MASTER Airborne Multispectral Imagery Over Costa Rica and Gulf of Mexico

MASTER Level 1B data products contain calibrated radiance imagery from 14 NASA WB-57 flights conducted from March 6 to 29, 2003. The dataset includes 50 spectral bands covering wavelengths from 0.460 to 12.879 micrometers at approximately 30-meter spatial resolution. This CARTA-2003 project was a collaboration between NASA and Costa Rica's Centro Nacional de Alta Tecnologia.

Use Cases

• Land cover classification and change detection using 50 spectral bands across visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared wavelengths.
• Atmospheric and oceanographic research by analyzing calibrated radiance values over the Gulf of Mexico and coastal regions.
• Sensor calibration and validation for satellite-based instruments like MODIS and ASTER using airborne simulator data.
• Flight path analysis and mission planning using included aircraft trajectory and instrument configuration metadata.

Strengths

• Contains 50 calibrated spectral bands providing detailed electromagnetic spectrum coverage from 0.460 to 12.879 micrometers.
• Data was collected during 14 dedicated flights, offering multiple observations over the target regions.
• Provides georeferenced imagery at approximately 30-meter spatial resolution for detailed analysis.
• Includes supplementary metadata such as flight paths, band information, and instrument configuration for context.

Limitations

• Core data files are in legacy HDF-4 format, which may require specialized software for access and processing.
• There is a conflict in reported last update dates: Data.gov lists 2026-03 13 while NASA Earthdata lists 2003-03-29.
• Specific file sizes, row counts, and detailed column structures are not documented across the platforms.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and Centro Nacional de Alta Tecnologia (CENAT) of Costa Rica.

Collection Method

Data collected by the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) instrument aboard a NASA WB-57 aircraft.

Time Range

2003-03-06 to 2003-03-29

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:49:10.561994

Geography

Texas, U.S., Gulf of Mexico, and Costa Rica.