Sentinel-2A MSI and Landsat 8 OLI provide data continuity for geological remote sensing

Sentinel-2A MSI is the Landsat-like spatial resolution (10–60 m) super-spectral instrument of the European Space Agency (ESA), aimed at additional data continuity for global land surface monitoring with Landsat and Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) missions. Several simulation studies have been conducted in the last several years to show the potential of Sentinel-2A MSI (MultiSpectral Instrument). Now that real data are available, the first confirmations of this potential and comparisons with other operational systems are being made. This paper aims at evaluating Sentinel-2A MSI band ratio products that are relevant for geological remote sensing. A Sentinel-2A MSI and a Landsat 8 OLI (Operational Land Imager) scene were processed from their respective levels L1C and L1T to level L2A (bottom of atmosphere reflectance). Then, three band ratios originally defined for Landsat TM (Thematic Mapper) were used to map mineralogy associated with a hydrothermal alteration system in southeast Spain. The results obtained with Sentinel-2A MSI were compared with those obtained with Landsat 8 OLI and a simulated Sentinel-2A MSI dataset that was used before actual data were released. Results show that the images appear similar to the human eye having a correlation of approximately 0.8 and higher, but that the associated data ranges differ significantly. The resulting products are also compared to a published geologic map of the study area, and it is shown that the resulting maps correspond with the conceptual geologic model of the epithermal deposit.