1996) increases
the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR; Ready and Wintz 1973;
Singh and Harrison 1985) by reducing the noise distribu-
tion. Alteration maps can be obtained using the selective
principal component analysis (SPCA) (Loughlin 1991),
which involves analysing part of the available bands
4534 Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546

Fig. 5 ETM+ band ratios 3/5, 4/1 and 5/7 as RGB, respectively. The presence of iron oxides corresponds to the reddish zones. a Western Sahara, b
Gara Centre, c Gara East

(usually four) related to the spectral signatures of specific
targets.
Results
Compositing
Table 1 shows the OIF ranking of the six most significant
three-band combinations for the Algeria and Western Sahara
sub-scenes. The OIF for the Algerian sub-scene (Table 1)
suggests that the 157-band combination statistically con-
tains the maximum information, showing a value of 94.48,
whereas for Western Sahara (Table 1), the best combination
is 147 (OIF069.94). Despite the slight variation of the OIF
values throughout the Western Sahara test site, it highlights
the lithological boundaries, which correspond to those
reported in the 1:1,000,000 geological map of Morocco
(Saadi et al. 1985) with almost complete precision; however,
it is not suitable to detect the iron ore deposits. On the
contrary, for the Algerian test site, ETMs 157 and 147 as
RGB highlight both the iron ore deposits in Gara East and

Fig. 6 Negation of the ratio image of ETM+ bands 4/1 in southern Algeria. The presence of iron oxides corresponds to the brightest zones. The
rectangles represent the Gara Centre and Gara East test sites
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546 4535

Fig. 7 Negation of the ratio image of ETM+ bands 4/1 in Western Sahara. The presence of iron oxides corresponds to the brightest zones. The WS1
rectangle represents the area investigated during the field campaign

Gara Centre (Djebilet) described by Guerrak (1988b), but
the best combination for differentiating lithologies results is
127 as RGB (Fig. 4). The FCCs using band ratios in RGB
suggested by Sabins (1999) used the combination of the
ratios 3/5, 3/1 and 5/7 in RGB, respectively, to detect altered
rocks characterised by both ferric iron and hydrothermal
clays. This colour composite proved to be notably useful
in highlighting the areas characterised by the presence of
iron ore deposits both in Djebilet and in Western Sahara.
The same results were obtained by replacing the ratio 3/1
with 4/1 (Fig. 5) for the reasons described in the next
paragraph. A similar output was obtained using the com-
posite 5/7, 5/4 and 3/1 in RGB, respectively, as suggested by
Elsayed Zeinelabdein and Albiely (2008), to detect the
altered rocks containing hydroxyl and iron oxides (ferric
and ferrous), whereas the FCC produced using bands 5/7,
3/1 and 4/3 suggested by the same authors does not fit for
either study area. Dehnavi et al. (2010) proposed an FCC

Fig. 8 Negation of ETM+ ratio 4/1 images with density slice. a WS1 sub-scene; b Gara Centre sub-scene; c Gara East sub-scene
4536 Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546

Fig. 9 Ratio images of ETM+ bands 5/4. The presence of iron oxides corresponds to the brightest zones. a WS1 sub-scene; b Gara Centre sub-
scene; c Gara East sub-scene

based on band subtractions b1−b2 (R), b4−b2 (G) and b5−
b7 (B), but this FCC is not suitable to map the iron ore
deposits for the selected test sites.
Band ratioing
The 3/1 ratio image is the most used to detect iron oxy-
hydroxides by enhancing their redness in natural colour (Al
Rawashdeh et al. 2007; Dogan 2008, 2009; Elsayed
Zeinelabdein and Albiely 2008; Madani 2009; Ramadan
and Kotny 2004; Shalaby et al. 2010), as they usually
exhibit low blue reflectance (band 1) and high red reflec-
tance (band 3) (Dehnavi et al. 2010; Sabins 1999). Thus, the
3/1 ratio image usually highlights the presence of hematite
and goethite with high values (Al Rawashdeh et al. 2007).
The high concentrations of ferric iron can be emphasised
with a colour density slice, which transforms the value of
the 3/1 ratio in every pixel into a series of density ranges that
are assigned colours. The 3/1 ratio map and the related
density slice elaboration in both the Western Sahara and
the Algeria test sites partially fit to the ground truth infor-
mation collected during the field investigation for the former
case and to the bibliographic data (Guerrak 1988a, b) for the
latter, respectively. As a matter of fact, the areas within the
test sites, which are characterised by the presence of ferric
iron, correspond to the darkest zones in the 3/1 ratio image
instead of the bright grey as suggested by many authors (Al
Rawashdeh et al. 2007; Dogan 2008, 2009; Elsayed

