eMAS: Airborne Spectral Radiance Data for MODIS Simulation

Enhanced MODIS Airborne Simulator (eMAS) data contains calibrated, geolocated radiances from a NASA airborne spectrometer. The instrument senses across 38 spectral channels from 0.445 to 13.844 micrometers, simulating the MODIS satellite sensor from ER-2 and C-130 aircraft platforms. Its primary use is for validating satellite observations and studying atmospheric and surface properties.

Use Cases

• Validating MODIS satellite radiance retrievals based on high-resolution airborne spectral data.
• Studying cloud microphysics and atmospheric composition using multi-channel infrared and visible radiances.
• Analyzing land surface temperature and emissivity from the instrument's thermal infrared channels.
• Developing atmospheric correction algorithms for satellite imagery using controlled airborne measurements.

Strengths

• Data originates from a NASA-operated instrument with documented hardware upgrades, including a shift to a 50-channel, 16-bit digitizer in 1995.
• Spectral range is explicitly defined from 0.445 to 13.844 micrometers across 38 channels.
• Dataset is hosted on multiple authoritative NASA platforms, indicating established provenance and ongoing relevance.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, file size, and specific column names are unavailable across all sources.
• Conflicting license information exists: one platform specifies 'other-license-specified' while another lists 'None'.
• Update timestamps conflict, with one source showing a future date (2026-04-10), casting doubt on metadata accuracy.

Provenance

Source

Airborne Sensor Facility at NASA Ames Research Center, under the EOS Project Science Office at NASA Goddard.

Collection Method

Collected by the eMAS instrument deployed on NASA ER-2 and C-130 aircraft.

Time Range

Campaign flights prior to 1995 and continuing after instrument upgrades; specific date range is null.

Freshness

2026-04-10 03:46:58.042252

Geography

Global, coverage dependent on specific aircraft campaign flights.