This map is a false-color rendition created from Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus imagery collected between 1999 and 2002. The false colors were generated by applying an adaptive histogram equalization stretch to Landsat bands 7 (displayed in red), 4 (displayed in green), and 2 (displayed in blue). These three bands contain most of the spectral differences provided by Landsat imagery and, therefore, provide the most discrimination between surface materials. Landsat bands 4 and 7 are in the near-infrared and short-wave-infrared regions, respectively, where differences in absorption of sunlight by different surface materials are more pronounced than in visible wavelengths.

Cultural data were extracted from files downloaded from the Afghanistan Information Management Service (AIMS) Web site (http://www.aims.org.af). The AIMS files were originally derived from maps produced by the Afghanistan Geodesy and Cartography Head Office (AGCHO). Cultural features were not derived from the Landsat base and consequently do not match it precisely.

This map is part of a series that includes a geologic map, a topographic map, a Landsat natural-color-image map, and a Landsat false-color-image map for the USGS/AGS (U.S. Geological Survey/Afghan Geological Survey) quadrangles covering Afghanistan. The maps for any given quadrangle have the same open-file report (OFR) number but a different letter suffix, namely, -A, -B, -C, and -D for the geologic, topographic, Landsat natural-color, and Landsat false-color maps, respectively. The OFR numbers range in sequence from 1092 to 1123. The present map series is to be followed by a second series, in which the geology is reinterpreted on the basis of analysis of remote-sensing data, limited fieldwork, and library research. The second series is to be produced by the USGS in cooperation with the AGS and AGCHO.