NASA MASTER Project: Airborne Multispectral Imagery from 1999-2011 Campaigns

50 spectral bands of calibrated radiance data were collected by the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) instrument during multiple flight campaigns from 1999 to 2011. The dataset includes Level 1B georeferenced imagery and some Level 2 derived products like land surface temperature, covering regions in the U.S., Mexico, and the Gulf of Mexico. Data products are provided in HDF-4, ENVI, and KMZ formats alongside flight paths and instrument metadata.

Use Cases

• Land surface classification and mapping based on 50-band multispectral imagery.
• Fire-burn area assessment and emergency response planning based on data collected for California BAER objectives.
• Thermal infrared analysis and land surface temperature retrieval based on derived Level 2 emissivity products.
• Sensor simulation and cross-calibration studies based on data from the MODIS/ASTER airborne simulator instrument.
• Geospatial analysis of flight paths and regional features based on provided georeferenced imagery and ancillary data.

Strengths

• Data spans multiple campaigns from 1999 to 2011, providing temporal coverage.
• Imagery covers 50 spectral bands from 0.460 to 12.879 micrometers.
• Includes both raw calibrated radiance (L1B) and derived products like land surface temperature (L2).
• Spatial resolution is specified for campaigns, ranging from approximately 10 to 50 meters.

Limitations

• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• Row count and total dataset size are unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Last update date is unknown; freshness unverified.

Provenance

Source

NASA MASTER Project instrument, with deployments coordinated by the U.S. Department of Energy's Remote Sensing Laboratory (RSL).

Collection Method

Collected via airborne surveys aboard DOE B-200 and NASA ER-2 aircraft.

Time Range

1999-04-23 to 2011-08-18 across multiple campaigns.

Freshness

Data collection ended in 2011; the dataset is archival.

Geography

Portions of the U.S. (California, Arizona, New Mexico, Nevada, Colorado, Wisconsin, Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi), Baja California, Mexico, and the Gulf of Mexico.