Geological Evaluation of Radarsat Data: Plans and Preliminary Results

Z. Berger, R. E. L. Irving, D. Hughes, and M. D. Thompson

Radarsat, the Canadian synthetic aperture radar satellite to be launched in September 1995, is anticipated to become the prime active imaging system for geological mapping of tropical areas and other humid areas. Radarsat will provide adequate spatial resolution, stereo capabilities and relativley low incidence angles to reduce the geometric distortions of geological structures due to layover effects. As part of the Radassat User Development Program of the Candian Space Agency, it has been proposed to conduct an evaluation program of the terrain surface mapping capabilities of Radarsat and its application to hydrocarbon exploration, coal develoment, geological hazard mapping and environmental monitoring. The evaluation program will be carried out in three test sites: 1) Western Canadian Basin (a mature exploration area in Alberta with a range of geology/topography), 2) Andean Foothills (frontier tropical sedimentary basins in Columbian representing protoype active exploration areas), and 3) Philippine volcanic region (frontier tropical earthquake-prone geohazard area of Philippine wrench fault system on Luzon Island, in a typical structural setting of the sedimentary basins of southeast Asia). The paper will include the project plans, illustrate the structural setting and the relationships between surface and subsurface structures for each of the three test sites, and present a preliminary evaluation of simulated and actual Radarsat data as compared to data from ERS-1, airborne SAR, Landsat Thematic Mapper and SPOT. The preliminary application of Radarsat for exploration will be discussed.

AAPG Search and Discover Article #91019©1996 AAPG Convention and Exhibition 19-22 May 1996, San Diego, California