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USGS · 70013437

DISCRIMINATION OF GRANITOIDS AND MINERALIZED GRANITOIDS IN THE MIDYAN REGION, NORTHWESTERN ARABIAN SHIELD, SAUDI ARABIA, BY LANDSAT MSS DATA-ANALYSIS.

Philip A. Davis·Maurice J. Grolier
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Abstract

Landsat multispectral scanner (MSS) band and band-ratio databases of two scenes covering the Midyan region of northwestern Saudi Arabia were examined quantitatively and qualitatively to determine which databases best discriminate the geologic units of this semi-arid and arid region. Unsupervised, linear-discriminant cluster-analysis was performed on these two band-ratio combinations and on the MSS bands for both scenes. The results for granitoid-rock discrimination indicated that the classification images using the MSS bands are superior to the band-ratio classification images for two reasons, discussed in the paper. Yet, the effects of topography and material type (including desert varnish) on the MSS-band data produced ambiguities in the MSS-band classification results. However, these ambiguities were clarified by using a simulated natural-color image in conjunction with the MSS-band classification image.

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Philip A. Davis, Maurice J. Grolier. 1984. DISCRIMINATION OF GRANITOIDS AND MINERALIZED GRANITOIDS IN THE MIDYAN REGION, NORTHWESTERN ARABIAN SHIELD, SAUDI ARABIA, BY LANDSAT MSS DATA-ANALYSIS.. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70013437

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