INFRARED CARBONATE ROCK CHEMISTRY CHARACTERIZATION DISSERTATION to obtain the degree of doctor at the University of Twente, on the authority of the rector magnificus, prof.dr. T.T.M. Palstra, on account of the decision of the graduation committee, to be publicly defended on Thursday October 4, 2018 at 14.45 hrs First and foremost, I must praise and thank Almighty Allah, the Lord of the worlds, the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful, who gave me the infinite blessing, guidance and ability to successfully complete this PhD study. The life stories of the Prophet Muhammad, peace and blessing of Allah be upon him, has become a major inspiration and encouragement for attaining any circumstances and each step of my PhD journey in the University of Twente, Enschede, the Netherlands. I am deeply indebted to my parents, my dear father (Ayah) Almarhum Zaini Usman and my beloved mother (Nyak) Cut Nilawati Ibrahim for their love, care and prayers throughout my life. I could never have attained this stage of life without your unwavering support, hardship, suffering and encouragement. O my Lord, bestow on them Thy mercy and grace as they nurtured and cherished me when I was a child. I would like to take this opportunity to express my acknowledgement to all people and organizations who have contributed to accomplish this work. I am heartily grateful to my promoter and supervisor, Prof. Freek van der Meer. This dissertation might not be completed without your endless support, motivation and encouragement. Freek, from the beginning of the PhD research I am uncertain how to accomplish this challenging work due to my insufficient scientific knowledge, especially in geology, mineralogy and hyperspectral remote sensing, but with your futuristic scientific vision, immense knowledge, trust, enthusiasm and patience, its became possible. You have also educated me a lot on scientific guidance and constructive comments how to improve the quality of my research and to revise a manuscript after a nasty review by journal's reviewers. Thank you very much for always been caring, understanding and supporting me during my PhD research, difficult moments and scientific writing. I am particularly grateful to my second supervisor, Dr. Harald van der Werff. Harald, your contributions and scientific assistance and experience are the valuable basis of the results in this dissertation. Many thanks for your immense knowledge, support and constructive comments. I would like to extend my hearty gratitude to my third supervisor, Dr. Frank van Ruitenbeek. Frank, your inspiring discussions and contributions to the thesis have been invaluable for me. Thank you for your immense support and scientific advises. My most sincerely gratitude goes to the Government of the Province of Aceh and Human Resources Development Commission (HRDC), Banda Aceh, Indonesia for awarding me a PhD scholarship. Thanks for their financial support and trust. I am thankful to Head of