CSIRO through the Centre of Excellence for 3D Mineral Mapping has been granted the complete ten year archive of raw ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection) satellite data over Australia by NASA and the Japanese Government’s Earth Remote Sensing and Data Application Centre. Using software developed at CSIRO, the raw data is being transferred into a suite of mineral maps. Maps for Western Australia, South Australia and the Northern Territory have already been produced, with the full set covering the entire Australian continent planned for release by late 2012. The maps have the potential to transform mineral exploration, particularly in under-explored greenfield areas. There has already been keen interest from mineral explorers. Apart from mineral exploration, the maps will enhance other applications such as soil and vegetation mapping for agriculture and water catchment modelling.

The ASTER products supply basic information about the dominant rock and soil-forming mineral components resulting from the surface weathering of rocks. They can help mineral explorers ‘see’ through the surface weathering, and the soil and sand that covers much of inland Australia.

The overall objective of the project is to provide national, public, web-accessible, GIS-compatible ASTER geoscience maps of Australia suitable for mapping from the continental-scale down to 1:50,000 prospect-scale.