B6/B5 (potential includes: pyrophyllite, alunite, well-ordered kaolinite) Blue is low content, Red is high content Useful for mapping: (1) different clay-type stratigraphic horizons; (2) lithology-overprinting hydrothermal alteration, e.g. high sulphidation, "advanced argillic" alteration comprising pyrophyllite, alunite, kaolinite/dickite; and (3) well-ordered kaolinite (warmer colours) versus poorly-ordered kaolinite (cooler colours) which can be used for mapping in situ versus transported materials, respectively.

1. Band ratio: B7/B8 Blue-cyan is magnesite-dolomite, amphibole, chlorite Red is calcite, epidote, amphibole useful for mapping: (1) exposed parent material persisting through "cover"; (2) "dolomitization" alteration in carbonates - combine with Ferrous iron in MgOH product to help separate dolomite versus ankerite; (3) lithology-cutting hydrothermal (e.g. propyllitic) alteration - combine with FeOH content product and ferrous iron in Mg-OH to isolate chlorite from actinolite versus talc versus epidote; and (4) layering within mafic/ultramafic intrusives. useful for mapping: (1) exposed parent material persisting through "cover"; (2) "dolomitization" alteration in carbonates - combine with Ferrous iron in MgOH product to help separate dolomite versus ankerite; (3) lithology-cutting hydrothermal (e.g. propyllitic) alteration - combine with FeOH content product and ferrous iron in Mg-OH to isolate chlorite from actinolite versus talc versus epidote; and (4) layering within mafic/ultramafic intrusives. useful for mapping: (1) exposed parent material persisting through "cover"; (2) "dolomitization" alteration in carbonates - combine with Ferrous iron in MgOH product to help separate dolomite versus ankerite; (3) lithology-cutting hydrothermal (e.g. propyllitic) alteration - combine with FeOH content product and ferrous iron in Mg-OH to isolate chlorite from actinolite versus talc versus epidote; and (4) layering within mafic/ultramafic intrusives.

1. 3 band RGB composite Red: B3/B2 Green: B3/B7 Blue: B4/B7 (white = green vegetation) Use this image to help interpret (1) the amount of green vegetation cover (appears as white); (2) basic spectral separation (colour) between different regolith and geological units and regions/provinces; and (3) evidence for unmasked cloud (appears as green).

Band ratio: B3/B2 Blue is low content Red is high content Use this image to help interpret the amount of "obscuring/complicating" green vegetation cover.

A multi-agency collaboration between Australian government partners has been working towards making continent-scale, public, web-accessible and GIS-compatible ASTER geoscience maps. CSIRO along with Geoscience Australia and several state government agencies, (including GSWA, GSQ, DMITRE and NTGS), have developed methodology and produced 15 geoscientific products, with applications for mineral mapping and exploration, soil-mapping, environment and agricultural sectors. This work represents the largest ASTER mosaic of this type in the world and sets a new benchmark for state-to-continent scale spectral remote sensing. The project is supported both nationally and internationally by the ASTER Science Team, ERSDAC, NASA and the USGS. Outcomes include the formation of a platform for establishing national standards; geoscience product nomenclature; processing methods; accuracy assessments; and traceable documentation. Detailed product notes outline these standards and provide significant knowledge transfer for existing and new users of this type of data. Hyperion satellite hyperspectral imagery has been critical for calibration and validation of the processed ASTER data, reduction to 'surface' reflectance using independent validation data such as Hyperion, and calculating statistics to generate regression coefficients, reduces errors in the ASTER instrument and increases reliability and corroboration of spectral responses.

1. Band ratio: (B6+B9/(B7+B8) Blue is low content, Red is high content (potentially includes: calcite, dolomite, magnesite, chlorite, epidote, amphibole, talc, serpentine) Useful for mapping: (1) "hydrated" ferromagnesian rocks rich in OH-bearing tri-octahedral silicates like actinolite, serpentine, chlorite and talc; (2) carbonate-rich rocks, including shelf (palaeo-reef) and valley carbonates(calcretes, dolocretes and magnecretes); and (3) lithology-overprinting hydrothermal alteration, e.g. "propyllitic alteration" comprising chlorite, amphibole and carbonate. The nature (composition) of the silicate or carbonate mineral can be further assessed using the MgOH composition product.

1. Band ratio: (B10+B12)/B11 Blue is low gypsum content. Red is high gypsum content. Accuracy: Very Low: Strongly complicated by dry vegetation and often inversely correlated with quartz-rich materials. Affected by discontinuous line-striping. Use in combination with FeOH product which is also sensitive to gypsum. Geoscience Applications: Useful for mapping: (1) evaporative environments (e.g. salt lakes) and associated arid aeolian systems (e.g. dunes); (2) acid waters (e.g. from oxidising sulphides) invading carbonate rich materials including around mine environments; and (3) hydrothermal (e.g. volcanic) systems.

1. Band ratio: (B6+B8)/B7 Blue is low content, Red is high content (potentially includes: chlorite, epidote, jarosite, nontronite, gibbsite, gypsum, opal-chalcedony) Useful for mapping: (1) jarosite (acid conditions) - in combination with ferric oxide content (high); (2) gypsum/gibbsite - in combination with ferric oxide content (low); (3) magnesite - in combination with ferric oxide content (low) and MgOH content (moderate-high) (4) chlorite (e.g. propyllitic alteration) - in combination with Ferrous in MgOH (high); and (5) epidote (calc-silicate alteration) - in combination with Ferrous in MgOH (low).

1. Band ratio: (B5+B7)/B6 Blue is low abundance, Red is high abundance potentially includes: phengite, muscovite, paragonite, lepidolite, illite, brammalite, montmorillonite, beidellite, kaolinite, dickite Useful for mapping: (1) exposed saprolite/saprock (2) clay-rich stratigraphic horizons; (3) lithology-overprinting hydrothermal phyllic (e.g. white mica) alteration; and (4) clay-rich diluents in ore systems (e.g. clay in iron ore). Also combine with AlOH composition to help map: (1) exposed in situ parent material persisting through "cover" which can be expressed as: (a) more abundant AlOH content + (b) long-wavelength (warmer colour) AlOH composition (e.g. muscovite/phengite).

This is the parent datafile of a dataset that comprises a set of 14+ geoscience products made up of mosaiced ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer) scenes across Australia. The individual geoscience products are a combination of bands and band ratios to highlight different mineral groups and parameters including: False colour composite CSIRO Landsat TM Regolith Ratios Green vegetation content Ferric oxide content Ferric oxide composition Ferrous iron index Opaque index AlOH group content AlOH group composition Kaolin group index FeOH group content MgOH group content MgOH group composition Ferrous iron content in MgOH/carbonate Surface mineral group distribution (relative abundance and composition)