Geothermal Cap Mapping
Silica sinter, ammonium illite and steam-heated alunite, the three things that mark a geothermal cap from orbit.
Finds active and fossil reservoir caps through ammonium minerals, alunite and silica sinter.
Geothermal cap assemblage: ammonium illite alongside steam-heated alunite.
WHAT THE SENSOR SEES
What this layer looks for.
The laboratory reference for each material, and what the sensor's band spacing captures of it. The shaded band marks the range the method reads.
WHAT IT FINDS
What it detects.
| Material | Typical setting | What can confuse it |
|---|---|---|
| Ammonium-Bearing Minerals (Buddingtonite / NH4-Illite) | Active and fossil high-enthalpy geothermal reservoir caps | Ordinary illite, whose absorption overlaps it |
| Opaline Silica Sinter | Surface hot spring vents and geyser discharge channels | Calcite travertine encrustations; the thermal-infrared silica feature is not available on any sensor this platform reads |
METHOD
How it works.
Calibrated reflectance goes in, and every pixel is fitted against a public reference library.
Narrowband ammonium extraction
Separates the weak ammonium signature from the much stronger clay absorption next door to it.
Sulfate and silica fitting
Steam-heated alunite and the opaline silica hydration shoulder are fitted against library spectra. The thermal-infrared silica feature would corroborate this and is out of reach: no sensor in the registry publishes it.
Cap delineation
Groups steam-heated assemblages into contiguous caps and reports the evaluable fraction of each.
Quality masking
Vegetation moisture anomalies and standing water are excluded.
SPECIFICATIONS
What you get, and what it runs on.
Conditions it needs
Method and checks are documented in Axine Applied Spectroscopy Paper #2 · Section 4.1.
Scope
Maps the surface assemblage left by geothermal fluid. Reservoir temperature at depth is not part of it.
RUN IT OVER YOUR GROUND
Run this layer over your own area.
Order processing over your area of interest, or a tasked capture where the archive has nothing usable. Imagery access is never charged for: a plan buys the models.
COMPLEMENTARY ANALYTICS
Related layers.
Methane Plume Detection
Column enhancement over oil and gas facilities. Reviewed public plume products pass through with their provenance, and our own filter runs alongside as screening.
Hydrocarbon Microseepage
Surface alteration patterns above petroleum basins, reported as indicators rather than as a find.
Alteration Mineral Mapping
Per-pixel alteration mineralogy separating advanced argillic, phyllic and propylitic assemblages.