MASTER Airborne Imagery for Jornada Rangeland Experiment, October 2008

Level 1B multispectral imagery was collected by the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) instrument during four flights over California and New Mexico in October 2008. The dataset provides georeferenced calibrated radiance across 50 spectral bands from 0.460 to 12.879 micrometers at approximately 30-meter resolution. This data was produced by NASA and the U.S. Department of Energy as part of the HyspIRI mission's preparatory airborne campaign, focusing on the USDA Jornada Experimental Range.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial patterns of vegetation health using calibrated radiance values across 50 spectral bands.
• Studying land surface temperature and thermal properties via thermal infrared band data.
• Validating satellite-derived land surface reflectance models with high-resolution airborne imagery.
• Investigating temporal changes in rangeland physical states using georeferenced flight path data.

Strengths

• Data includes calibrated radiance values across 50 spectral bands, enabling detailed spectral analysis.
• Imagery has a high spatial resolution of approximately 30 meters per pixel.
• Collection is part of a long-term study (JORNEX, begun in 1995) providing temporal context.

Limitations

• Specific row counts, dataset size, and detailed column names are not provided by any source.
• Conflicting 'last updated' dates exist between platforms (2008-10-29 on NASA Earthdata vs. 2026-03-13 on Data.gov).

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected via the MASTER instrument aboard DOE B-200 and NASA ER-2 aircraft during four coordinated flights.

Time Range

2008-10-20 to 2008-10-29

Freshness

2026-03-13

Geography

Southwest United States, specifically over California, New Mexico, and the USDA Jornada Experimental Range.