Application of Concentration-Area Fractal Model for Separating Hydrothermal Alteration Zones of Kerman Cenozoic Magmatic Arc (KCMA) Using ASTER Images Data

Separating hydrothermal alteration zones is a main challenge in remote sensing science. The results showed that application of conventional methods based on spectral properties could not exactly separate hydrothermal alterations. Therefore, this research attempted to identify hydrothermal alteration zones in the study area by combining principal component analysis and concentration-area fractal model. The developed model was evaluated by confusion matrix, commission and omission error and total accuracy. The commission and omission error of phyllic zone is 4.51 and 9.13 percent, respectively, and the omission error of argillic zone is equal to 54.16 percent. The results indicated that concentration-area fractal model is able to identify phyllic, argillic and propylitic zones in the study area. Because of the same spectral signature of phyllic and argillic minerals, the concentration-area fractal model could not exactly discriminate these two alteration zones.