BOREAS TIMS: At Sensor Radiance Imagery for Boreal Forest Study

BOREAS (Boreal Ecosystem-Atmosphere Study) collected this airborne imagery over primary study areas in the boreal forest. The dataset contains level-1B system calibrated Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) images from two intensive field campaigns in April and September 1994. These images provide spatially extensive, calibrated radiance data to support comparisons with satellite products and extend point-based ground measurements.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived land surface reflectance and temperature products using calibrated airborne radiance data.
• Extending point measurements from ground sites to a regional scale for ecosystem modeling.
• Analyzing seasonal changes in boreal forest surface properties between spring and fall campaigns.
• Studying land-atmosphere energy exchange using thermal infrared multispectral data.

Strengths

• Provides calibrated, georeferenced imagery from a major international ecosystem study (BOREAS).
• Covers two distinct seasonal periods (spring and fall 1994) for temporal comparison.
• Includes companion metadata files such as an image inventory and example thumbnails for discovery.

Limitations

• Metadata conflict: last updated date is listed as both 1994-09-17 (nasa_earthdata) and 2026-03-13 (datagov), suggesting potential platform synchronization issues.
• Specific column names, image dimensions, and total file/row counts are not provided in the available metadata.
• Data is stored in a legacy binary image format (BSQ), which may require specialized software or conversion for modern analysis.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Acquired via the BOREAS Staff Science Aircraft Data Acquisition Program using the Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS).

Time Range

1994-04-16 to 1994-04-20 and 1994-09-06 to 1994-09-17

Freshness

1994-09-17 (based on the data collection end date from nasa_earthdata; the 2026 date appears to be a platform metadata artifact).

Geography

Primary study areas of the BOREAS project, focused on the boreal forest.