Lineament Mapping in Batie Area (West-Cameroon) Using Landsat-9 Operational Land Imager/Thermal Infrared Sensor and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission Data: Hydrogeological Implication

Abstract

This study focuses on the mapping of lineaments using remote sensing techniques and Geographic Information Systems. The aim is to carry out a statistical analysis of the lineaments in order to better understand the organization of fracturing in the Batie district, and to identify areas of high fracturing density and their relationship with the hydrographic network. The methodology implemented to achieve these objectives is based on the processing and analysis of Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager/Thermal Infrared Sensor (OLI/TIRS) satellite imagery and Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) data covering the study area. After essential pre-processing of data, the following processing techniques were applied: Principal Component Analysis, Sobel Directional Filter with a 3 × 3 matrix and shaded relief of SRTM data with a sun azimuth of 345°, altitude of 45 m and an elevation factor of 3, followed by manual lineament extraction. The results reveal a total of 176 lineaments, ranging in size from 0.002 to 2.461 km, with an average length of 840.66 km. The projection of these lineaments on a Rose diagram shows a predominance of the North East-South-West (NE-SW) direction, which is the direction of the major tectonic fractures that affect the basement of Central Africa. These lineaments are organized into networks and corridors that define large fracture zones or corridors that control the drainage of the study area. The zones with networks show medium and high densities. This fracturing density gives good aquifer and reservoir potential to the study area.