MASTER Airborne Multispectral Imagery Over California-Nevada

MASTER airborne sensor data contains Level 1B georeferenced multispectral imagery from five flights over California and Nevada in March 2000. The dataset provides calibrated radiance measurements across 50 spectral bands, from visible to thermal infrared wavelengths, at approximately 20-meter spatial resolution. It was collected by the U.S. Department of Energy's Remote Sensing Laboratory using the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator instrument aboard a B-200 aircraft.

Use Cases

• Land cover classification and change detection using 50 spectral bands of calibrated radiance.
• Sensor cross-calibration and validation for satellite instruments like MODIS and ASTER.
• Atmospheric correction algorithm development with flight-level spectral data.
• Regional environmental monitoring of California and Nevada using georeferenced imagery.
• Analysis of surface thermal properties using thermal infrared band data.

Strengths

• Provides high spectral resolution with data across 50 distinct bands from 0.460 to 12.879 micrometers.
• Offers detailed ancillary information including flight paths, instrument configuration, and spectral band metadata.
• Features calibrated radiance values suitable for quantitative scientific analysis.

Limitations

• Spatial and temporal coverage is limited to five flights over a five-day period in March 2000.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, with one platform listing 2000-03-14 and another listing 2026-03-13.
• Primary data format is HDF-4, which may require specialized software for access and processing.

Provenance

Source

U.S. Department of Energy's Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL) at Nellis Air Force Base.

Collection Method

Collected via the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) instrument aboard a DOE B-200 aircraft.

Time Range

2000-03-10 to 2000-03-14

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:01:36.092651

Geography

California and Nevada, United States.