Integrating Remotely Sensed and GIS Data for the Detailed Geological Mapping in Semi-Arid Regions: Case of Youks les Bains Area, Tebessa Province, NE Algeria

Detailed geologic mapping provides valuable informations about the spatial distribution of lithological outcrops and lineaments; required to carry out the necessary investigations of the geologic, geotechnical and hydrogeological data investigation. The unavailability of geologic coverage at meduim scale in the Nementcha mountains has severely hampered geoscientist to develop and test their hypotheses. In order to exploit multispectral datasets for the characterization of surface materials; Sentinel-2A data was used in the discrimination of geological classes along Youks les Bain area, extreme NE of Algeria. Resampling, orthorectification, atmospheric correction, and radiometric normalization have been applied to the Sentinel-2A radiance data, identified as the first and most important step in processing. The 12/4, 11/3 and 8/4 band ratios combination was adopted to discriminate the different lithologies. Then, to reduce redundant information in highly correlated bands, the principal component analysis has been implemented. The directional filters were applied to undertaken the lineamentary mapping. At last the project was exported and processed in GIS spatial database. The result allows the discrimination of the lithological boundaries and help to a better understanding of the local geology of the study area. The project digital databases represents a key tool to support research activities in the West of Tebessa region.