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Produced by the NASA Center for Aerospace Information (CASI) ,,AT Qi I )^'--;fit,: JH J UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Interagency Report NASA-83 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY '^'•a.YA ). tbo 1958 WASHINGTON. D.C. 20242 H69 $ (ACCESSION NUMI ("RU) Mr. Robert Porter a Acting Program Chief, (CODE) Earth Resources S^irvey Code SAR - NASA Headquarters W—CR OR TMX NUMBER) OR AD tGTE60RY) Washington, D.C. 20545 Dear Bob: Transm_tted herewith is one copy of: INTERAGENCY REPORT NASA-82 GEOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF INFRARED IKAGERY, EASTERN PART OF YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PA%<, ViOtAING AND MONTANA* ^. by Harry W. Smedes** The U.S. Geological Survey has released this report in open files. Copies are available for consultation in the Geological Survey Libraries, 1033 GSA Building, Washington, D.C. 20242; Building 25, Federal Center, Danver, Colorado 80225; 345 Middlefield Road, Menlo ?ark, California 94025; and 601 E. Cedar Avenua, Flagstaff, Arizona 86001. 618 9 7prT^ Sincerely yours, a5 '000n ^ AFC William A. Fischer oc^^ !',,^^ Research Coordinator EROS Prograri *Work performed under .NASA Contract Na. R-09-020-011, Task 160-75-01-44-10 **U.S. Geological Sur y-?y, Danver, Colorado I: ;7 UNITED STATES 1 DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 2 3 GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 4 5 jI I b INTERAGENCY REPORT NASA-83 GEOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF INFRARED IMAGERY, 8 EASTERN PART OF YELLO INSTONE NATIONAL PARK, 9 WYOMING A! D :MONTANA* 1a- 12 Harry W. Smedes** 13 I4. 15- 16 I7 Prepared by the Geological Survey 18 for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) t^ *Work perfor-led under NASA Contract No. R-09-020-011, Task 160-75-01-44-10 **U.S. Geological Survey, Denver, Colorado • ?1 t .1267 1 Conterts Page 2 Introduction----------------------------------------------- - 1 3 Nature of the study--------------------------------------------- 3 4 (j Infrared imagery studied------------- ---------------------- 3 s -^ General results-------------------- - 4 6 i Discussion of selected examples-------------------------------- - 7 i 7 Reversals of relative heat radiation----------------------- 7 i i a The effects of bodies of water--- ------------------------- 10 i I 9 i The effects of talus and other rubble---------------------- 13 i I 10 - ' Effects of the attitude of slope--------------------------- 15 i 11 The effect of snow and ice--------------------------------- 19 i 12 The effect of rock type------------------------------------ 21 13 Hot springs and altered rock------------------------------- 22 i 14 Man-caused anomalies--------------------------------------- 24 i i5— Recommendations------------------------------------------------- 26 i 16 References------------------------------------------------------ 27 n I is 19 20- 21 22 23 24 25— O. S. 00VERNhiENT PRINTING OFFICE! 1959 O - 511171 0 p • 1nu k 9.1267 1 ! Geological evaluation of infrared imagery, eastern part of I 2 Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming and Montana I 3 by iI I 4 I Harry W. Smedes i 5- INTRODUCTION e Infrared imagery of part of Yellowstone National Park was studied; i to evaluate its usefulness in the remote sensing of geologic i a 'environment. Applications of infrared imagery to geology and 9 geomorphology were studied by determining whether rock and soil types,; 10 - ' structures, and thermal springs not observed on the ground or from 11 conventional aerial photographs could be detected from this imagery. 12 Geologic mapping in the Park area is being carried out under i 13 five topical projects: 1) pre-Tertiary rocks in the northern part 14 of the Park; 2) pre-Tertiary in the southern part; early Cenozoic 3) i 15 volcanic rocks; 4) late Cenozoic volcanic rocks; and 5) surficial I 16 deposits and geomorphology. This report is primarily concerned with " infrared imagery of areas underlain by the early Cenozoic volcanics; i8 it involves the eastern third of the Park and the Washburn Range in 19 the north-central part of the Park. 20- 1 i i !i 22 23 24 25 - 1 U. S, GOVERNMENT PH IN I ING OFFICE : 1"9 O - SI1171 667.101, 9.1267 1 The early Cenozoic volcanic rocks are of Eocene and, probably, 2 Oligocene age. They constitute a complex volcanic pile composed of 3 interfingering and gradational sheets and lenses of breccia, 4 epiclastic volcanic deposits, and lavas, cut in places by dikes and s- plugs. The composition ranges from rhyodacite to K-rich basalt; the 6 grain size and texture from