Continuous migration of hydrocarbons from subsurface reservoir to the surface in the form of microseepage creates a reducing (anoxic) environment in the overlying soil and sediment cover. Growth of vegetation becomes restricted in such a hostile environment, and consequently, a vegetation anomaly or stress is developed in the microseepage area. Thus, vegetation stress can act as an indicator of hydrocarbon microseepage. However, very few studies have used vegetation stress in hydrocarbon exploration, and that, too, are limited to geographical areas characterized by arid to semi-arid climates. The present study attempts to detect prospective microseepage areas by analyzing Landsat 8-based vegetation stress in part of Assam-Arakan Fold Belt (AAFB), north-east India, characterized by heavy precipitation. The correlation between hydrocarbon microseepages and vegetation stress is first tested in an accessible part of the study area by soil gasometry and geochemical analysis. The sub-study area investigation reveals that hydrocarbon microseepage-bearing areas are confined to the stressed vegetation areas having low to moderate NDVI values. Based on the sub-study area observation, stressed vegetation areas are delineated and a microseepage prospect map is generated for the vegetated parts of the study area. Available geological and geophysical data, in general, support the hydrocarbons potentiality of these regions. The study proves that remote sensing-based vegetation stress analysis can help in narrowing down prospective areas for hydrocarbons in vegetation areas of humid regions also. The study will help explorationists to find primary hydrocarbon prospective areas in logistically difficult and environmentally sensitive vegetated terrains, where conventional hydrocarbon exploration is extremely challenging and, thereby, will save exploration cost and time.

碳氢化合物以微渗流的形式从地下储层持续迁移到地表，在上覆土壤和沉积物覆盖层中形成了还原（缺氧）环境。在这样恶劣的环境下，植被的生长受到限制，从而在微渗区形成植被异常或应力。因此，植被压力可以作为碳氢化合物微渗漏的指标。然而，很少有研究在油气勘探中使用植被压力，而且也仅限于以干旱至半干旱气候为特征的地理区域。本研究试图通过分析印度东北部阿萨姆-阿拉干褶皱带 (AAFB) 以强降水为特征的部分基于 Landsat 8 的植被压力来检测预期的微渗漏区域。碳氢化合物微渗漏与植被压力之间的相关性首先在研究区的可接近部分通过土壤气体测定和地球化学分析进行了测试。子研究区调查显示，含碳氢化合物微渗流区仅限于具有低至中等 NDVI 值的受压植被区。在子研究区观测的基础上，划定受压植被区，并为研究区的植被部分生成微渗漏前景图。一般而言，可用的地质和地球物理数据支持这些地区的碳氢化合物潜力。该研究证明，基于遥感的植被压力分析也有助于缩小潮湿地区植被区的碳氢化合物潜在区域。