MASTER Airborne Imagery for Western Ecosystem and Disaster Monitoring

Fifty spectral bands of calibrated radiance data were captured by the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator during 12 NASA ER-2 flights over California and Nevada in spring 2023. This dataset provides Level 1B georeferenced imagery and derived Level 2 products including land surface temperature and emissivity. It serves as a benchmark for observing ecosystem states and natural disaster impacts.

Use Cases

• Classifying vegetation type and health using 50 bands of multispectral radiance.
• Modeling land surface temperature from derived five-band thermal infrared emissivity products.
• Assessing wildfire burn scars or drought stress by analyzing spectral reflectance changes.
• Providing calibration and validation data for satellite-based ecosystem monitoring missions.
• Mapping surface emissivity properties for energy balance and climate studies.

Strengths

• Contains 50 spectral bands covering a wide wavelength range from 0.460 to 12.879 micrometers.
• Data is georeferenced with approximately 50-meter spatial resolution for detailed analysis.
• Includes derived, scientifically processed Level 2 products like land surface temperature and emissivity.
• Campaign consists of 12 coordinated flights, providing systematic spatial coverage.

Limitations

• Exact file size and row/observation counts are not specified in any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date (2026-03 13 vs. 2023-05-02).
• Primary Level 1B data is in the legacy HDF-4 format, which may require specialized tools.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Collected via the MASTER instrument aboard a NASA ER-2 aircraft during the Western Diversity Time Series airborne campaign.

Time Range

2023-03-31 to 2023-05-02

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:57:04.252994

Geography

California and Nevada, U.S.