that of shale, silt, and volcanic ash to 7 breccia blocks several feet in diameter, and dense lava flows. This e I broad complex of coalescing materials derived from scattered vent f 9 areas forms a vast plateau which has been deeply dissected to form a 10- mature surface with more than 3000 feet of relief. Remnants of an old! I i erosion surface on this plateau lie along the eastern margin of the i i 12 Park, where they form the edge of the Absaroka Range. Strata there --- 13 form precipitous rimrocks and ledges. Farther west, the topography 14 is subdued, the early Cenozoic volcanics are less conspicuously expose! i 15- on grassy and timbered slopes and are overlain by a variety of 16 younger volcanic, sedimentary, and glacial deposits. The strata are j " flat or of low dip except near some vent areas and intrusive bodies 16 ( where they are fadlted and tilted. In the ;2ount Washburn area strata 'q dip moderately; in the Eagle Peak area steep dips represent primary i 20- 1 slopes of the deposits of ancient volcanoes. 21 The general geology of the Park and the region to the east is 22 outlined by Hague (1896, 1899)• 23 24 25 - 2 U.S. GOVENNMENT PRIM ING OFFICE: 1959 0- 511171 847.100 9.1267 NATURE OF THE STUDY j z Infrared images .;overing more than 475 flightline miles were 3 studied (Figure 1). Evaluation of the imagery was made by visual 4 comparison of the relative intensities of different features shown on s-i positive prints of the imagery; by comparing the same features on e i daytime and night imagery; and by checking features with one or more I i 7 of the following: 1) Conventional black and white aerial photographs i 8 at a scale of about 1:37,400; 2) color pictures (transparencies) whica I 9 were taken from the ground and from helicopter in flight; 3) geologic i io-1 maps at 1:62,500 and 1:125,000; 4) topographic maps at 1:62,500; and ! 11 i 5) radar imagery. j 12 The results from this study will be discussed, in general i 13 qualitative terms. This qualitative approach stems from the lack i I 14 of data available on emissivity of the surface materials in the area. j i is- The study was also designed to compare several types of visual data 1b (photographs or images) to determine whether geologic features could 17 be identified by comparison and contrast among the various kinds of i 18 ; data. For the comparativei study, absolute values of emissivity are i9 not important. t 20 6 Infrared Imagery Studied J 21 Infrared images covering most of Yellowstone Park were obtained by aircraft overflights during early evening hours on August 13 and 14t 22 and during mid-afternoon hours on August 14 and 15, 1966. The imagery 23 i was recorded using a Reconofax IV system and Tri-X film by representat ves I 24 ! of H. R. B. Singer under contract, Project No. 4027, missions 19 25_^ through 22. 1 3 U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE: 1959 U - 411171 !67.100 .1267 1 I GENERAL RESULTS 2 Principal variables responsible for producing contrasting tones 3 j on the imagery are; 1) the inherent (as opposed to solar dependent) e ; temperature of a feature such as hot or cold springs, snow, and ice; 2) differences in soil moisture content; 3} type and amount of i 6 vegetation covering a rock unit; and 4) amount of solar radiation 7 received because of topographic position -- the topographic enhancement i 8 effect. The strongest of these is the first, the inherent temperature. 9 In general, the effects of 3) and 4) are so strong that they mask to -^ those due to differences in texture or composition of the bedrock 11 units, which are of greatest geologic interest. In fact, a given i 12 bedrock unit in places where it most likely has rather uniform { z i3 emissivity appears relatively cool in some places and relatively warm) 14 in others depending especially upon the topographic enhancement effect. I is- This relation plus the fact that conventional aerial photographs 16 portray geologic units more consistently, reliably, and conspicuously,' 17 prompts the conclusion that infrared imagery recorded during afternoon 18 1 or early evening tours (the only imagery recorded for this area is 19 of little value for discrimination of rock type. However, such I 20 -' imagery is quite useful in determining relative moisture content, and.' ' I 21 might be very helpful in distinguishing between soils or other I ^ t2 surface debris of different origin or age. 23 Comparison of imagery of the same area before and after sunset suggest that repeated runs could give rough quantitative data on j 24 relative rates of abs tion and radiation that ma y prove helpful in 25-_ evaluating the nature of surface debris.