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.

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: B4/B3 Blue is low abundance, Red is high abundance (1) Exposed iron ore (hematite-goethite). Use in combination with the "Opaques index" to help separate/map dark (a) surface lags (e.g. maghemite gravels) which can be misidentified in visible and false colour imagery; and (b) magnetite in BIF and/or bedded iron ore; and (3) Acid conditions: combine with FeOH Group content to help map jarosite which will have high values in both products. Mapping hematite versus goethite mapping is NOT easily achieved as ASTER's spectral bands were not designed to capture diagnostic iron oxide spectral behaviour. However, some information on visible colour relating in part to differences in hematite and/or goethite content can be obtained using a ratio of B2/B1 especially when this is masked using a B4/B3 to locate those pixels with sufficient iro oxide content.

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)

1. Band ratio: B1/B4 Blue is low abundance, Red is high abundance (potentially includes carbon black (e.g. ash), magnetite, Mn oxides, and sulphides in unoxidised envornments Useful for mapping: (1) magnetite-bearing rocks (e.g. BIF); (2) maghemite gravels; (3) manganese oxides; (4) graphitic shales. Note 1: (1) and (4) above can be evidence for "reduced" rocks when interpreting REDOX gradients. Combine with AlOH group Content (high values) and Composition (high values) products, to find evidence for any invading "oxidised" hydrothermal fluids which may have interacted with reduced rocks evident in the Opaques index product.

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: B13/B10 Blue is low silica content Red is high silica content (potentially includes Si-rich minerals, such as quartz, feldspars, Al-clays) Geoscience Applications: Broadly equates to the silica content though the intensity (depth) of this reststrahlen feature is also affected by particle size <250 micron. Useful product for mapping: (1) colluvial/alluvial materials; (2) silica-rich (quartz) sediments (e.g. quartzites); (3) silification and silcretes; and (4) quartz veins. Use in combination with quartz index, which is often correlated with the Silica index.

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. 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).

1. Band ratio: B5/B7 Blue is well ordered kaolinite, Al-rich muscovite/illite, paragonite, pyrophyllite Red is Al-poor (Si-rich) muscovite (phengite) useful for mapping: (1) exposed saprolite/saprock is often white mica or Al-smectite (warmer colours) whereas transported materials are often kaolin-rich (cooler colours); (2) clays developed over carbonates, especially Al-smectite (montmorillonite, beidellite) will produce middle to warmers colours. (2) stratigraphic mapping based on different clay-types; and (3) lithology-overprinting hydrothermal alteration, e.g. Si-rich and K-rich phengitic mica (warmer colours). Combine with Ferrous iron in MgOH and FeOH content products to look for evidence of overlapping/juxtaposed potassic metasomatism in ferromagnesian parents rocks (e.g. Archaean greenstone associated Au mineralisation) +/- associated distal propyllitic alteration (e.g. chlorite, amphibole).