MASTER Airborne Multispectral Imagery of California and Nevada

Fifty spectral bands of calibrated radiance data were collected during six flights over California and Nevada in March and April 2002. The dataset provides Level 1B georeferenced imagery at approximately 10-meter spatial resolution, covering wavelengths from 0.460 to 12.879 micrometers. This deployment was coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Remote Sensing Laboratory, with data products managed by NASA.

Use Cases

• Land cover classification and change detection using 50 bands of multispectral radiance.
• Atmospheric correction algorithm validation by comparing airborne radiance with satellite-derived products.
• Geological mapping and mineral identification leveraging specific spectral signatures in the visible to thermal infrared range.
• Flight path and instrument configuration analysis for mission planning and data quality assessment.

Strengths

• High spectral resolution with 50 calibrated radiance bands across visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared wavelengths.
• Fine spatial resolution of approximately 10 meters per pixel for detailed surface analysis.
• Well-documented instrument configuration and flight paths for six distinct data collection missions.

Limitations

• Data is from a single campaign in 2002, limiting temporal analysis and modern applications.
• Conflicting last update dates between platforms (2002-04-07 vs. 2026-03-13) create uncertainty about metadata maintenance.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column structures are not provided across sources.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), U.S. Department of Energy's Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL).

Collection Method

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

Time Range

2002-03-08 to 2002-04-07

Freshness

2026-03-13 01:01:45.691737

Geography

California and Nevada, U.S.