Determination of Soil Physical and Chemical Factors on the Differentiation of Kavir Facies based on the Geometric Average and the Aggregation Methods of ASTER Image Data

Accurate mapping of geological structures play an important role in the land management, some of which are considered as the origination of wind deposits, dust and aerosols. During the last decades, remote sensing has considerably helped the studies of desert areas especially in change detection of land phenomena. This study aims to study the facies morphology of playa in Tabas Kavir, based on the geometric mean of ASTER imagery bands. To do so, 40 topsoil samples have been collected during the fieldwork in 2010/06/23. Soil samples were analyzed in the laboratory and various pedagogical variables (including Anions, Cations, soil moisture, texture and pH) were measured. Digital elevation model (DEM) was used to investigate the effect of topography on the facies morphology. Pixel values of each spectral band have been extracted in the training samples points (26 samples). Then, the correlation models have been established by using multiple linear regression method. Estimated values and the accuracy of models were assessed by using regression models in the test samples points (14 samples). Related maps have been produced by applying the models on the corresponding ASTER bands and the accuracy of produced maps have been assessed by using the ground truth map. The results of this study indicate that the most important factors in the studying of morphology of the region's facies are the interaction among components of bicarbonate-lime, potassium-lime and bicarbonate-lime-potassium with the overall accuracy more than 53 percentage. As well, the results show that there is no meaningful relationship between Na, CO3, EC, topography and ASTER bands. Keywords: Facies, Geometric Average, Aggregation, Geomorphology, Playa, Tabas