Use of ERS-2 SAR and Landsat TM Images for Geological Mapping and Mineral Exploration of Sol Hamid Area

, South Eastern Desert , Egypt Talaat M. Ramadan(1) and Hoda M. Onsi(2) (1) National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, Egypt e-mail: ramadan_narss2002@yahoo.com (2) Faculty of Computers and Information, Cairo Univ., Egypt.
ABSTRACT Sol Hamid area is underlain by Neoproterozoic rocks, partly covered by Miocene sediments and recent sand sheets and dunes. The Neoproterozoic rocks include ophiolitic ultramafic to mafic rocks, metavolcano-sedimentary rocks, metavolcanics, gobbro-diorite rocks, granodiorites, biotite granites and alkali granites. Mineral deposits associated with different rock units in the area include magnesite, chromite, iron ore deposits, manganese and barite deposits. ERS-2 SAR data enable to obtain an image of Sol Hamid area that reveals fluvial features beneath the surface cover of desert sand. These features are not observable in Landsat TM images of similar resolution. In this work, Principal Component Analysis (PCA) technique is used for merging ERS-2 SAR and Landsat TM images to make use of the potential of data fusion techniques of image processing in the interpretation of geological features. This procedure has resulted in enhancing subsurface structures such as foliations and faults that control mineralization of several deposits in the study area. This study represents an example to demonstrate the utility of merging various remote sensing data for exploring for ore deposits in arid region. 1 INTRODUCTION The study area is located at the southeastern part of the Eastern Desert of Egypt, between Lat. 22o 09 and 22o 28 N and Long. 36o 00 and 36o 32 E. Several authors previously studied the surface geology and mineral deposits of the study area [1-7]. The digital integration of radar data with optical and ancillary data (geophysical, geochemical, geological, etc.) is a new trend in the remote sensing literature. Radar imagery is effective in enhancing relief and multi-channel georeferenced image-maps for geologic interpretation [8-12]. The integration of radar data with optical data, such as Landsat TM, provides image products containing both sets of information. The optical data reflects the physicochemical composition of the surface, whereas the radar supplies the surface morphological information [13]. Optical and radar imaging data are considered complementary data sets because each sensor type gives information pertaining to its characteristics. The ultimate goal of image fusion techniques is optimizing the interpretation process, which is dependent on the fusion technique used [14-15]. If two images from different sensors covering the same area are correctly combined, the resultant image will convey information that could prove more useful than either one-image type alone [16-18]. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) has been used for image enhancement, data compression and change detection applications. It has also provided an efficient approach for fusing two or more remote sensing data sets for a wide-range of applications [19-24]. This work focuses on the merging of ERS-2 SAR and Landsat TM images for geological mapping and mineral exploration of Sol Hamid area. Principal component analysis technique is used for merging these imagery data to enhance subsurface structures such as foliation and faults that control mineralization of several deposits in the study area. New geological and structural maps at scale 1:100,000 were prepared for the study area using ERS-2 SAR / Landsat TM imagery coupled with ground truth. 2- DATASET: - Landsat TM image Landsat TM image (Path 172 / Row 45) of the study area was acquired on 7-1999 and UTM georeferenced. The spatial resolution and pixel spacing are both 30 x 30 m. TM Landsat data was processed by using the ERDAS imagine 8.3 software on Sunspark workstation at the NARSSs Image Processing Lab. One scene covering the investigated area have been geometrically corrected and radiometrically balanced. Three TM bands have been selected (bands 2,4,7) because they contain most of the information about the geological features focused in this study (Fig. 1). The wavelength ranges of the selected bands are 0.52-0.60, 0.76-0.90, 10.4-12.5 m respectively.

