AUTOMATED MAPPING OF MINERAL GROUPS AND GREEN VEGETATION FROM LANDSAT THEMATIC MAPPER IMAGERY WITH AN EXAMPLE FROM THE SAN JUAN MOUNTAINS, COLORADO By Barnaby W. Rockwell First posted May 28, 2013 U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Investigations Map 3252 ABSTRACT Multispectral satellite data acquired by the ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) and Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (TM) sensors are being used to populate an online Geographic Information System (GIS) of the spatial occurrence of mineral groups and green vegetation across the western conterminous United States and Alaska. These geospatial data are supporting U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) national-scale mineral deposit database development and other mineral resource and geoenvironmental research as a means of characterizing mineral exposures related to mined and unmined hydrothermally altered rocks and mine waste. This report introduces a new methodology for the automated analysis of Landsat TM data that has been applied to more than 180 scenes covering the western United States. A map of mineral groups and green vegetation produced using this new methodology is presented that covers the western San Juan Mountains, Colorado and the Four Corners Region. The map is provided as a layered GeoPDF and in GIS-ready digital format. TM data analysis results from other well-studied and mineralogically characterized areas with strong hydrothermal alteration and (or) supergene weathering of near-surface sulfide minerals are also shown and compared with results derived from ASTER data analysis. DISCLAIMERS This database, identified as SIM 3252, has been approved for release and publication by the Director of the USGS. Although this database has been subjected to rigorous review and is substantially complete, the USGS reserves the right to revise the data pursuant to further analysis and review.Furthermore, it is released on condition that neither the USGS nor the United States Government may be held liable for any damages resulting from its authorized or unauthorized use. Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the U.S. Geological Survey, no warranty, expressed or implied is made regarding the display or utility of the data on any other system, or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute such warranty. The U.S.Geological Survey shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. Any use of trade, product or firm names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Geological Survey. Although this information product, for the most part, is in the public domain, it also contains copyrighted material as noted in the text. Permission to reproduce copyrighted items for other than personal use must be secured from the copyright owner. Note: Although the Federal Geographic Data Committee-compliant metadata files are intended to document the data set in nonproprietary form, as well as in ArcGIS and ERDAS Imagine formats, these metadata files may include some terminology specific to those software packages. DATA FILES List of files: 00ReadMe.txt SIM3252_pamphlet.pdf SIM3252_map.pdf SIM3252_highres_figures: Fig01.pdf Fig02.pdf Fig03.pdf Fig04.pdf* Fig05.pdf* Fig06.pdf** Fig07.pdf** Fig08.pdf* Fig09.pdf** Fig10.pdf** Fig11.pdf* * geospatial PDF: geographic coordinates of cursor location shown when viewing in Acrobat Reader ** geoPDF: geographic coordinates of cursor location (with TerraGo Toolbar installed) and multiple layers shown when viewing in Acrobat Reader Datafiles: img files: le70350342000256pac01.tar_msi_aa11_merge.img Metadata files: SIM3252_metadata.txt Note: The pamphlet contains figures that are linked to the original high-resolution figures. HOW TO OBTAIN THE DIGITAL FILES The digital files constituting the geologic map database of this report can be obtained via the Internet from the U.S. Geological Survey publications website. Go to the Web page at: http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3252/ and follow the directions to download the files. The main products are Portable Document Format (.pdf) maps and a pamphlet, which require Adobe Acrobat Reader for viewing. Adobe Acrobat Reader software runs on a variety of systems, and is available for download free of charge from Adobe at http://get.adobe.com/reader/otherversions/. ArcReader may be downloaded free of charge from http://www.esri.com/software/arcgis/arcreader/download for viewing additional files included in this report. The TerraGo Toolbar (http://www.terragotech.com/products/field-data-collection/terrago-toolbar), a no-cost extension for Adobe Acrobat Reader, is required for viewing geographic coordinates in the GeoPDF files. With or without the toolbar, multiple, geographically referenced map layers can be turned on and off for viewing and printing.