Multispectral and RADAR images integration for geologic, geomorphic, and structural investigation in southwestern Arabian Shield, Al Qunfudhah area, Saudi Arabia

In this article, Western Saudi Arabia underwent remote sensing investigation via Operational Land Imager (OLI), Advanced Land Observing Satellite/ Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (ALOS/PALSAR), Sentinal-1 and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM). Image-transformation and enhancement techniques such as Band ratios, principal component analysis (PCA), and Minimum Noise Fraction (MNF) were utilized. Applying Sentinel-1 and SRTM DEMs enhanced the perspective views of the terrain. The main results are highlighting of geologic rock units, geomorphic and structural features, and extraction and visualization of dominant lineaments. N-S foliations that are associated with folds N-S tight, isoclinal, and asymmetric (F1), NW-SE trending Najd system strike-slip faults and NNE-SSW, NE-SW NW-SE, and E-W Cenozoic faults are the major identified structural lineaments, which were analyzed and synthesized via rose diagrams. Visible Near Infra-Red/Short Wave Infra-Red (VNIR/SWIR) radar data are very important data set for water resources applications.