ASTER L2 Surface Radiance TIR: Terra Satellite Thermal Infrared Data

The Terra ASTER Surface Radiance TIR (AST_09T) dataset provides atmospherically corrected surface-leaving radiance from five thermal infrared bands. It is generated by NASA using the MODTRAN radiative transfer model and incorporates atmospheric parameters from sources like MERRA-2. The data, updated to Version 4 in March 2026, has a spatial resolution of 90 meters and is valid for clear-sky scenes.

Use Cases

• Generate surface spectral emissivity maps based on the atmospherically corrected surface-leaving radiance.
• Calculate surface kinetic temperature using the thermal infrared radiance data as an input.
• Analyze surface thermal properties for clear-sky scenes based on the provided radiance and downwelling sky irradiance values.
• Study atmospheric effects on thermal measurements using the incorporated parameters like temperature, water vapor, and aerosols.

Strengths

• Atmospherically corrected product with known accuracy for clear-sky scenes.
• Spatial resolution of 90 meters for the five Thermal Infrared bands.
• Version 4 uses improved MERRA-2 atmospheric parameters and Radiometric Calibration Coefficient Version 5 for enhanced precision.

Limitations

• Data is valid only for clear-sky scenes (cloud-free pixels), limiting applicability in cloudy regions.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Generated from Terra ASTER satellite TIR bands using the MODTRAN radiative transfer model and atmospheric correction.

Time Range

Acquired during day or nighttime; specific temporal coverage is not provided.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 09:20:42.885007.

Geography

Global coverage; specific bounding coordinates for data on the international date line may be incorrect per known issues.