Investigation of Minerals Using Hyperspectral Satellite Imagery in Bangladesh

Mineral identification using remote sensing technologies is becoming more dominant in this field since it saves time by demonstrating a more effective way for land resources survey. In such remote sensing technologies, hyperspectral remote sensing (HSRS) technology has increased gradually for its efficient manner. This technology is usually used from an airborne platform, i.e., satellite. Hence, satellite imagery remote sensing technology is now more capable of providing accuracy in mineral identification, and mapping. Hyperspectral satellite imagery can identify minerals more accurately compared to traditional technologies in remote sensing by constructing a complete reflectance of the spectrum from each pixel with its advanced imaging sensor. Bangladesh is a developing country with an area of 1,50,000 square kilometers located in Southeast Asia. Though it is a small country, it is enriched with several mineral resources through rivers, forests, hills, and the Bay of Bengal. In this study, hyperspectral imaging technology is employed on some major identical areas (Maheshkhali, Netrokona, Panchagarh, and Patuakhali) of Bangladesh to identify minerals there. As there are no studies done in Bangladesh using hyperspectral imaging yet, it is a good opportunity to explore the potentiality of HS imagery in this field. In this study, the FLAASH (Fast Line-of-sight Atmospheric Analysis) module with necessary parameter settings is used to filter the data, and finally, mineral identification is done by the spectral matched filtering method. Our investigation resulted in finding some potential minerals in those areas including Stariolite, Diasphore, Zircon, Alunite, Quartz, and so on. This indicates that there still is enormous potential for further exploration of minerals in Bangladesh by Hyperspectral Satellite Imagery.