Application of Digital Image Processing Techniques for Earth Observation Satellites in the Estimation of Surface Temperature Models in Support of Geothermal Exploration in Colombia

Abstract

Earth Observation satellites placed in orbit is one of the sources of thermal data associated with the earth's surface. Whit this sensors is possible to capture values of radiance in the near infrared, included in the digital levels of the pixel that by means of the digital processing of the image can express values in units of temperature. Since taking the image suggests that the wavelength is affected by the interference of solar radiance, vegetation and climate, a series of corrections are applied to the digital level to calculate the temperature values and vegetation indices that adjust to the geothermal reality. To validate these models derived from the Remote Sensing, as ground true, we have the Shallow Surface Temperature - SST for the characterization of temperature anomalies near the earth's surface. The cost-benefit evaluation in the exploration stage takes a lot of relevance in the interpretation of the temperature anomalies present in the geothermal systems. Due to this, the contribution in the characterization of temperature anomalies from models extracted by remote sensing, lies in the contribution of this input in the pre-feasibility stage of the study area for decision-making aimed at identifying the elements and components of the geothermal area.This contribution is essential, since generally the stage of exploration in the nonexistent geothermal industry in the Colombian territory consumes many financial resources dedicated to the identification of the elements of the conceptual model to evaluate the energy potential.