Remote Sensing analysis

These bands are in the VNIR (aka CIR) range and highlight actively photosynthesizing vegetation (showns as red), undisturbed bedrock and soils (browns, greens, and greys), and the built environment (blues, greens, reddish-purples, and whites). Most of the vegetation is in urbanized areas.

ASTER bands 8, 6, and 4 are in the SWIR range and highlight spectral features diagnostic for iron oxides, illite, kaolinite, and carbonates. These features illustrate different mineral compositions.

ASTER bands 13, 12, and 10 are in the TIR range and highlight spectral features diagnostic for silicates, iron- and magnesium-bearing minerals and rocks, and carbonates. Quartzites are bright red, basaltic rocks are blue, granitoids are purple-violet, and carbonates are greenish yellow.

The NDVI computed from the ASTER Image The NDVI shows the relative abundance of actively photosynthesizing vegetation and how healthy the vegetation is in the area. The high contrast between these features is due to the NDVI showing actively photosynthesizing vegetation. The brighter pixels demonstrate the healthy vegetation and the darker areas illustrate rock units.

ASTER Imaging Data of Phoenix Metrolpolitan Area