ASTER Operation Scenario and Status

Y. Yamaguchi (Nagoya Univ., Japan) M. Fujita, T. Tachikawa, M. Kato,

H. Tsu（ ERSDAC, Japan), M.J. Abrams, L. Maldonado (JPL, U.S.A.)

IGARSS 2011, July 28, 2011Vancouver, Canada

1. ASTER Characteristics

2. SWIR Cryocooler Problem

3. Operation Scenario and Status

(1) Global Mapping (GM)

(2) TIR Nighttime Global Mapping (TGM)

(3) Gap Filler

(4) Underserved Area STAR

4. Concluding Remarks

Contents

• Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer on NASA’s Terra (EOS AM-1) spacecraft

• ASTER instrument was provided by METI, Japan.

• Launched in December, 1999

MODIS

ASTER (TIR)ASTER (SWIR)ASTER (VNIR)

MISR

MOPITT

CERES

Instruments on Terra

ASTER Characteristics (1)

ASTER Characteristics (2)

• Wide Spectral Coverage 3 bands in VNIR (0.52 – 0.86 μm) 6 bands in SWIR (1.6 – 2.43 μm) 5 bands in TIR (8.125 – 11.65 μm)

• High Spatial Resolution 15m for VNIR bands 30m for SWIR bands 90m for TIR bands

• Along-Track Stereo Capability B/H 0.6 DEM Elevation accuracy: 15m (3σ) DEM Geolocation accuracy: 50m (3σ) ASTER Global DEM (GDEM)

NadirBackward

Multiband Observation of Mt.Etna

6km

ASTER VNIR RGB : 3,2,1

ASTER SWIR RGB : 9,5,4

ASTER TIR Band 13

Snow (high albedo)

Fumarole

Lava (high temp.) Lava (high temp.)

Snow (low temp.)

Lava (low albedo)

Snow (low albedo)

Imaged on May 7, 2000

SWIR Cryocooler Problem

SWIR Temperature (2004-2008)

75

80

85

90

95

100

105

110

115

120

125

2004 2005 2006 2007 2008

K 317K317K• The SWIR detector temperature had been

kept at 77 K by the cryocooler.

• The detector temperature started rising

in 2004 due to the cryocooler malfunction,

and exceeded 90 K in May 2008.

• Partial saturation in SWIR image data

occurred in 2007, and no usable SWIR

data has been acquired since May 2008.

Totally saturated SWIR image (band 4 and 5) acquired at 94 K

Partially saturated SWIR image (band 9) acquired at 86.9 K

SWIR Image Saturation

Observation Mode

Subsystem Data Rate(Mbps)VNIR

SWIR

TIR

Daytime

Full Mode 89.2

VNIR Mode -- -- 62.0

TIR Mode -- -- 4.1

Nighttime S + T Mode -- 27.2

ASTER Observation Modes

Operational Unavailable

Operation Scenario and Status

Total ASTER Scenes : 2,014,401

As of June 1, 2011■Observed　□ Never Observed

ASTER Daytime VNIR Scenes

ASTER Nighttime TIR Scenes

Data Acquisition Requests

Data Acquisition Request (DAR)

Local Observations by Individual Users

Science Team Acquisition Request (STAR)• Regional Monitoring, Urgent Observation

(vegetation, volcanoes, glaciers, cities)• Global Mapping (GM)• TIR Nighttime Global Mapping (TGM)• Gap Filler• Underserved Area STAR

Operation Scenario and Status

(1) Global Mapping (GM)

• Daytime Full Mode Observation• High Sun Angle• Optimum Gain for Local Land Surface• No More Than 20 % Cloud Cover• Minimum Snow and Ice Cover

Global Mapping (GM-3)

□GM3H : Area 67,688,813 km2

□GM3M : Area 64,472,470 km2

□GM3L : Area 47,787,553 km2

Life Time: 2006/03/27-2010/04/01

Observation ConditionCloud < 20 %, Day, Full Mode,Sun Angle: 40-90°

Global Mapping

Lifetime Target AreasObservation Parameters

GM-1Dec. 2000 to

Mar. 2006

All land + coastal areas(High, medium, low

priority areas)

Depend on the priority, surface type, season, latitude, etc.

