AUTOMATIC EXTRACTION AND EVALUATION OF GEOLOGICAL LINEAR FEATURES FROM DIGITAL REMOTE-SENSING DATA USING A HOUGH TRANSFORM

The Hough transform is an established tool for discovering linear feat ures in images. The present investigation presents a new and specific algorithm for detecting geological lineaments in satellite images and scanned aerial photographs which incorporates the Hough transform, a n ew kind of a ''directional detector,'' and a special counting mechanis m for detecting peaks in the Hough plane. Three test sites representin g different geological environments and remote sensing altitudes were selected. The first site represents sedimentary conditions of chalk be ds on cherry picker photography; the second represents plutonic condit ions of granite rocks on an aerial photograph; and the third represent s tectonic fractures of carbonates, chalks, and cherts on digital sate llite data. In all cases, automatic extraction and mapping of lineamen ts conformed well to interpretation of lineaments by human performance .