Table 2 Correlation matrix of the Algerian and Western Sahara (WS) sub-scenes

ETM band Algeria WS

1 2 3 4 5 7 1 2 3 4 5 7

1 1.000 0.982 0.926 0.910 0.840 0.768 1.000 0.968 0.936 0.935 0.918 0.863
2 0.982 1.000 0.953 0.941 0.886 0.820 0.968 1.000 0.951 0.947 0.932 0.878
3 0.926 0.953 1.000 0.993 0.954 0.882 0.936 0.951 1.000 0.994 0.982 0.938
4 0.910 0.941 0.993 1.000 0.977 0.919 0.935 0.947 0.994 1.000 0.987 0.948
5 0.840 0.886 0.954 0.977 1.000 0.975 0.918 0.932 0.982 0.987 1.000 0.966
7 0.768 0.820 0.882 0.919 0.975 1.000 0.863 0.878 0.938 0.948 0.966 1.000
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546 4537

Table 3 Covariance matrix of the Algerian and Western Sahara (WS) sub-scenes

ETM Algeria WS
band
1 2 3 4 5 7 1 2 3 4 5 7

1 661.879 743.260 553.400 682.395 425.700 318.742 440.569 500.366 432.109 349.417 196.041 106.947
2 743.260 865.544 651.401 806.750 513.346 389.533 500.366 606.438 515.476 415.207 233.636 127.928
3 553.400 651.401 540.046 672.882 436.431 330.860 432.109 515.476 484.073 389.272 219.900 121.928
4 682.395 806.750 672.882 849.468 560.600 432.247 349.417 415.207 389.272 316.682 178.779 99.622
5 425.700 513.346 436.431 560.600 387.624 309.803 196.041 233.636 219.900 178.779 103.532 58.040
7 318.742 389.533 330.860 432.247 309.803 260.429 106.947 127.928 121.928 99.622 58.040 34.876

Zeinelabdein and Albiely 2008; Madani 2009; Shalaby et al.
2010). A simple negation of this ratio allows us to highlight
the presence of ferric iron. The usefulness of this band ratio
might be reduced for one or more of four main reasons: (1)
the slope between bands 3 and 1 is usually weak if com-
pared to the combination of the other short-wavelength
infrared (SWIR) bands (Kaufmann 1988); (2) the iron
oxides present in the test sites do not have a hydrothermal
origin, but they originated through an intra-sedimentary
accretion mechanism developed around grains scattered in
iron-rich mud in quiet water (James and Van Houten 1979;
Rohrlich et al. 1969); (3) the sandstones containing the iron
oxides are characterised by notably low reflectance, as they
appear very dark; and (4) the ratio of 3/1 is suitable for ferric
iron, whereas the test sites could be characterised mainly by
ferrous oxides, although the chemical data for the Gara
Djebilet area actually suggest an high concentration of ferric
iron (Guerrak 1988b). Other band ratios were proposed to be
related to ferric and ferrous iron. The ratio of 4/2 proposed
by Al Rawashdeh et al. (2007) to highlight ferric iron gave
similar results with respect to the 3/1 ratio, displaying the
smallest values in the iron oxide-rich areas. The ratio of 4/5
has a black image signature, as in the Bahrah area (Saudi
Arabia) (Madani 2009), but it is not distinctive for the iron
oxide-rich zones for either the Algeria or the Western Sahara
test sites because other iron-poor areas show the same
response. No valuable results have been obtained using the
ratios 7/1 and 5/1, as suggested by Kaufmann (1988). The
band ratio 4/1, based on iron oxides, shows two main
absorption peaks in bands 1 (0.35 μm for the ferric iron;
0.45 μm for the ferrous iron) and 4 (0.82 μm for the ferric
iron; approximately 1.0 μm for ferrous iron), resulting in the
best band ratio to detect iron oxide-rich zones, related to the
studied iron ore deposits, in both the Western Sahara and the
Algeria test sites. In the visual inspection of the 4/1 ratio
map, the areas characterised by the presence of iron oxides
appear as dark pixels. These images were negated (Figs. 6
and 7) and associated with a density slice to enhance the
occurrence of iron oxides (Fig. 8). The better result given by
the 4/1 ratio is probably related to the high content of
chamosite (Guerrak 1988a, b). The presence of iron hydrox-
ides shifts the reflectance peak toward higher wavelengths
with respect to the ferric minerals that are usually charac-
terised by a reflectance peak corresponding to the ETM+
band 3 (Rajesh 2004). The 5/4 band ratio can be included
among the most used band ratios for ferrous minerals iden-
tification (Dogan 2008, 2009; Elsayed Zeinelabdein and
Albiely 2008; Kaufmann 1988). This ratio shows better
results with respect to the others mentioned, especially in
Algeria, where it highlights the iron ore deposits almost

