CAMEL: Monthly Land Emissivity Coefficients at 5km Resolution

NASA's CAMEL dataset provides monthly Principal Component Analysis coefficients for modeling land surface emissivity at a 0.05-degree (~5 km) global resolution. These coefficients are a core input for the CAMEL high spectral resolution algorithm, enabling the reconstruction of detailed emissivity spectra. Version 2 incorporates two additional laboratory datasets to improve characterization of snowy scenes.

Use Cases

• Validating land surface temperature retrievals based on the PCA coefficients and quality layers.
• Improving atmospheric correction in satellite data using high spectral resolution emissivity inputs.
• Characterizing seasonal changes in land surface properties via monthly PCA coefficient time series.
• Modeling snow-covered scenes more accurately using the updated laboratory data in Version 2.

Strengths

• Provides a long-term, global record as part of NASA's MEaSUREs program for research environments.
• Offers high spectral resolution inputs at a consistent 5-kilometer spatial resolution.
• Version 2 includes methodological improvements for snowy scenes with two added laboratory datasets.

Limitations

• Metadata completeness is low; specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between sources (2017-01-01 vs. 2026-04-10), creating uncertainty about data freshness.
• The dataset's utility is dependent on external documentation (User Guide, ATBD) not evaluated here.

Provenance

Source

NASA MEaSUREs program, generated by LPCLOUD.

Collection Method

Derived from combined ASTER and MODIS satellite sensor data using a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) algorithm.

Freshness

2026-04-10 16:51:28.490206

Geography

Global land coverage.