- ERS-2 SAR image Radar imaging techniques have not been extensively used for mineral exploration, although some SAR data have been integrated with Landsat TM data to understand lithological and structural controls of ore bodies. The present work encourages further use of radar data to map and explore mineral deposits. The used ERS-2 SAR (European Remote Sensing Satellite) image acquired on 29 April, 1996 and represented by one strip that covered most of the study area. ERS-2 has a descending orbit with a 5.3 cm vertically polarized C-band, with a resolution 12.5 cm. 3- METHODOLOGY In this study, ERS-2 SAR data have been integrated with Landsat TM data to understand lithological and structural controls of ore bodies at Sol Hamid area in the South Eastern Desert of Egypt (Fig.2). The main steps of the methodological approach are presented in the flow chart shown in Figure (3). - Image Processing Procedures In this work concerning image processing, some preparatory steps have been used prior to apply Principal Component Analysis (PCA) as a data fusion technique. These steps (Fig. 3) include: a) Removing speckles from radar data using Lee Sigma filter, b) Performing geometric registration between TM and radar data using a set of tie point pairs, c) Applying PCA transformation, d) Matching the histogram of radar data with the first principal component keeping its shape constant but with the same numerical range as PCA, e) Replacing the first PC with the matched radar information and performing PC inverse transform, and f) Rescaling the output image to values 0-255 to get the false color output fused image. These steps are described as follows: 3. a- Data Speckles Removal: In this work, speckles have been removed from radar images using Lee Sigma filter [26] which utilizes the statistical distribution of the digital values within spatial moving window. This type of filter is based on the assumption that the mean and variance of the pixel of interest equal the local mean and variance of all pixels within user defined moving window. Implementation of this filter requires estimating a value for the coefficient of variation within the scene of interest. ERDAS-Imagine Ver. 8.3 software package has been used to apply this filter (window size selected is 3x3). 3. b- Geometric Registration: Geometric registration of the two data types has been performed using ERDAS-Imagine Ver.8.3 software package to ensure result accuracy. Image to image registration has been performed using the following steps: - Select pairs of Ground Control Points (GCPs) in both reference image and registered image, in row and column coordinates. - Creating transformation matrix, which is computed from the GCPs that can be plugged into the polynomial equations, which are used to transform the coordinates from one image coordinate to another. - The two images could be registered using the created transformation matrix and nearest neighbor resampling technique, which uses the value of the closest pixel to assign to the output pixel value. An output image file contains exactly the area of both types of data. These output image files have been resampled to 20 m resolution. 3. c- Principal Component Analysis (PCA)-Fusion Method The PCA is determined using the covariance matrix of multispectral data set. The first principal component (PC1) stores the maximum contents of the variance of the original data set. The second principal component describes the largest amount of the variance in the data that is not already described by (PC1) and so on. Only the first few principal components account for a high proportion of the variance of the data. In this work, a principal component transformation, using three components is utilized, where such components are converted into a series of PCs. The first PC is generally accepted to correlate with the overall scene brightness. This value is replaced by the matched radar image, and reverse transform is applied. The coordinates of each pixel in spectral space are recomputed using linear equations [25-26].

(Fig. 1): Landst TM image (Bands 7,4,2) for the study area

(Fig. 2): ERS-2/Landst TM merged image for the study area

TM-band 7 TM-band 4 TM-band 2

ERS-2 SAR

Speckle removal (Lee filter)

Registration based on pairs of tie points

PCA Transformation

Histogram matching with PC1

Replace PC1 with matched Radar data

PCA Inverse transform

Rescaling (0-255)

Composite Color Image

(Fig. 3): Image processing methodology flow chart

The eigenvalues and eigenvectors of the n principal components must be mathematically derived from covariance matrix as:
ECovE T = V (1)

Where: E = the matrix of eigenvectors, Cov = covariance matrix , T = the transposition function, V= a diagonal matrix of eigenvalues, in which all non-diagonal elements are zeros , v1 > v2 > v3 > .. vn
v1 0 0 V =. 0 v2 . 0 0 .... 0 0 .... 0 . . . vn (2)

0 0

The matrix V is the covariance matrix of the output principal component file. The zeros represent the covariance between bands (there is none), and the eigenvalues are the variance values for each band. Because the eigenvalues are ordered from v1 to vn, the first eigenvalue is the largest and represents the most variance in the data. Each column of the resulting eigenvector matrix E describes a unit-length vector in spectral space, which shows the direction of the principal component. The following equation is used to transform the original data file values into the principal component values.