Table 4 Eigenvector loadings for the Algerian and Western Sahara (WS) sub-scenes

ETM band Algeria WS

PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6 PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6

1 0.42 0.55 0.19 −0.69 0.01 −0.07 0.47 0.52 0.71 −0.01 0.05 −0.004
2 0.50 0.42 0.25 0.71 −0.08 0.04 0.55 0.45 −0.69 −0.08 −0.02 0.01
3 0.40 −0.10 −0.55 0.06 0.62 −0.37 0.49 −0.48 −0.003 0.52 0.49 −0.002
4 0.50 −0.29 −0.41 −0.11 −0.34 0.61 0.40 −0.41 0.09 −0.03 −0.77 0.26
5 0.32 −0.44 0.17 −0.05 −0.50 −0.64 0.23 −0.28 0.04 −0.50 0.03 −0.79
7 0.25 −0.48 0.64 −0.07 0.48 0.25 0.12 −0.21 0.04 −0.68 0.39 0.56
Eigenvalue 3,359.52 161.13 30.55 10.51 2.03 1.25 1,913.59 48.72 16.03 4.95 1.76 1.12
Variance (%) 94.24 4.52 0.85 0.30 0.05 0.04 96.35 2.44 0.81 0.25 0.09 0.06
4538
Fig. 10 Second PC images of unstandardised transformation. The presence of iron oxides corresponds to the brightest zones. a Western Sahara
sub-scene; b Gara Centre sub-scene; c Gara East sub-scene
exactly (Fig. 9). A notably similar result was obtained using
the 7/4 ratio proposed by Kaufmann (1988). The successful
results obtained with the latter band ratios could be related
to the high content in chamosite in the analysed rocks.
Principal component analysis
A descriptive statistic (correlation and covariance matrices)
of the available reflective bands is needed to evaluate and
discuss the results obtained using the PCA. The bands of
both selected sub-scenes are strongly correlated (Table 2).
Most of the total variance will be represented in the first few
components.
Unstandardised PCA (covariance matrix)
The transformation was applied to both of the subsets—
Algeria (Djebilet) and Western Sahara—using the related
covariance matrices (Table 3). PC1 shows the highest vari-
ance (94.24, 96.35 %) and moderate to high positive load-
ings from all of the bands containing the maximum amount
of variation (Table 4). Generally, the values of PC1 depend
on both topographic information and surface albedo, which
are highly correlated among all bands (Table 4) (Loughlin
1991; Kaufmann 1988; Kenea and Haenisch 1996). PC2
generally highlights the differences in the spectrum between
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
the visible spectrum and the infrared (IR) (Zumsprekel and
Prinz 2000). Much of the variation within the IR is
contained in PC3 (Loughlin 1991). PC4 usually contains
spectral/lithological information, whereas PC5 and PC6 are
usually dominated by noise and contain a low variance. The
information on iron oxides is expressed in the ETM+ bands
1 and 3 for the ferric iron and in the bands 4 and 5 for the
ferrous minerals (Loughlin 1991). The PCs actually contain
useful spectral information on iron minerals that can be
highlighted through the analysis of the eigenvector values
(Table 4). The differences in magnitude and sign among the
bands can be used to determine which band mainly affects
the single components. Concerning the Djebilet sub-scene,
the highest contrast between band 1 and band 3 is repre-
sented by the third component (Table 4), suggesting the PC3
image as the most suitable to detect iron oxides by their
visible colour. PC6 enhances the ferrous minerals as this PC
exhibits the highest contrast between band 4 and band 5
(Table 4). Actually, the iron ore deposits located in Djebilet
are not highlighted by the PC3 image. The use of the PC6
image is avoided because, due to the high noise, it does not
clearly highlight the areas characterised by ferrous minerals.
According to the present study, the 4/1 ratio is the most
useful band ratio for detecting iron oxides. Band 1 and band
4 have the highest values with opposite signs in PC2
(Table 4), which results, after its negation (Fig. 10), in the
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
Fig. 11 Second PC images of unstandardised transformation with density slice. a Western Sahara sub-scene; b Gara Centre sub-scene; c Gara East
sub-scene
best PC image to identify iron oxides where they appear as
dark pixels. Density slicing the negation of PC2 (Fig. 11)
clearly highlights the occurrence of iron oxides in Djebilet.
Similar results were obtained using PC2 for the Western
Sahara sub-scene (Fig. 11), which has the highest loadings
for bands 1–3 and 1–4 (Table 4). PC6 contains the highest
loadings for bands 4 and 5 (Table 4) but, as with the
previous test site, has more noise. The evaluation of the
loadings of the individual PCs of the Djebilet test site
revealed that PC4 shows the maximum spectral contrast
followed by PC6 and PC3 (Table 4). In theory, this finding
suggests that the most suitable RGB composite is given by
PCs 4, 6 and 3, respectively. However, this combination
contains considerable noise, mostly affecting PC6.
Usually, PC5 and PC6 are often avoided in FCC because
they are generally dominated by noise. Considering the
contrast among the first four PCs, which contain more than
98 % of the total variance (Table 4), the best FCC is
represented by PCs 4, 3 and 2 in RGB, which proved useful
for detecting the iron oxides (Fig. 12). Following the same
considerations, the most appropriate FCC for the Western
Sahara sub-scene results in PCs 3, 2 and 4 in RGB, which
generally fits for iron oxides (Fig. 12).
4539
To improve the usefulness of the PCA, a transformation
of raw data before performing the PCA can be used. This
enhancement allows for the redistribution of part of the total
variance from PC1 to the other PCs, thereby increasing their
importance. Loughlin (1991) suggested the use of the
Gaussian-type stretch to standardise the mean and the stan-
dard deviation values of all of the ETM+ bands. A better
result can be obtained using the histogram equalisation
stretching, which emphasises the decorrelation among the
ETM+ bands (Table 5) with the entire brightness range and
applying the greatest contrast enhancement to the most
populated value ranges in the original images. This enhance-
ment produces an image with a better contrast ratio. As
expected, for the Djebilet sub-scene, the use of the histo-
gram equalisation stretching allowed for the increase in the
decorrelation between the selected ETM+ bands (Table 5),
determining a greater variance for PC2 to PC6, while de-
creasing that of PC1 (Table 6). On the contrary, the same
enhancement applied to the Western Sahara sub-scene
shows a small increase in the variance (Table 7) and a slight
improvement of the decorrelation (Table 5). The PCA of the
Algeria sub-scene (Table 6), performed after histogram
equalisation, confirms the same results as the PCA on the
4540 Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546

