Aster early image evaluation

Abstract The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a high spatial resolution multi-spectral imaging radiometer, and is onboard the NASA's Terra spacecraft launched on December 18, 1999. It spectrally covers the visible and near-infrared, short-wave-infrared, and thermal infrared regions with 14 spectral bands, and creates high-spatial-resolution (15–90 m) multispectral images of the Earth's surface. Referring to the baseline observation performance requirements provided by the ASTER Science Team, the ASTER early images were evaluated from both engineering and scientific points of view, e.g., general image quality, dynamic range, radiometric and geometric performance, etc. It was confirmed that the ASTER instrument generally exceeds the specified observation performance, and the early images exhibit excellent quality even in the preliminary processing level.