ASTER L2 Surface Radiance: Atmospherically Corrected VNIR and SWIR Data

NASA's Terra ASTER instrument provides atmospherically corrected surface radiance data for the Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) and Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) sensors. The dataset has a spatial resolution of 15 meters for VNIR bands and 30 meters for SWIR bands, with version 4 incorporating enhanced atmospheric correction using MERRA-2 data. It was last updated in March 2026.

Use Cases

• Land cover classification based on atmospherically corrected spectral signatures.
• Monitoring surface temperature and thermal properties using calibrated SWIR data.
• Analyzing vegetation health and water content from corrected VNIR and SWIR radiance.
• Improving geological mapping and mineral identification with enhanced radiometric accuracy.

Strengths

• Atmospheric correction uses primary MERRA-2 data with GDAS and climatology fallbacks, improving precision.
• Spatial resolution is 15 meters for VNIR bands and 30 meters for SWIR bands.
• Radiometric calibration updated to Version 5 (RCC V5) for improved accuracy.

Limitations

• SWIR data acquired after April 2008 may exhibit anomalous saturation and striping.
• Row count and dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Level 2 products on the international date line have incorrect bounding coordinates in metadata.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Satellite observation from the Terra ASTER instrument, processed to Level 2 surface radiance.

Time Range

Acquisition period includes data from at least April 2008 onward, as indicated by the SWIR advisory.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-03-13 09:22:19.244548

Geography

Global coverage from the Terra satellite's orbit.