GRSG 35th Conference 2024 Abstract

Title: Detecting Geothermal Anomalies from Space – What is the current state-of-the-art?

Author: Christoph Hecker

Organisation: University of Twente (UT-ITC)

Detecting and mapping geothermal surface temperature anomalies with remote sensing can be used as input in an early stage geothermal exploration programme. The detected locations serve as the starting point for a more detailed (often ground-based) investigation of the local geology, geochemistry and geophysics of the target areas.

In the past 10 to 15 years, a number of publications have shown (mixed) successes with the use of thermal infrared satellite data for geothermal anomaly detection. A number of these studies used small study areas with optimized detection parameters to find exactly those anomalies that were already known. Since that was not a realistic scenario for an unbiased, generalized application, we started GeoHot Project (“Geothermal Hotspot Detection from Space Station-based ECOSTRESS Data”) in 2020.

The goal was to develop a largely unbiased, quantifiable and globally applicable approach to geothermal anomaly detection from space. As the GeoHot Project draws to a close, we will summarize the different scientific investigations we did, the goals that were achieved and the challenges that still remain.