Análisis de anomalías geobotánicas a partir del procesamiento e interpretación de productos de sensores remotos, estudio de caso: occidente de Boyacá (Colombia)

Abstract

This work presents the boundaries of a new area of interest for the detailed exploration of emeralds in Colombia, identified through the interpretation of geobotanical anomalies in areas of dense vegetation. A methodology was designed in which fifteen vegetation indices were calculated. The anomalies correlated most with the lineaments detected from the interpretation of a shaded-relief model generated from a digital terrain model (DTM) were selected. A detailed spectral analysis in the mineralized zones of the area with the highest correlation showed a halo of vegetative stress in all studied cases; moreover, the analysis corroborated a direct relationship between the albitization present in the mineralized zones, the lineaments and the degree of vegetative stress. A sector between the Coscuez mine and the La Pita mine was identified as a target for detailed exploration, where the vegetation indexes indicate less vegetative stress and correlate better with the natural terrain lineaments. It was found that the proposed methodology based on geobotanical anomalies yields consistent results and can be used as a tool for emerald exploration.