With improving of the spectral resolution of spaceborne
hyperspectral sensors such as the ASTER (Advanced
Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer),
the capacity to resolve small spectral features from remote
sensing in the future for such soil property mapping is becom-
ing a reality (
Youssef, 2008
). ASTER is an imaging instrument
on board the Terra satellite of NASA’s Earth Observing
System (EOS) (launched 19 December 1999). It is designed
with three bands in the VNIR (visible and near-infrared) spec-
tral range with a wavelength ranging from 0.52 to 0.86
micrometers with a 15 m spatial resolution, six bands in the
SWIR (shortwave infrared) spectral range with wavelength
ranging from 1.60 to 2.43
l
m with a 30 m spatial resolution,
and five bands in the TIR (thermal infrared) spectrum range
with a wavelength ranging from 8.125 to 11.65
l
m with a
90 m spatial resolution. The VNIR and SWIR bands have a
spectral resolution in the order of 10 nm that is sufficient for
clay mineral mapping (
Van der Meer, 1999
). ASTER satellite
imageries are used to map different clay minerals and compare
between the different sensors accuracy in locating these clay
minerals based on the spectral librar