Earth Observation Data Utilisation for Rock Phosphate Exploration in Jhabua, Madhya Pradesh, India

ABSTRACT In this study, we processed Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data using partial subpixel mapping methods for delineating surface occurrences of fertilizer mineral i.e., phosphorite in dolomite and carbonate-bearing chert in the Aravalli Supergroup. We applied feature-oriented principal component analysis to derive an image composite for delineating the spatial extent of carbonate rich zones within the Lunaveda Group of rocks. Subsequently, we used image spectra of the surface exposure of rock phosphate of the existing mine at Khatama area as the reference for implementing adaptive coherence estimator (ACE) algorithm in the VNIR -SWIR bands of ASTER data to derive the abundance map of phosphorite. We confirmed the presence of phosphate in the identified phosphate anomaly zones during field surveys by implementing rapid colorimetric test that is proven for identifying the presence of phosphate in the samples. We also used the available surface geochemical data of P2O5 to establish the synergy between geochemical data and identified geochemical anomaly.