Fig. 12 PCs 4, 3 and 2 as RGB for the Algeria sub-scene and PCs 3, 2 greenish areas in both of the Djebilet test sites. a Western Sahara sub-
and 4 as RGB for the Western Sahara. The presence of iron oxides scene; b Gara Centre sub-scene; c Gara East sub-scene
corresponds to the reddish zones in the Western Sahara test site and the

raw data. PC3 still shows the highest contrast between bands
1 and 3. PC6 enhances the ratio of 5/4, and PC2 contains
information about the ratio of 4/1 (Table 6). Despite the
increase in the contrast between the eigenvector loadings,
PC3 and PC6, as in the case of the raw data, proved to be
unsuitable for identifying a possible occurrence of ferric or
ferrous iron (Table 6). PC2 highlights the iron oxides in light
grey, and the PC2 image obtained using the raw data still
seems to work better in enhancing the contrasts among
bands. In the Western Sahara sub-scene, PC3 contains the
highest contrast both for the couples of bands 3–1 and 1–4
(Table 7), but it was not useful for detecting the areas rich in
iron oxides. Bands 4 and 5 are represented by PC5, which is
noisy. The FCCs created using the PCs characterised by the
highest loadings could not detect the iron ore deposits in
either of the sub-scenes.
Standardised PCA (correlation matrix)
Standardised PC transformation uses the correlation matrix
(Table 2) instead of the covariance matrix (Table 3) to
perform the PCA. Although this technique is less used in
remote sensing, it yielded valuable results with respect to
the unstandardised PCA (Kenea and Haenisch 1996; Singh
and Harrison 1985). In this case, the magnitude of PC1
eigenvectors is more uniform, but the contribution of IR

Table 5 Correlation matrix of the Algerian and Western Sahara (WS) sub-scenes after the histogram equalisation stretching

ETM band Algeria WS

1 2 3 4 5 7 1 2 3 4 5 6

1 1.000 0.937 0.842 0.802 0.657 0.467 1.000 0.966 0.935 0.935 0.917 0.861
2 0.937 1.000 0.923 0.893 0.775 0.606 0.966 1.000 0.959 0.955 0.938 0.880
3 0.842 0.923 1.000 0.989 0.923 0.787 0.935 0.959 1.000 0.994 0.982 0.936
4 0.802 0.893 0.989 1.000 0.958 0.841 0.935 0.955 0.994 1.000 0.987 0.947
5 0.657 0.775 0.923 0.958 1.000 0.948 0.917 0.938 0.982 0.987 1.000 0.965
7 0.467 0.606 0.787 0.841 0.948 1.000 0.861 0.880 0.936 0.947 0.965 1.000
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546 4541