Pe = d k E ke
k =1

( 3)

Where: e = the number of the principal component (first, second, ..), P e = the output principal component value for band e, k = a particular input band, n = the total number of bands, d k = an input data file value in band k, E = the eigenvector matrix, such that E ke = the element of that matrix at row k and column e 3. d- Histogram Matching of ERS-2 SAR Data In this step, the ERS-2 radar data are stretched to the first principal component, in order to contain the radar information without losses in spectral signature of geological features of interest. The matching procedure follows the equation:
DN e = ( DN Highres MinHighres )( Max( Pe ) Min( Pe )) Max( DN Highres ) Min( DN Highres) + Min( Pe ) (4)

Where: DNe = Digital number of the matched radar data with Landsat data in band e, DNHighres = Digital number of original radar data, P e = the output principal component value for principal component band e 3. e- Principal components inverse transformation: Inverse transformation of PC has been performed for the three components: i) matched radar data as first principal component, ii) the second principal component, and iii) the third principal component 3. f- Rescaling: For producing 8-bit false color fused image, data have been rescaled to the dynamic range 0 255 4- GEOLOGIC SETTING: The geological studies indicate that the investigated area is occupied largely by Neoproterozoic rocks and Cenozoic-Mesozoic ring complexes. These rocks are unconformably overlain by Miocene and Quaternary sediments (Fig.4). The Neoproteozoic rocks are represented by ophiolitic assemblage ( ultramafic- mafic rocks), immature island arc assemblage (intermediate metavolcanics and their pyroclastics and intrusive gabbro-diorite rocks), and syn- to latetectonic granitic rocks (granodiorites, biotite granites and muscovite granites).

Legend

N
El Hobal
Study area

Manganese deposits Iron ore Magnesite deposis Chromite deposits Quaternary sediments Miocene sediments Alkali-granites Calc-alkaline granites Granodiorites & Dykes Gabbro-diorite rocks Metavolcanic rocks

El Kolal

22 20

G. Sol Hamid G. Elba

22 10 36 30

Ultramafic rocks Thrust fault Paleodrainge Normal fault Strike slip fault Proposed area for further study

Eitegan Plain
0 5 10 15 km

36 20

(Fig. 3): Geological map for the study area

The ultramafic rocks occur as elongated sheet in the central part of the mapped area and thrusted over the island arc rocks. They are represented by highly tectonized sequence of serpentinites, talc carbonate rocks, listwaenites and metagabbros. Magnesite veins and chromite lenses are associated with the utramafic rocks at the eastern side of Gabal Sol Hamid [27]. Magnesite occur as vein type and as separate patches and partly covered with recent sands in the eastern side of Gabal Sol Hamid. Thirteen chromite lenses associated with the ophiolitic ultramafic rocks in the eastern side of Gabal Sol Hamid are mostly exploited. Moreover, several chromite lenses covered with recent sands were detected in the eastern side of Gabal Sol Hamid area. The island arc assemblage is represented by the metavolcano-sedimentry rocks, metavolcanics and gabbrodiorite rocks. The metavolcano-sedimentry rocks mainly crop out at Gabal Qash Amer area. They are mostly kinky in shape, highly foliated and mylonitized along shear zones. Some marble bands are associated with these rocks, southward of Gabal Qash Amer. The metavolcanic rocks are represented essentially by metapyroclastics in association with metabasalts, meta-andesites and metadacites. They constitute generally moderate to high mountain ridges extending for several kilometers and cropping out at Wadi Yoider. The contact between the investigated metavolcanics and the ophiolitic serpentinite rocks are often structurally controlled and represented by thrust faults. The gabbro-diorite rocks are widespread in the northern and eastern parts of the study area. These rocks are represented by a large pluton at Sol Hamid area, in addition to some small masses at Wadi Yoider (Fig.4). They are of intrusive nature and have abundant xenoliths from the surrounding metavolcanic rocks. Some iron ore lenses are associated with the gabbroic rocks at Wadi Yoider. The geological studies indicate that several iron ore lenses associated with small low lands of gabbroic rocks are partly covered with recent sands. It is worth to mention that the fused Landsat TM / ERS-2 SAR product revealed the bedrock features beneath the dry sand cover at Gabal Elba area (Figs.1and 2). The granitic rocks are represented by granodiorites and late- to post- tectonic granites (biotite granites and muscovite granites). They are of intrusive nature and intrude directly in the metvolcanic rocks and cut by acidic and basic dykes. Landsat TM / ERS-2 SAR product distinctly shows some of these dykes beneath recent sands, at Eitegan Plain area (Figs. 1,2 and 4). Ring complexes are represented by the stock-like masses at Gabal Elba, composed of alkali granites and syenites and intruded in the late-tectonic granites. These rocks are unconformably overlain by Miocene and Quaternary sediments (sabkha, wadi deposits, beach sands and dune sands) (Fig. 5).

