SMEX02 Landsat Satellite Imagery for Soil Moisture Study

SMEX02 Landsat Thematic Mapper Imagery, Iowa, Version 1 provides false-color composite images from Landsat 5 and 7 satellites. The dataset was developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration for the Soil Moisture Experiment 2002 (SMEX02). It is available in BIN, ISO, and HTML file formats.

Use Cases

• Land cover classification using false-color composites from bands 4, 3, and 2.
• Soil moisture experiment validation by correlating imagery with ground measurements.
• Spectral analysis of reflected infrared and infrared radiance features.
• Change detection in agricultural or natural landscapes during the 2002 experiment period.

Strengths

• Imagery is derived from established Landsat 5 and 7 Thematic Mapper (TM) sensors.
• Data is specifically tailored for a defined scientific campaign (Soil Moisture Experiment 2002).
• Presence on multiple government platforms indicates institutional validation and importance.

Limitations

• Specific column names, row counts, and dataset size are not documented.
• Conflicting last updated dates exist between sources: datagov lists 2026-03-12, while nasa_earthdata lists 2002-06 17.
• License information is unclear, listed only as 'other-license-specified'.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Developed from Landsat 5 and 7 Thematic Mapper (TM) data, combining bands 4, 3, and 2 to generate false-color composites.

Time Range

2002

Freshness

2026-03-12 21:37:35.053577

Geography

Iowa, USA