MASTER Airborne Multispectral Imagery Over California and New Mexico

MASTER Level 1B data products contain georeferenced multispectral imagery from two airborne flights over California and New Mexico in May 2001. The dataset provides calibrated radiance measurements across 50 spectral bands, from visible to thermal infrared wavelengths, at approximately 10-meter spatial resolution. This deployment was coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Remote Sensing Laboratory.

Use Cases

• Land cover classification and change detection using 50-band multispectral imagery.
• Validation of satellite-derived surface temperature and emissivity models with high-resolution thermal infrared data.
• Atmospheric correction studies by analyzing radiance across visible to infrared wavelengths.
• Flight path analysis for sensor calibration and geolocation accuracy assessment.
• Spectral library development for materials present in the southwestern United States.

Strengths

• Contains calibrated radiance data across 50 spectral bands (0.460 to 12.879 micrometers).
• Provides high spatial resolution imagery at approximately 10 meters per pixel.
• Includes ancillary data such as flight paths, instrument configuration, and spectral band information.
• Dataset is hosted on multiple authoritative platforms (NASA Earthdata and Data.gov), indicating established provenance.

Limitations

• Sources conflict on the last updated date: one states 2001-05-12, another states 2026-03-13.
• Core data files are in HDF-4 format, which may require specialized software for access and analysis.
• Specific row counts, file sizes, and detailed column names are not provided in the available metadata.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

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

Time Range

2001-05-11 to 2001-05-12

Freshness

2026-03 13 00:49:33.226257

Geography

California and New Mexico, United States.