First Results of a Drone Thermal Imaging Survey of Geological Objects in the Lake Baikal Area

Abstract

The first results of a thermal imaging survey of geological objects located along the coast of Lake Baikal are presented. The studies showed that the temperature of the well known Zmeinyi and Zagza thermal springs recorded on infrared images obtained using UAV at a flight of 30–70 m is 10–12.5°C lower than on the ground. In the daylight hours, the areas with green vegetation are the coldest; the rocky areas, including bedrock outcrops, are the hottest. In mid-September, the difference in the temperature between these areas reaches up to 20–21°C. Under night-time (morning before sunrise) conditions, the situation changes in the opposite direction, and the temperature difference is up to 8–9°C. Thermal anomalies of the Earth’s surface were discovered for the first time on the basis of the established patterns of the temperature distribution in the zone of the Primorskii Fault, in the area of the Sarma River. These anomalies can be associated with a deep source of heat that emanates through fractures, as evidenced by the comparison of the optical imaging of the granite outcrop with its heat map. The results obtained offer a challenge for the development of technology to search for endogenous heat sources in fault zones on the basis of the thermal imaging carried out by unmanned aerial vehicles.