(Fig. 5): Sand dunes cover the Miocene sediments at the study area

5- STRUCTURAL FEATURES: The study area is affected by several faults arranged based on their abundance along the directions: ENE-WSW, NW-SE and NE-SW. The ophiolitic belt in the study area is related to ENE-WSW trending Allaqi Heiani - OnibGerf - Sol Hamid - Yanbu suture [4,6,28]. The ophiolitic ultramafic rocks form a narrow ENE- WSW stretched belt, thrusting over the metavolcanic rocks. The thrust faults dip to NNW direction with angles ranging from 30 to 70 and extend on the surface for some 12 Km. long. The investigated rocks are highly sheared and foliated along the thrust zones. Landsat TM / ERS-2 SAR product revealed subsurface Precambrian structures such as foliations and faults that control magnesite and chromite mineralizations at the eastern side of Gabal Sol Hamid (Figs. 1,2 and 4). Moreover, this product enhances the recent structures such as normal and strike slip faults in the Miocene sediments beneath a dry sand cover at El Hobale and El kolal areas (Figs. 1, 2, and 4). These features have no surface expression and are not visible in the Landsat TM image (Figs. 1 and 5). It is worth mentioning that manganese and barite veins invading these Miocene sediments are trending NW-SE and were disturbed by NE-SW recent structures [29]. The parts covered with sand sheets and sand dunes at El Hobale and El Kolal areas can be considered promising territories for further exploration ( Fig. 4). 6. THE DRAINAGE PATTERN The study area is dissected by numerous wadis such as Wadi Yoider, Wadi Serimtai and Wadi Di-it which run approximately north east to reach the Red Sea coastal plain, while Wadi Harbub and Wadi Harietra which run in a NW direction. Landsat TM / ERS-2 SAR product enhances also, the drainage pattern particularly at El Hobale area. This feature has no surface expression and is not visible in the Landsat TM image (Figs. 1,2 and 4). Excavation in this area indicates that the fine-grained alluvial cover has a thickness of only 1-1.5 m. Thus, the conditions are intermittently favorable for permitting microwave signals from strong subsurface reflectors to have radar image expression. Figure (4) also shows that the recent lineaments are trending in NNE and NE directions and coincident with the drainage channels, confirming their fault- controlled nature. According to El Baz, [30], the coincidence of drainage with structural features, as well as the channels that drain into fractures, provides the ideal fluvial-structural configuration for ground water accumulation. So, these features are valuable for ground water exploration in the study area. Moreover, Landsat TM / ERS-2 SAR product outlines the fault contact between basement rocks and Miocene sediments at Gabal Elba area as well as it reveals the wave current direction along Red Sea coast. Such features are not observable in Landsat TM images of similar resolution (Figs. 1, 2 and 4).

7- SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS: A methodological approach for various remotly sensed data integration at Sol Hamid area was designed and implemented aiming at geological mapping and mineral exploration. ERS-2 SAR data enable to obtain an image of Sol Hamid area that reveals fluvial features beneath a surface cover of desert sand. These features are not observable in Landsat TM images of similar resolution. Principal component analysis technique is used for merging ERS-2 SAR and Landsat TM data for enhancing subsurface structures such as foliations and faults that control magnesite, chromite, manganese and barite deposits in the study area. The parts covered with recent dry sands at El Hobale and El Kolal areas can be considered promising territories for further exploration. Morever the merging of ERS-2 SAR and Landsat TM images of the study area reveals drainage pattern and recent structures and detect the dykes beneath a thin dry sand that obscures the underlying rocks on TM images. These features are valuable for ground water exploration in the investigated area. This study represent an example to demonstrate the utility of the used remote sensing technique in mineral exploration in an arid region. Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank Prof. Omar Cherif and Prof. Ibrhim El Kassas, National Authority for Remote Sensing and Space Sciences (NARSS), Cairo, Egypt, for their invaluable comments and suggestions. - REFERENCES: [1] Ball, J., 1912: The geography and geology of South Eastern Egypt. Survey of Egypt, Cairo. [2] El-Shazly, E. M., 1957: Classification of the Egyptian mineral deposits. Egypt, J. Geol., 1, 1-22. [3] Basta, E. Z. and Saleeb W. S., 1971: Mineralogy of the manganese ores of Elba area, South Eastern Desert, Egypt. U. A. R. J. Geol., 15, 1, 29-48. [4] Kroner, A, Greiling, R., Reischmann, T., Hussein, I.; Stern, R. J., Durr. S.; Kruger, J., and Zimmer, M. M., 1987: Pan African crustal evolution in the Nubian segment of northeast Africa, in Kroner, A., ed., Proterozoic lithospheric evolution : American Geophysical Union Geodynamics Series, v. 17, p. 235-257. [5] Zimmer, M., Jochum, K. P., Kroner, A. and Rashwan, 1987: Geology and geochemistry of the Pan-African Gabal Gerf ophiolite , Egypt and Sudan. 14th Colloquium of African Geology: Berlin, Technical University of Berline, 95. (Abstract). [6] Stern, R.J., Nielsen, K.C., Best. E., Sultan, M., Arvidson, R.E. and Kroner, A., 1990: Orientation of late Precambrian sutures in the Arabian Nubian Shield. Geology, 18, 1103-1106. [7] Ramadan, T. M., El Rakaiby, M. L., and Hassaan, M. M., 2000: Contributions to the geologic setting and mineral exploration of Southeast Egypt: using orbital remote sensing. 2nd International Conference on Earth Observation and Environmental Information, Cairo, Egypt. 1-13. [8] Kowalik, W. S. and Glenn, W. E., 1987: Image processing of aeromagnetic data and integration with Landsat images for improved structural interpretation. Geophysics, 52, 875-884. [9] Harris, J., 1991: Mapping of regional structure of eastern Nova Scotia using remotely sensed imagery: implications for regional tectonics and gold exploration. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, I, 122-135. [10] Mussakowski, R., Trowell, N. F., and Heather, K. B., 1991: Digital integration of remote sensing and geosciences data for the Goudreau-Lochalsh Area, Wawa, Ontario. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 17, 162-173. [11] Harris, J., Bowie, C, Rencz, A. N. and Graham, D., 1994: Computer-enhancement technique for the integration of remotely sensed, geophysical and thematic data for the-geosciences. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 20, 210-221. [12] Rivard, B., Kellet, R. L., Saint-Jean, R. and Singhroy, V., 1994: Characterization of faulting and dyke intrusion in the Benny Deformation Zone, North Range of Sudbury, from Airborne Magnetics and SAR. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 20, 324-328. [13] Paradella, W. R., Bignelli, P. V., Pietsch R. W. and Toutin T., 1997: Airborne and spaceborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) integration with Landsat TM and gamma ray spectrometry for geological mapping in a tropical rainforest environment, the Carajas Mineral Province, Barazil. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 18, 7, 1483-1501. [14] Cordula A. R., 1998: Potential and applications of radar data in Egypt. The Egyptian Journal of Remote Sensing and Space Sciences, 1, 1, 25-56. [15] Pinz A., Prantle M., Ganster H., and Borotschnig H., 1996: Active fusion A new Method Applied to Remote Sensing Image Interpretation, Pattern Recognition Letters, Special Issue on Soft Computing in Remote Sensing Data Analysis, 17, 13, 1349-1359. [16] Anuta P., 1987: SAR / Landsat Image Registration Study Final Report, LARS Contract Report 082478.

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