The USGS Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) Program: CD-ROMs Expand Potential for Petroleum Exploration

KOVER, ALLAN N., JAMES W. SCHOONMAKER, JR., and HOWARD A. POHN, U.S. Geological Survey, Reston, VA

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) began the systematic collection of Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) data in 1980. The SLAR image data, useful for many geologic applications including petroleum exploration, are compiled into mosaics using the USGS 1:250,000-scale topographic map series for format and control. Mosaics have been prepared for over 35% of the United States. Image data collected since 1985 are also available as computer compatible tapes (CCTs) for digital analysis. However, the use of tapes is often cumbersome. To make digital data more readily available for use on a microcomputer, the USGS has started to prepare compact discs-read only memory (CD-ROM). Several experimental discs have been compiled to demonstrate the utility of the medium to make available very large data sets. These discs include necessary nonproprietary software text, radar, and other image data. The SLAR images selected for these discs show significantly different geologic features and include the Long Valley caldera, a section of the San Andreas fault in the Monterey area, the Grand Canyon, and glaciers in southeastern Alaska. At present, several CD-ROMs are available as standard products distributed by the USGS EROS Data Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota 57198. This is also the source for all USGS SLAR photographic and digital material.

The poster session will demonstrate the ease of using a personal computer equipped with a CD-ROM reader to view and manipulate SLAR data. It will also provide an opportunity to display a sampling of photographic prints of image mosaics in areas of potential interest to petroleum exploration including the Ouachitas, Louisiana coastal area, and other areas of structural interest. SLAR systems are particularly useful for geological structural studies because of the ability to select oblique microwave illumination to best enhance terrain features. In addition the USGS SLAR image data is collected with 60% side-lap to provide stereoscopic viewing.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91004 © 1991 AAPG Annual Convention Dallas, Texas, April 7-10, 1991 (2009)