Photogeological appraisal of automatically extracted lineaments from Landsat data

Abstract

A lineament is one of the most significant structural information in visual photogeological interpretation, and is usually extracted by means of recognition of diagnostic morphological features such as linear drainage flowpath.
This paper describes an approach for automatic extraction of lineaments from Landsat MSS data and makes appraisal between the lineaments by visual interpretation and automatic extraction.
Directional Segment Detection Algorithm (DSDA), which is different from conventional automatic extractionmethod, has been newly developed in this research. Analytical appraisal of the present results revealed that the majority of the lineaments by visual interpretation were automatically extracted. The reliability of the extraction mainly depends on tonal contrast expressed on the MSS image (band 7), length of lineament, and directional angle of lineament with respect to the sun azimuth.