USING OPEN SOURCE GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEMS and REMOTE SENSING SOFTWARES FOR GEOTHERMAL EXPLORATIONS

ABSTRACT: Geothermal energy is defined as the internal temperature of the earth. The most important transportation agent which carries this internal energy to the surface is groundwater. Geothermal resources were created when the groundwater reach to the surface. Geothermal resources cannot exist obviously everywhere on the earth. In such places geothermal exploration should be considered first. Geothermal area is defined as the area located on the geothermal reservoir. Exploration of these area must come first for these studies. Use of satellite imagery of the region is the first step of the study. Lineament maps from satellite images of the region is obtained for subtracting the geothermal area where there is a high probability. Nowadays it is possible to distinguish geological units and soil temperature map which has the distinction of being the geothermal field by using satellite technology. Second step of the geothermal exploration is obtaining gas measurements and interpret these data for place likely to be the geothermal field. Beginning to geothermal drilling operation without adequate knowledge about the area without these steps often ends with a failure. Geographic Information System is the powerful method for the transformation of this field data into meaningful information. Large number of spatial data analysis and interpretation can be done by Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in a short time. Open source software is software used in Remote Sensing and Geographical Information Systems will assure the us