Integrated Interpretation of Remote Sensing and Satellite Gravity – Atbara – Sudan

Abstract

The study area lies in Northern Sudan and Situated In the River Nile State it is latitudes (18°0’l 3.75” - 16°34’ 49.1 5” N) and longitudes (32°5’45.30” - 35°29'59.64'' E). 350 meters above sea level. The main objective of the present study is to Identify the surface and subsurface structures in the study area and define the geometry of Atbara Basin. Different digital image processing techniques including spectral and spatial enhancement have been applied to Landsat 8 OLI image. The digital image processing of the remotely sensed data helped in the delineation of lineaments and drainage system in the study area. Gravity point data obtained by satellite was used in the present study. Polynomial fitting was used in order to separate the regional from the residual component of the gravity. The first and second vertical derivatives and the first horizontal derivative were computed in order to study the presence of faults. Moreover, three profiles were constructed across the Bouguer anomaly map in an approxjmately, NE-SW directions cutting the most prominent anomalies in the area , then used to construct 2D gravity model. The outcome of the present study is the modeling of the subsurface geology of the study area based on the Bouguer anomaly map and the above-mentioned three profiles.