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Description

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Level 1A (AST_L1A) contains reconstructed, instrument digital numbers (DNs) derived from the acquired telemetry streams of the telescopes: Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR), Shortwave Infrared (SWIR), and Thermal Infrared (TIR). Additionally, geometric correction coefficients and radiometric calibration coefficients are calculated and appended to the metadata but not applied. The AST_L1A product has a spatial resolution of 15 meters (m) for the VNIR bands, 30 m for the SWIR bands, and 90 m for the TIR bands.

Known Issues

  • Users are advised that ASTER SWIR data acquired from April 2008 to the present exhibit anomalous saturation of values and anomalous striping. This effect is also present for some prior acquisition periods. Please refer to the ASTER SWIR User Advisory for more details.
  • Data acquisition gaps: On November 28, 2024, one of Terra's power-transmitting shunt units failed. As a result, there was insufficient power to maintain functionality of the ASTER instrument. ASTER resumed acquisitions for the VNIR bands on January 18, 2025, and for the TIR bands on April 15, 2025. Users should note the data gap in ASTER acquisitions from November 28, 2024, through January 16, 2025, for VNIR observations, and a gap from November 28, 2024, through April 15, 2025, for TIR acquisitions.

Improvements/Changes from Previous Version

  • Geometric correction to account for Earth's rotation angle and nutation.
  • Geometric correction for geolocation errors associated with nighttime TIR scenes.
  • Radiometric correction to account for degradation of onboard calibration lamps.
  • Starting June 23, 2021, radiometric calibration coefficient Version 5 (RCC V5) will be applied to newly observed ASTER data and archived ASTER data products. Details regarding RCC V5 are described in the following journal article.
    • Tsuchida, S., Yamamoto, H., Kouyama, T., Obata, K., Sakuma, F., Tachikawa, T., Kamei, A., Arai, K., Czapla-Myers, J.S., Biggar, S.F., and Thome, K.J., 2020, Radiometric Degradation Curves for the ASTER VNIR Processing Using Vicarious and Lunar Calibrations: Remote Sensing, v. 12, no. 3, at https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030427.

Product Summary

Platforms
Terra
Instruments
ASTER
Spatial Extent
N: 90 S: -90 E: 180 W: -180
Spatial Resolution
15 Meters x 15 Meters
30 Meters x 30 Meters
90 Meters x 90 Meters
Geographic Region
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2000-03-04 to Present
Temporal Resolution
Varies
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
Ground Data System, Japan Space Systems, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Japan (JP/METI/AIST/JSS/GDS)
Concept ID
c14758250-lpdaac_ecs
Data State
ACTIVE
Processing Level
1A
Published
Updated

Citation

Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.

Copy Citation

NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. (2001). ASTER Level 1A Data Set - Reconstructed, unprocessed instrument data [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ASTER/AST_L1A.003 Date Accessed: 2025-07-30

Data Center Citation

NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. 2001. ASTER Level 1A Data Set - Reconstructed, unprocessed instrument data. Sioux Falls, South Dakota, USA: NASA EOSDIS Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ASTER/AST_L1A.003.

Documents

ALGORITHM THEORETICAL BASIS DOCUMENT (ATBD) The ATBD provides physical theory and mathematical procedures for the calculations used to produce the data products.
DATA PRODUCT SPECIFICATION The ASTER Level-1 Products Specification provides a description of the data file.
GENERAL DOCUMENTATION ASTER SWIR User Advisory
USER'S GUIDE ASTER Level-1 User Guide
USER'S GUIDE The ASTER User Handbook provides in depth information on ASTER data products.

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