Characterization of Primary, Eroded, and Mantled Volcanic Surfaces Using Data Fusion

Volcanic surface units, including lava flows and pyroclastic materials forming plains and edifices, are widespread on the surfaces of rocky planetary bodies. Understanding the formation and degradation processes that produce and modify such geologic units is crucial to understanding the geologic evolution of these bodies. In order to characterize primary, eroded, and mantled characteristics of volcanic surfaces, we are utilizing a data fusion approach to examining the Amboy Crater cinder cone and lava flow field. Located in the Mojave Desert in southern California, this volcanic complex is roughly 80 ka in age and covers approximately 70 sq. km. Amboy Crater is a particularly desirable study site because it displays a wide range of volcanic features that have been subjected to various extents of erosion and mantling from aeolian and fluvial activity, and because it is an excellent terrestrial analog for Mars. Our approach uses a suite of complementary datasets that has been collected for Amboy Crater, including airborne LIDAR (light detection and ranging) and radar (radio detection and ranging) data, and airborne and spaceborne visible and near infrared (VNIR), shortwave infrared (SWIR), and thermal infrared (TIR) data. Quantitative comparison of these remote sensing datasets acquired at a range of spatial resolutions provides constraints on the ability to discriminate various morphologic and spectral characteristics of exposed surface units. In conjunction with field analyses, these comparisons provide means to remotely identify topographic and spectral signatures that are diagnostic of volcanic and degradational processes. Processes examined within the study area include lava flow emplacement and inflation, emplacement of lava cinders and spatter, erosion of the lava flows and cinder cone by liquid flow and sandblasting, and deposition of airborne and waterborne sediments.