APPLICATION OF THEMATIC MAPPER SHORT-WAVELENGTH INFRARED DATA FOR THEDETECTION AND MONITORING OF HIGH-TEMPERATURE RELATED GEOENVIRONMENTALFEATURES

The short wavelength infrared region (0.7-3.0 mum) has manifold applic ations in the detection and monitoring of geoenvironmental features, s uch as coal mine fire, oil well fire, active volcanoes, industrial hot spots, etc. These features are essentially characterized by high temp eratures and often release aerosols and greenhouse gases into the atmo sphere. In the present article, an attempt has been made to study the applications of Thematic Mapper (TM) Short Wavelength Infrared (SWIR) bands (4, 5 and 7) data for the detection and monitoring of these high temperature related geoenvironmental features. The rationale of using the SWIR data for temperature related studies is also discussed in br ief. The pixel-integrated and sub-pixel temperatures have been calcula ted using the TM SWIR bands data for an active volcano (Barren Island volcano), coal mine fire (Jharia Coal Field) and industrial hot spots (Bokaro Steel Plant).