Table 6 Eigenvector loadings

for the Algerian sub-scene after ETM band PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6 Mean SD
the histogram equalisation
stretching 1 0.37 0.58 0.57 0.43 0.03 0.02 125.09 73.65
2 0.41 0.39 −0.04 −0.81 −0.17 −0.03 125.29 73.59
3 0.43 −0.04 −0.49 0.14 0.56 0.49 125.32 73.80
4 0.44 −0.81 −0.39 0.25 −0.07 −0.76 125.76 74.08
5 0.42 −0.17 −0.02 0.17 −0.71 0.41 124.89 74.24
7 0.38 −0.03 0.52 −0.21 0.39 −0.12 123.77 74.66
Eigenvalue 28,134.83 4,016.15 397.34 230.07 59.87 22.31
Variance (%) 85.62 12.22 1.21 0.70 0.18 0.07

bands is increased for both of the subsets (Tables 8 and 9).
The examination of the variance distribution shows an in-
crease in the values of PC2 to PC5 in the Djebilet sub-scene
(Table 8) and of PC2 to PC6 in the Western Sahara (Table 9)
with respect to the basic unstandardised PCA (Table 4). The
eigenvectors loading of the Djebilet sub-scene shows that
PC3 has the highest contrast between bands 1 and 3, while
PC6 has the greatest contrast between bands 4 and 5 and
between bands 1 and 4 (Table 8). In the second sub-scene,
the information about ratio 3/1 is statistically contained in
PC3, which on ratio 4/5 is represented by PC5 while ratio 4/
1 is described by PC6 (Table 9). A visual inspection of the
PCs reveals that PC4 is the best one for highlighting the iron
oxide-rich areas in the sub-scene showing the highest con-
trast between band 1 and band 2. This result suggests that
band 2 and band 1 should be used together in a ratio to
detect the iron oxides, but this result is not directly related to
the spectral characteristics of the iron minerals. The best
FCC, removing PC5 and PC6, which are extremely noisy,
corresponds to PC4, PC2 and PC3 in RGB, respectively.
This composite is useful to delimit the iron oxide-rich areas
in both sub-scenes. The comparison between the statistical
data obtained using the standardised PCA and the visual
inspection of the single PCA images suggests that this
technique must be used with caution because the results
from the study of the single PCs seems not to be linked to
the spectral characteristic of the target minerals. The statis-
tical improvement of the PCA from the raw data to more
complex techniques, such as the stretching of the data or
standardised PCA, can be evaluated using the SNR,
expressed in decibels, which represents the ratio between
the first eigenvalue and the maximum spectral band covari-
ance or the maximum correlation value (Ready and Wintz
1973; Singh and Harrison 1985). The increase in the SNR
(Tables 10 and 11), especially for the first sub-scene, indi-
cates a statistical improvement in the quality of the signal,
thereby encouraging the use of the standardised PCA meth-
od, even if the results from the visual inspection highlights
that the unstandardised PCA fits better compared to the
others enhancement techniques.
Selective principal component analysis
The SPCA requires the reduction of the number of reflective
bands to enhance a particular spectral contrast related to a
specific mineral class (Aydal et al. 2007; Crosta and Moore
1989; Loughlin 1991). This technique increases the reliabil-
ity of a specific PC to detect the target minerals. In details,
the SPCA is particularly useful to map the hydroxyl and iron
oxides (Kenea 1997; Kenea and Haenisch 1996; Loughlin
1991; Tangestani and Moore 2000, 2002). Bands 1, 3, 4 and
5 were chosen to map the iron oxides. This set of bands is
the most suitable because iron oxides exhibit strong absorp-
tion in Landsat ETM+ band 1 and high reflectance in bands
3 and 4. Band 5 and band 7 are almost equivalent in this
analysis (Loughlin 1991). The SWIR bands were not con-
sidered to separate the information on the iron oxides from
the hydroxyls. PC1 in the SPCA represents the albedo and

