Earth surface hydrocarbon gas cloud detection by use of landsat data

摘要

A method of locating potential oil and gas reservoirs in the earth utilizing a satellite equipped to receive reflected solar energy from the earth at at least one selected frequency band, transmitting signals indicative of the received reflected energy to the earth, recording the received signals in a manner to provide a map of the earth's surface, filtering the received signals to provide signals representative of bands characterized by hydrocarbon gas absorption of the solar energy, and displaying the filtered signals, the area of hydrocarbon absorption being indicated by low intensity levels. The satellite system can be equipped with a coherent infrared irradiation system which scans the area of obsrvation, utilizing a selected infrared wave length beam to augment normal solar radiation at those wave lengths most effective for detecting the hydrocarbon gas cloud which appears above an oil or gas reservoir.