Estimation of Pozzolanic Activity of Scoria Rocks Using ASTER Remote Sensing

Abstract

The method of gathering data using remote sensing enables efficient selection of different target regions for the procurement of various scoria rocks (SR), which are under investigation. Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is one of the five-spectroradiometer sensors mounted onto the Japan and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) TERRA spacecraft. Informative radiance data reflected from different regions, containing SR, collected by ASTER could be converted into reflectance. Pozzolanic activity index (PAI) of ground SR samples was measured in their standard mortar mixtures. PAIs of the procured samples could be well correlated to their reflectance values at two effective ASTER Bands (B4 and B5). It is concluded that SR samples with lower reflectance are characterized with high PAIs that varied from about 91%–100% at 28 and 90 days. The reflectance of different regions in the same area of reported PAIs could be obtained using established mathematical correlation techniques and verified from reported data. Results have shown that there is a reasonable agreement between the estimated and reported ranges of PAI values.