A distinction between bedrock and unconsolidated deposits on 3-5u infrared imagery of the Yellowstone rhyolite plateau

Infrared imagery covering most of Yellowstone National Park was obtained in August 1966, by H. R. B. Singer Company, using the Reconofax IV system in an aircraft flying at about 20,000 feet. This imagery has been examined in order to evaluate the geologic information it contains in relation to a current study of the Yellowstone rhyolite plateau. As most of the findings contained no new information about the capabilities of the system, they will be, reviewed here only very briefly. However, one particular aspect of the interpretation, a clear local distinction between bedrock and surficial deposits, seems to be of sufficient interest to be illustrated and noted specifically.

Because of the nature of the terrain and vegetation at Yellowstone, the parameters affecting the infrared sensor are mainly ones which are themselves only poor-resolution indicators of primary geologic features. Certain geologic features not directly related to the rhyolite plateau do show up fairly well but are not discussed here as they have been described in other reports based on this imagery (Smedes, 1968; Pierce, 1963; Keefer, in preparation).