Table 7 Eigenvector loadings

for the Western Sahara sub-scene ETM band PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6 Mean SD
after the histogram equalisation
stretching 1 0.40 0.58 0.52 0.48 0.02 0.05 125.78 73.76
2 0.40 0.44 −0.06 −0.79 −0.09 −0.06 125.97 73.64
3 0.41 −0.03 −0.48 0.14 0.44 0.61 125.87 73.96
4 0.41 −0.09 −0.38 0.22 0.20 −0.77 125.61 74.05
5 0.41 −0.26 −0.15 0.16 −0.83 0.15 124.02 74.16
7 0.41 −0.63 0.58 −0.22 0.15 0.02 122.00 75.26
Eigenvalue 31,442.11 1,004.58 286.90 153.60 67.22 26.66
Variance (%) 95.33 3.05 0.87 0.47 0.20 0.08
4542 Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546

Table 8 Standardised PCA ei-

genvector loadings for the ETM band PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6 Mean SD
Algerian sub-scene
1 0.40 0.56 0.35 0.63 −0.02 0.08 122.87 25.73
2 0.41 0.41 0.26 −0.77 −0.09 −0.07 141.12 29.42
3 0.42 0.07 −0.58 −0.04 0.50 0.48 100.02 23.24
4 0.42 −0.07 −0.42 0.12 −0.08 −0.79 127.86 29.15
5 0.41 −0.38 −0.08 0.05 −0.73 0.37 86.71 19.69
7 0.39 −0.60 −0.53 0.02 0.44 −0.07 76.07 16.14
Eigenvalue 5.579 0.336 0.064 0.014 0.005 0.002
Variance (%) 92.98 5.6 1.07 0.23 0.09 0.03

topographic shadowing (Loughlin 1991). Ratios 3/1 and 4/5
have their maximum contrasts in PC3 (Table 12), which
should highlight iron oxides as dark pixels, but visual in-
spection of this PC seems not to be useful as evidence for
the presence of iron oxides. Once again, the best ratio to
map the iron-rich deposits is 4/1, which portrays them in the
negation of PC2 as bright pixels (Fig. 13). In the Western
Sahara sub-scene, both the 3/1 and 4/1 ratios have their
highest contrasts in PC2 (Table 13), thereby highlighting
the iron oxides as bright pixels (Fig. 13). This PC shows a
good agreement with the field observations. On the contrary,
the ratio 4/5 was not found to be useful because it is
represented in PC4, which is notably noisy.
Discussion and conclusions
Two test sites, characterised by the presence of iron-rich
sandstones, were chosen to evaluate the effectiveness of
different image-processing techniques to map iron ore
deposits. The first test site is located near Djebilet, where
two iron mining areas (Gara Centre and Gara East) were
extensively studied (Guerrak 1988b). The second site, situ-
ated in Western Sahara, approximately 350 km west of the
Djebilet sites, is characterised by the same sedimentary
sequence, and it was the target of the field campaign.
Several processing techniques (band ratioing, FCC and
PCA) among those described as effective to detect iron
oxides were applied to two spatial subsets of the Landsat
ETM+ images to detect and map the iron ore deposits.
Among the ETM+ band ratios used to highlight the occur-
rence of iron oxides, the ratio of 4/1 resulted in the most
effective detection, especially if associated with the related
density slicing for both the Algeria and the Western Sahara
sub-scenes. This ratio is not commonly described in the
literature. On the contrary, the more common 3/1 ratio
yielded less satisfactory results, probably because of the
origin of the iron oxides: the 3/1 ratio is particularly suitable
to highlight the iron oxides associated with hydrothermally
altered rocks, whereas the iron oxides present in the study
areas have a syn-sedimentary origin. Certain diagnostic
spectral features of iron oxides are represented in the ETM
1 to ETM 4 bands. In particular, a charge transfer absorption
feature is contained in ETM 1, a reflectance ramp is in ETM
2, a crystal field absorption feature exists in ETM 3 and a
crystal field absorption feature is in ETM 4. The spectral
response may vary as a consequence of the oxidised or
reduced condition of the considered iron within band 4,
where the hydrothermally altered iron shows an absorption
peak, whereas the goethite and hematite contained in the
regolith show a moderate reflection. Thus, the ratio of 4/1
proves to be more appropriated than that of 3/1 and gives
better results if compared to the field observations and
mineralogical information available in the literature or in
previous studies (Guerrak 1988b). The ratio of 5/4 proved
useful in highlighting the presence of ferrous minerals be-
cause the greatest reflection for ferrous iron is represented
within ETM+ band 5. Thus, the combination of ratios 4/1

