ASTER Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer

Orbit Sun-synchronous

Altitude 705 km

Pass time over equator 10:30 15 min. (AM) at local time, descending

Orbit inclination 98.2 deg. 0.15 deg

Revolution time 98.88 minutes

Repeat cycle 16 days

Number of revolutions 233 revolutions

Inter - orbit distance 172 Km on the equator

ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer)

ASTER was developed by METI and has high performance functions as follows.

Wide spectrum of wavelength (VNIR 3 bands, SWIR 6 bands, TIR 5 bands). Stereoscopic data in a single orbit using the near-infrared bands. High geometric and radiometric accuracy Worldwide coverage and reasonable prices.

Spacecraft Systems Division (the former JAROS) of Japan Space Systems is in charge of

sensor development, and Earth Remote Sensing Division (the former ERSDAC) conducts the

scheduling of observation, data processing & archiving, and distribution of ASTER products.

Launch of Terra

Terra

Terra

Spatial

resolution VNIR 15 m

SWIR 30 m

TIR 90 m

Quantization

number 8 bits (Bands 19

12 bits (Bands 1014)

Base to height

ratio 0.6 (along track)

Swath 60 km

Mission life 5 years

Terra (the former EOS AM-l ) is a flag ship spacecraft of

NASAs Earth Observing System project and was launched on

December 19, 1999 at the Vandenberg Air force Base in the

USA. Terra is equipped with ASTER and 4 other sensors.

Terra/ASTER operation has been jointly conducted by METI

(Ministry of Economy, Trade and lndustry of Japan) and

NASA.

Characteristic of ASTER Instruments

VNIR (Visible and Near-InfraRed) Radiometer

VNIR radiometer has 3 spectral bands that range from visible to near-infrared,

in most cases together with backward looking data (Band 3B) for the same

location except for some observation data for emergency and night time.

SWIR (Short Wave InfraRed) Radiometer

SWIR radiometer has 6 spectral bands in short wave infrared.

It is designed to acquire data applicable to various maps such as geology

and high temperature.

TIR (Thermal InfraRed) Radiometer TlR radiometer has 5 spectral bands in thermal infrared. It enables

high accuracy observation of the thermal infrared radiation from the

earth surface, and detection of surface temperature and surface emissivity.

Spectral coverage of available optical sensor data

4

5

4

5

5

6

7

6

7

7

8

8 9

1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 1.9 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5

10

6

8

11 12 13 14

8 9 10 11 12 13

1

Panchromatic

1

1

Panchromatic

1

Panchromatic

1

4

2

5

2

2

2

2

6

3

7

3N/3B

3

3/4

3

4 5

4

0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.2

Terra ASTER

ALOS PRISM

ALOS AVNIR-2

JERS-1 OPS

SPOT Pan.

SPOT HRG

LANDSAT Pan.

LANDSAT ETM+

LANDSAT MSS

VNIR SWIR TIR

micrometer

Radiometer Band Wavelengthm Spatial Resolution Pointing Angle

VNIR

1 0.520.60

15 m 8.55

(24availablein case of emergency

2 0.630.69

3N 0.760.86

3B 0.760.86

SWIR

4 1.6001.700

30 m 8.55

5 2.1452.185

6 2.1852.225

7 2.2352.285

8 2.2952.365

9 2.3602.430

TIR

10 8.1258.475

90 m 8.55

11 8.4758.825

12 8.9259.275

13 10.2510.95

14 10.9511.65

ASTER has been observing mainly land area on the earth since 2000. Japan Space Systems

has archived over 2,000,000 scenes including nighttime scenes (as of March 2012). The

following figures are mosaic of the observed champion (cloud free) data on the map. The left

figure is daytime scenes and the right one is nighttime scenes.

The following pictures indicate the time-lapse image of Haneda Airport, Tokyo. ASTER

images acquired at 4 different times show the progress of runway construction. Operation of

this runway was started in 2010 for international flights.

ASTER VNIR Simulated Natural Color Images

Data Acquired by ASTER

The left figure shows a mechanism of DEM

(Digital Elevation Model) generation using

the band 3N and 3B of ASTER VNIR data.

Using generated DEM and its image data,

an ortho-rectified image and also bird-eye

view image can be composed. The base-to

height ratio (B/H) is 0.6.

Line of Sight Vector

Of Band 3N

(Nadir Looking)

Line of Sight Vector

Of Band 3B

(Backward Looking) Cross Point of

Line of Sight Vector

Height

WGS84

Terra

55 seconds

27.6 deg.

Information Derived from ASTER Data

The left figure as false color image showing

plume from Mt. Oyama of Miyake Island.

Various kinds of information can be derived from the data of ASTER 3 sensors.

The followings are some examples.

