Use of Landsat 5 for Change Detection at 1998 Indian and Pakistani Nuclear Test Sites

An underground nuclear explosion (UNE) can generate a shock wave that lofts surface material, resulting in surface changes that might be detectable. The Comprehensive Nuclear Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) allows ground and airborne spectral and thermal imaging to help locate such events. Landsat 5 data on the 1998 Indian and Pakistani tests are used here to demonstrate that there are detectable changes in surface features which might be used to localize an underground nuclear test and to develop change detection techniques specific to the use of satellite data to support a CTBT on-site inspection. Landsat 5 has been active for over 20 years providing repeat coverage of the Earth´s surface every 16 days. Most locations have Landsat data available for a variety of dates, allowing for statistical analysis of the data to understand temporal trends and data variability on a pixel-by-pixel basis. Given the right conditions, these usual patterns of change (such as seasonal changes or weathering) can be discerned from unusual patterns of change, such as features relating to a UNE. This paper extends known change detection techniques to a temporal series of data and shows that multispectral change detection can be used to help localize a UNE.