GM-2Aug. 2003 to

Mar. 2006

Selected areas(GM-1 high priority

areas only)

Similar to GM-1, but relaxed the sun

elevation condition

GM-3Mar. 2006 to

Oct. 2009

All land + coastal areas(High, medium, low priority areas, GM-1 high priority areas

extended)

Same as GM-2

GM-4Oct. 2009 to Apr. 2015

Same as GM-3 Same as GM-2

GM Daily Observation Scenes

As of Nov. 24th,2010

63,25363,253

10,73010,730

54,86854,868

13,06713,067

93,06393,063

GM1GM12000-10-05 to 2006-03-292000-10-05 to 2006-03-29

GM2GM22003-08-30 to 2006-03-292003-08-30 to 2006-03-29

GM3GM32006-3-30 to 2009-09-302006-3-30 to 2009-09-30

84,83084,830

76,23076,230

GM4GM42009-10-1 to 2015-4-12009-10-1 to 2015-4-1

Operation Scenario and Status

(2) TIR Nighttime Global Mapping (TGM)

TIR Nighttime Global Mapping (TGM)

□□AOI of TGM1, Life Time: 2004/12/01 – 2006/08/31AOI of TGM1, Life Time: 2004/12/01 – 2006/08/31□□AOI of TGM2-1, Life Time: 2006/04/01 – 2010/04/01AOI of TGM2-1, Life Time: 2006/04/01 – 2010/04/01□□AOI of TGM2-2, Life Time: 2007/04/01 – 2010/03/31AOI of TGM2-2, Life Time: 2007/04/01 – 2010/03/31□□AOI of TGM2-3, Life Time: 2008/01/10 – 2009/04/01AOI of TGM2-3, Life Time: 2008/01/10 – 2009/04/01□□AOI of TGM2-4, Life Time: 2008/04/11 – 2009/04/01AOI of TGM2-4, Life Time: 2008/04/11 – 2009/04/01

Observation ConditionAvoidCloud : NO, Night, TIR only Mode

■■TGM3 70.3 %TGM3 70.3 %■■TGM4 17.3 %TGM4 17.3 %

Achievement ■ ■ < 20 %< 20 % 　　　 　　　 ■ ■ 50 to 50 to 80 %80 % ■ ■ 20 to 50 %20 to 50 %　　　　　　 ■ ■ >> 80 % 80 %

TIR Nighttime Global Mapping (TGM-3, 4)

Operation Scenario and Status

(3) Gap Filler For the areas where cloud-free ASTER imagery has never been acquired. We identify the target areas and submit STAR every half a year.

Observed Scenes of Gap Filler 2011

2323

Observation ConditionAvoid Cloud : 10 %, Day, Full Mode, Sun Angle:20-90 °

■ ■ 8 s8 scenes with Cloud Coverage < 10 %cenes with Cloud Coverage < 10 % ■ ■ 140 o140 observed Scenes bserved Scenes ■■AOI of Under-served Area STARAOI of Under-served Area STARLife Time: 2011/05/01 – 2011/12/01

As of June 1st,2011

Operation Scenario and Status

(4) Underserved Area STAR For the areas where 3 times or less cloud-free ASTER imagery has been acquired. The target areas were identified in the GDEMprocessing.

Underserved Area STAR

Observation ConditionCloud < 20 %, Day, Full Mode,Sun Angle : 40-90°or 20-90°

□Underserved Area : 21,609,180 km2

UA2008UA2008 : : Life Time:2008/12/27-2010/03/11UA2010UA2010 : : Life Time:2010/03/03-2015/01/01

Achievement of Underserved Area STAR 2010

Achievement ■ ■ < 20 %< 20 %　 　　 　　 ■ ■ 50 to 80 %50 to 80 % ■ ■ 20 to 50 %20 to 50 % 　　 　　 ■ ■ >> 80 % 80 %

Observation ConditionCloud < 20 %, Day, Full Mode,Sun Angle : 40-90° or 20-90°

75.6% as of June 1st,2011 　　　

Acquired Scenes of Different Data Acquisition Categories

Concluding Remarks

The ASTER instrument has obtained more than 2 million scenes since January 2000.

ASTER operation scenario is carefully designed to maximize data acquisition.

No usable SWIR image data has been acquired since May 2008 due to the SWIR cryocooler malfunction.

To get ASTER Data http://www. ersdac.or.jp/ 　　　　　　　 https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/

ASTER Homepage http://www.ersdac.or.jp/ http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/

Thank you for your attention.