ASTER remote sensing at MPBA group/IRST

ASTER/TERRA remote sensing

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a 14-channel visible to thermal-infrared sensor that was launched as part of the Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra payload on 18 December 1999.
ASTER is an on-demand instrument. Since August 2002 the LP-DAAC has started to charge 60 USD per image scene, while the ASTER DEMs are (still) free.

Products:

Level-1 products: Long Name/Short Name/type
- AST_L1A ASTER Level 1A Reconstructed Unprocessed Instrument Data
- AST_L1B ASTER Level 1B Registered Radiance at Sensor
- AST_L1AE ASTER Expedited L1A Reconstructed Unprocessed Instrument Data
- AST_L1BE ASTER Expedited L1B Registered Radiance at Sensor
Level-2 products:
- AST_06V ASTER L2 Decorrelation Stretch VNIR
- AST_06S ASTER L2 Decorrelation Stretch SWIR
- AST_06T ASTER L2 Decorrelation Stretch TIR
Level-3 product:
- ASTER Digital Elevation Model AST14DEM

V002/V003: The Japanese Ground Data System (GDS) started processing of ASTER Level-1 data (and re-processing of earlier data) using a newer, improved algorithm (Version 04.00R00) and also an improved set of radiometric calibration and geometric correction coefficients databases on May 1, 2001. To avoid user confusion in identifying different versions of the same granule in search results, it was decided to migrate Level-1 data produced in Japan on and after May 1, 2001 to a separate collection, which is version 003. Therefore, there are 2 separate collections (Versions 002 and 003) of ASTER Level-1 and Level-2 and Level-3 data sets available from the LP DAAC archives.

Software used: GDAL and GRASS5.0

ASTER/TERRA surface reflectance

	26 August 2000 at 10:59:33 UTC - surface reflectance (channels green, red and simulated blue) Part of Northern Germany as seen from ASTER/TERRA at 15m resolution. Note the magnified ship on the North Sea (upper left zoom window) and the magnified part of Langeoog island.
ASTER Instrument Characteristics Table (cited from JPL)

Characteristic	VNIR	SWIR	TIR
Spectral Range	Band 1: 0.52 - 0.60 µm Nadir looking	Band 4: 1.600 - 1.700 µm	Band 10: 8.125 - 8.475 µm
	Band 2: 0.63 - 0.69 µm Nadir looking	Band 5: 2.145 - 2.185 µm	Band 11: 8.475 - 8.825 µm
	Band 3: 0.76 - 0.86 µm Nadir looking	Band 6: 2.185 - 2.225 µm	Band 12: 8.925 - 9.275 µm
	Band 3: 0.76 - 0.86 µm Backward looking	Band 7: 2.235 - 2.285 µm	Band 13: 10.25 - 10.95 µm
		Band 8: 2.295 - 2.365 µm	Band 14: 10.95 - 11.65 µm
		Band 9: 2.360 - 2.430 µm
Ground Resolution	15 m	30m	90m
Swath Width (km)	60	60	60
Quantization (bits)	8	8	12
System Response Function	VNIR Chart	SWIR Chart	TIR Chart
System Response Function	VNIR Data	SWIR Data	TIR Data

ASTER bands superimposed on model atmosphere

Links:

Markus Neteler 8/2002
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