RADIOMETRIC TERNARY IMAGE STYLES

Radiometric image data is traditionally displayed as a “ternary” image. The three primary colours are assigned red for potassium, green for thorium, and blue for uranium.

This type of display allows the viewer to distinguish between lithologies as the variations are shown as colour variations due to the different mineral abundances of potassium thorium and uranium.

However it may be difficult to distinguish subtle differences when the image becomes saturated (all abundances are relatively high) and where the image becomes dark due to low abundances.

To overcome this problem, Dataviz Imaging also offers two image styles that use Total Count as an additional band causing edges of lithological boundaries to be mapped.

The set of images below displays the effects of each of four image styles used for radiometric ternary imaging.

1. Standard Radiometric Ternary image with histogram equalization applied to each band. This is the standard presentation may lead to over-saturated and under-saturated areas.

2. Standard Radiometric Ternary image with 95% clipping applied to the histograms of each band. This is the standard presentation may lead to over-saturated and under-saturated areas but shown more contrast.

3. Radiometric Ternary Image with Total Count as Intensity (N-E). The Total count intensity layer highlights structure even in the under and over-saturated parts of the image.

4. Radiometric Ternary Image with Structural Enhancement*. The Total Count is used to generate and edge enhancement highlighting boundaries by brightness. This allows the viewer to easily find edges for mapping purposes even in areas of similar band values.

1. Standard Radiometric Ternary Image (Red = Potassium Green = Thorium Blue = Uranium)	2. Contrast Adjusted Radiometric Ternary Image
3. Radiometric Ternary Image with Total Count as Intensity	4. Radiometric Ternary Image Structural Enhancement

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