Table 9 Standardised PCA ei-

genvector loadings for the ETM band PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 PC5 PC6 Mean SD
Western Sahara sub-scene
1 0.40 0.57 0.39 0.60 0.00 0.05 131.20 20.99
2 0.41 0.47 0.08 −0.77 −0.04 −0.05 146.75 24.63
3 0.41 −0.06 −0.51 0.07 0.43 0.62 95.38 22.00
4 0.42 −0.11 −0.40 0.16 0.19 −0.77 79.76 17.80
5 0.41 −0.27 −0.15 0.07 −0.84 0.15 58.81 10.18
7 0.40 −0.60 0.63 −0.11 0.27 0.02 57.41 5.91
Eigenvalue 5.716 0.186 0.050 0.030 0.012 0.005
Variance (%) 95.33 3.10 0.83 0.50 0.2 0.08
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
Table 10 SNR related to the
unstandardised PCA, equalisa- Technique
tion stretching and standardised
PCA for the Algeria sub-scene Covariance matrix of raw data
Covariance matrix after histogram equalisation
Correlation matrix of raw data
and 5/4 is particularly recommended to map iron oxides
having a non-hydrothermal origin. The FCC enhancement
technique was evaluated using the OIF to determine the
statistically most informative multispectral band combina-
tion for both of the analysed ETM+ subsets. Among the
possible combinations, the 157 and 147 composites were
selected for the Djebilet and Western Sahara sub-scenes,
respectively. Regarding the spatial distribution of iron ore
deposits, only in the first case was there a good agreement
between the information available from the literature
(Guerrak 1988b) and either the field observations or the
enhanced image. On the contrary, no correspondence was
observed between the field data and the imagery in the
Western Sahara sub-scene. The use of raw band FCCs is
generally suggested to discriminate different lithologies, as
well as structural features, but it is less recommendable in
mineral detection because it is more interpretative with
respect to other techniques. A better result can be obtained
by constructing colour composite images using a combina-
tion of three ETM+ band ratios instead of raw band compo-
sites because this technique allows for the removal of
possible brightness variations and highlights any spectral
difference between the bands. The 3/5, 4/1 and 5/7 in
RGB, respectively, resulted as the most effective FCC to
detect the iron ore deposits. The PCA is certainly the most
complex enhancement technique used in multispectral re-
mote sensing. In this paper, the resulting decorrelated PC
images were used to discern effectively the iron oxides and
the related iron ore deposits with very satisfactory results.
The unstandardised and standardised PCAs were compared
to evaluate the best enhancement method for the mapping of
iron ore deposits. A careful observation of the eigenvector
matrices and the visual inspection of each unstandardised
PC images suggest that PC2 is the most informative PC
image because it contains the highest contrast between band
1 and band 4. Thus, the PCA confirms that the latter couple
of bands are the most informative concerning syn-
sedimentary iron oxides, as also suggested by the evaluation
Table 11 SNR related to the
unstandardised PCA, equalisa- Technique
tion stretching and standardised
PCA for the Western Sahara sub- Covariance matrix of raw data
scene Covariance matrix after histogram equalisation
Correlation matrix of raw data
4543
Equation SNR (dB)
3,359.52/865.544 3.881
28,134.83/5,511.397 5.105
5.58/1.00 5.58
of the usefulness of single ratios. The equalisation histogram
stretching was applied to the raw bands before performing
the PCA to increase the decorrelation between the bands. In
this case, no sensible results were obtained with respect to
the unstandardised PCA of the raw bands, but an increase in
the noise of the PC images was observed. The standardised
PCA is usually used to obtain a significant improvement in
the SNR, thereby allowing a better definition of the PCA
images. The actual increase of the SNR from the unstandar-
dised PCA to standardised PCA seems to not be related to
an improvement in the PC image quality. The PCs contain-
ing the highest contrasts do not exhibit a good agreement
with the field observations. The observation of the eigen-
vector loadings indicates PC5 and PC6 as the most infor-
mative images to map iron oxides, but they are notably
noisy, whereas a visual inspection suggests that bands 1
and 2 can be used to detect iron oxides, even if no direct
relationship exists between these bands and iron oxide spec-
tral characteristics. Valuable results were obtained using
three PC images to create an FCC in RGB. From a statistical
point of view, the best colour composite is formed by the
three selected PC images with the highest variance; thus,
PC1, having the highest variance, is always part of the
FCCs. This large variance is partly due to the topographic
information contained in the first PC, which should be
removed to avoid the influence of morphological evidence.
PC2, PC3 and PC4 were used to create satisfactory FCCs to
enhance iron oxides. The SPCA on bands 1, 3, 4 and 5 was
tested in both of the selected areas because it is considered
the most appropriate enhancement method for iron oxide
mapping in that it reduces the dimensionality of the data and
minimises the loss of information. The observation of the
eigenvalue loadings confirms that the PC image, containing
information regarding the maximum contrast between band
1 and band 4, is the most suitable for detecting the iron
oxides in both of the studied subsets. The obtained FCC
using these PC images are visually interpreted more easily
with respect to the six bands because the SPCA enhances
Ratio SNR (dB)
1,913.59/606.438 3.155
31,442.11/5,483.59 5.734
5.72/1.00 5.72
4544 Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546

