• Journal of the Korean Association of Geographic Information Studies
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• v.19 no.3
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• pp.61-74
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• 2016

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the relationship between the location of the epicenter of a medium-sized earthquake(magnitude 4.8) that occurred on January 20, 2007 in the Odaesan area with lineament features using a shaded relief map(1/25,000 scale) and satellite images from LANDSAT-8 and KOMPSAT-2. Previous studies have analyzed lineament features in tectonic settings primarily by examining two-dimensional satellite images and shaded relief maps. These methods, however, limit the application of the visual interpretation of relief features long considered as the major component of lineament extraction. To overcome some existing limitations of two-dimensional images, this study examined three-dimensional images, produced from a Digital Elevation Model and drainage network map, for lineament extraction. This approach reduces mapping errors introduced by visual interpretation. In addition, spline interpolation was conducted to produce density maps of lineament frequency, intersection, and length required to estimate the density of lineament at the epicenter of the earthquake. An algorithm was developed to compute the Value of the Relative Density(VRD) representing the relative density of lineament from the map. The VRD is the lineament density of each map grid divided by the maximum density value from the map. As such, it is a quantified value that indicates the concentration level of the lineament density across the area impacted by the earthquake. Using this algorithm, the VRD calculated at the earthquake epicenter using the lineament's frequency, intersection, and length density maps ranged from approximately 0.60(min) to 0.90(max). However, because there were differences in mapped images such as those for solar altitude and azimuth, the mean of VRD was used rather than those categorized by the images. The results show that the average frequency of VRD was approximately 0.85, which was 21% higher than the intersection and length of VRD, demonstrating the close relationship that exists between lineament and the epicenter. Therefore, it is concluded that the density map analysis described in this study, based on lineament extraction, is valid and can be used as a primary data analysis tool for earthquake research in the future.