MASTER Airborne Multispectral Imagery and Temperature Data for Western US

Fifty spectral bands of calibrated radiance data were collected by the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) instrument during four NASA ER-2 flights from April 1 to 13, 2004. The dataset provides Level 1B georeferenced imagery at ~50m resolution and derived Level 2 products including land surface temperature and emissivity in five thermal infrared bands. This deployment was coordinated by NASA's Dryden (now Armstrong) Flight Research Center.

Use Cases

• Validating satellite-derived land surface temperature and emissivity algorithms using the 5-band thermal infrared L2 products.
• Analyzing surface radiative properties across the western US and Pacific Ocean using 50 bands of calibrated radiance from 0.460 to 12.879 micrometers.
• Studying spatial patterns at approximately 50-meter resolution for applications in geology, ecology, or oceanography.
• Using provided flight paths and instrument configuration data for mission planning or data interpretation.

Strengths

• Contains 50 discrete spectral bands, providing detailed multispectral coverage from visible to thermal infrared wavelengths (0.460 to 12.879 µm).
• Includes derived geophysical products (emissivity and land surface temperature) in addition to calibrated radiance imagery.
• Data is georeferenced and collected at a consistent, high spatial resolution of approximately 50 meters.

Limitations

• Conflicting last updated dates exist between platforms (2004-04-13 on NASA Earthdata vs. 2026-03 13 on Data.gov), suggesting metadata inconsistency.
• Key technical details like total file size, row count, and specific column names are not provided in any source description.
• Primary L1B data is in the legacy HDF-4 format, which may require specialized software for access.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Dryden/Armstrong Flight Research Center.

Collection Method

Data collected by the MASTER instrument aboard a NASA ER-2 aircraft during four coordinated airborne science flights.

Time Range

2004-04-01 to 2004-04-13

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:59:38.839050

Geography

Western United States and Pacific Ocean.