Table 12 SPCA for iron oxides mapping of the Algeria sub-scene Table 13 SPCA for iron oxides mapping of the Western Sahara sub-
scene
ETM band PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 Mean SD
ETM band PC1 PC2 PC3 PC4 Mean SD
1 0.58 0.69 0.42 0.03 141.12 29.42
3 0.47 −0.06 −0.50 −0.73 100.02 23.24 1 0.65 0.76 0.07 −0.01 146.75 24.63
4 0.59 −0.31 −0.36 0.65 127.86 29.15 3 0.58 −0.46 −0.45 −0.50 95.38 22.00
5 0.30 −0.65 0.67 −0.21 76.07 16.14 4 0.47 −0.41 0.19 0.76 79.76 17.80
Variance (%) 95.53 3.28 1.12 0.07 5 0.15 −0.21 0.87 −0.42 57.41 5.91
Variance (%) 97.17 2.43 0.27 0.13

the spectral contrast between two different regions of the

spectrum. Furthermore, using only four of the six ETM+
bands directly related to the spectral characteristics of the
investigated mineral avoids the influence of the other min-
erals, such as the hydroxyls. This study proves the useful-
ness of multispectral imagery (Landsat ETM+) in the
detection of iron ore deposits, which can have economic
value. The Ministry of Energy and Mining of Algeria esti-
mated the reserves of Djebilet (Gara Centre and Gara East)
to be 1.7 billion tons, of which 57 % was iron. The iron
oxide-bearing sandstones are part of a sedimentary sequence
that crops out for more than 600 km along the southern flank
of the Tindouf Basin and that allows for the likely detection
of other exploitable iron ore deposits along this structure.
Through several image-processing techniques, a wide area
was identified in Western Sahara characterised by the
presence of iron ore deposits and showing a spectral behav-
iour similar to the Gara Centre and the Gara East areas in
Algeria. A field campaign assured the actual occurrence of
iron-bearing sandstones, which may represent a new ex-
ploitable iron ore deposit. A detailed feasibility study is
needed to calculate the total available iron content and to
evaluate the suitability of a potential utilisation of the ore.
The application of a notably inexpensive method, such as
the remote sensing procedure described in this paper, to the
entire southern flank of the Tindouf Basin could further
open perspectives on the possibility of detecting new ex-
ploitable iron ore deposits in arid environments. The use of
more recent and sophisticated sensors, such as the Advanced
Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
(ASTER), can be useful to detect iron oxides using visible,

Fig. 13 Second PC images of SPCA using bands 1, 3, 4 and 5. The presence of iron oxides corresponds to the brightest zones. a Western Sahara
sub-scene; b Gara Centre sub-scene; c Gara East sub-scene
Arab J Geosci (2013) 6:4529–4546
near-IR and short-wave IR reflectance data. For instance,
the ASTER has been used to discriminate iron ores in high-
grade granulites in southern India (Rajendran et al. 2011).
The ASTER platform, combined with the Advanced Land
Imager, was used to detect ferric iron-bearing minerals on
the Chilean–Bolivian Altiplano (Hubbard and Crowley
2005) and was compared to the data from the hyperspectral
imaging spectrometer Hyperion and to those from the
Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS).
The possible use of the ASTER was evaluated in California,
where Fe–muscovite-rich intrusive rocks were successfully
mapped (Rowan and Mars 2003). The maps of ferric oxides
and oxyhydroxides were also produced in Colorado (USA)
using the AVIRIS and laboratory measurement reflectance
spectra (Farrand 1997). The use of the Landsat ETM+
images was preferred with respect to the ASTER images
because the former are free. Cost can be a crucial factor,
especially for developing countries that want to improve
their knowledge of the natural resources within their
borders.
Acknowledgments This research was financed by Autostrade per
L'Italia S.p.a. The authors are grateful to the staff of the SADR
Government and to Fiorella Bendoni from NGO Ban Slout Larbi for
providing general support during the field work. Dr. Patrizia Musina is
acknowledged for the English revision. We are very grateful to Steve
Drury, H.M. Rajesh, Prof. Biswajeet Pradhan and two anonymous
reviewers for making many helpful suggestions that improved the
manuscript.
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