CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY - ASTER -
Full Name Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer Status Operational
Instrument Agencies METI, NASA Maturity
Instrument Type High resolution optical imagers Geometry
Instrument Technology High resolution optical imager Sampling Imaging
Data Access Open Access Data Format HDF-EOS or GeoTiff
Measurements and Applications Surface and cloud imaging with high spatial resolution, stereoscopic observation of local topography, cloud heights, volcanic plumes, and generation of local surface digital elevation maps. Surface temperature and emissivity. ASTER SWIR detectors are no longer functioning due to anomalously high SWIR detector temperatures. ASTER SWIR data acquired since April 2008 are not useable, and show saturation of values and severe striping. All attempts to bring the SWIR bands back to life have failed, and no further action is envisioned.
Resolution Summary VNIR: 15 m, stereo: 15 m horizontally and 25 m vertical, SWIR: 30 m, TIR: 90 m
[Best Resolution: 15m]
Swath Summary 60 km
[Max Swath: 60 km]
Accuracy Summary VNIR and SWIR: 4% (absolute), TIR: 4 K, Geolocation: 7 m
Waveband Summary VIS and NIR: 3 bands in 0.52 - 0.86 µm, SWIR: 6 bands in 1.6 - 2.43 µm, TIR: 5 bands in 8.125 - 11.65 µm
VIS (~0.40 µm - ~0.75 µm)
NIR (~0.75 µm - ~1.3 µm)
SWIR (~1.3 µm - ~3.0 µm)
TIR (~6.0 µm - ~15.0 µm)
Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
CategoryParameter
Albedo and reflectanceEarth surface albedo
Cloud type, amount and cloud top temperatureCloud type
Ice sheet topographySea-ice sheet topography
Landscape topographyLand surface topography
Multi-purpose imagery (land)Land surface imagery
Radiation budgetShort-wave Earth surface bi-directional reflectance
Long-wave Earth surface emissivity
Sea ice cover, edge and thicknessSea-ice cover
Sea-ice thickness
Surface temperature (land)Land surface temperature
Thematic Links Global Climate Observing System Essential Climate Variables (GCOS ECVs)
ECVDescriptionProduct(s)ECV Inventory 3.0 Record(s)
Albedo click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Land Surface Temperature click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Sea Ice click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Instrument Missions
Terra - Terra (formerly EOS AM-1) (1999 - 2027)