MAPPING OF THE CARNALLITE MINERAL AND SAGEBRUSH VEGETATION PLANT BY USING HYPERSPECTRAL REMOTE SENSING AND USGS SPECTRAL LIBRARY

This paper presents the study of mineral and vegetation in explored fields around the San Juan coal mines west of Farmington, New Mexico. The purpose of this research work is to map the mineral rock & vegetation for statistically analyzing the study area. Pre-processing of Hyperspectral imagery (HSI) data is required for conversion from digital value to reflectance. Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) and Pure Pixel Index (PPI) method is used for extraction of Endmember fraction. Spectral signature matching procedure is done with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Spectral library, which contain spectra of individual species that have been acquired at test sites representatives of varied terrain and climatic zones, observed in the field under natural conditions. Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) technique is used for spectral analysis and mapping of image. Finally study area is mapped in two classes namely Carnallite mineral and Sagebrush vegetation plants. Land covered by Sagebrush plant is 8.31% and Carnallite is 1.41% of study area.