The right figure is the bird-eye view of

image of Mt. Fuji area.

The right pseudo color image is density of

sulfur dioxide (SO2), which is calculated

from ASTER surface emissivity product

(Level 2B04). The warmer color indicates

higher density area.

Level Sample Characteristic Resolution

A

This product is depacketized and realigned instrument

observation data. Geometric correction and radiometric

calibration coefficients are appended but not applied.

This product, therefore, does not match a map of any

projection type. All products are generated from this product.

V (15 m)

S (30 m)

T (90 m)

B

This product is generated by applying the radiometric and

geometric correction coefficients contained in Level 1A. This

product ,therefore. matches a map of the projection method

selected by user. User can specify Map Projection and

Resampling types when ordered. From this product can be

derived physical quantities such as radiance and temperature

using the numerical(DN) values in the image data.

V (15 m)

S (30 m)

T (90 m)

2B01V

2B01S

2B01T

These products contain land surface radiance generated from

atmospheric correction applied to VNIR, SWIR and TIR data

respectively.

V (15 m)

S (30 m)

T (90 m)

2B03

This product contains surface temperatures generated from

the quantities of radiance in thermal infrared bands by applying

temperature-emissivity separation to atmospherically

corrected surface radiance

TIB(2B01T) data.

T (90 m)

2B04

This product contains surface emissivity generated from the

quantities of radiance received in thermal infrared bands by

applying temperature-emissivity separation to atmospherically

corrected surface radiance TIR (2B01T) data.

T (90 m)

2B05V

2B05S

Based on Level 2B01V and 2B01S, these products contain

land surface reflectance generated from the quantities of

radiance in VNIR and SWIR sensors.

V (15 m)

S (30 m)

3A01 This product is corrected to remove the geographic distortion

caused by elevation. The associated DEM data is also

appended.

V (15 m) + DEM

S (30 m) + DEM

T (90 m) + DEM

4A01Z

This product offers relative elevation data extracted from

stereoscopic data acquired in VNIR 3N (nadir-looking) and

3B(backward looking) bands. This height data is defined

against the reference ellipsoid.

Default 30 m

ASTER Products and Their Characteristics

Japan Space Systems processes and distributes the following ASTER products by the scene (about 6060km).

Price: JPY 9,800/scene (no tax). For Level 3A01 product, JPY 19,600/scene (no tax)

Payment method: Bank transfer or credit card (prepayment)

Format: HDF-EOS format

Distribution method: Download from our website

Note: Level 1A , Level 1B, and Level 3A01 products of a day time-full mode observation scenes includes the

backward Looking data (band 3B) which cover almost the same area as the nadir looking acquisition data.

The parallax is still kept only in along track direction to enable the stereo viewing

Search Level 1A product which meets your needs at our website. Specify processing parameters to order the product other than Level 1A.

Prepayment with bank transfer or credit card is required.

For bank transfer, check our invoice delivered after order and make a remittance. For credit card, complete the transaction procedure at our dedicated website.

Data distribution is made through online. Obtain the data in reference to Download Notice email.

Ordered data with credit card payment can be distributed within the day.

To order ASTER products is available at

ASTER/PALSAR Unified Search site.

For access to the site, click ASTER at the Project menu on the top page of Japan Space Systems website

(http://www.jspacesystems.or.jp/ ).

In addition, ASTER Ground Data System (GDS) at ASTER site includes various information regarding

ASTER products.

Questions can be sent from inquiry

form in ASTER GDS and ASTER GDS

IMS website or through phone/FAX.

Procedures for obtaining ASTER data

User registration is required to order ASTER product. Online registration is available at our website.

Procedure of ASTER Products

Notice: Prior to order, please make sure to check the latest release note and Agreement for

Distribution and Use of ASTER Products.

GPR (General Programming

Request) is a service that any

users can submit observation

requests! Contact us from ASTER GDS website or send your

inquiry to GPR Office, if you cannot find suitable archive

data or you need newly-observed data or an

observation at a specific time.

GPR Office gpr_a@jspacesystems.or.jp

Only if ASTER makes successful scene acquisition, you are obliged to

purchase the below products per scene.

Daytime observationLevel 1A, 1B and 3A01 (JPY 39,200 no tax) Nighttime observationLevel 1A, 1B and 2B03 (JPY 29,400 no tax)

Notice: No payment required for observation which fails to meet our conditions.

Japan Space Systems distributes ASTER Global Digital Elevation

Model (ASTER GDEM), DEM data extracted from ASTER data, by

the tile (1 degree 1 degree).

PriceNo charge FormatGeotiff format Distribution methodDownload from ASTER GDEM websitehttp://gdem.ersdac.jspacesystems.or.jp/

General Programming Request

ASTER GDEM