ASTER watches the world's volcanoes: a new paradigm for volcanological observations from orbit

Onboard NASA Terra spacecraft is one of the most sophisticated earth observing instruments ever flown, the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), created as part of a joint project between the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry and NASA. This instrument consists of three independent bore-sighted telescopes with 14 channels in the visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared regions capable of being pointed up to 22.5° off-nadir. In addition, there is an additional backward-looking visible channel telescope for stereo-photogrammetric observations. The spatial resolutions are 15 m/pixel in the visible, 30 m/pixel in the near-IR, and 90 m/pixel at thermal wavelengths, and the swath width is 60 km. ASTER instrument offers unprecedented opportunities for observing volcanoes and their activity from low earth orbit. It is the purpose of this short paper to introduce ASTER to the volcanological community, highlight its capabilities, advantages and limitations, and to show some examples of ASTER data and related analyses. We will also explain how users can readily access ASTER data.

[1]  T. Casadevall,et al.  The 1989–1990 eruption of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska: impacts on aircraft operations , 1994 .

[2]  G. Hunt.  SPECTRAL SIGNATURES OF PARTICULATE MINERALS IN THE VISIBLE AND NEAR INFRARED , 1977 .

[3]  V. Realmuto,et al.  Multispectral thermal infrared mapping of sulfur dioxide plumes: A case study from the East Rift Zone of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii , 1997 .

[4]  Alfred J Prata,et al.  Observations of volcanic ash clouds in the 10-12 μm window using AVHRR/2 data , 1989 .

[5]  A. Duncan.  Volcanoes of the World (2nd edition) , 1996 .

[6]  David C. Pieri,et al.  The February 2001 Eruption of Mount Cleveland, Alaska: Case Study of an Aviation Hazard , 2002 .

[7]  P. Francis.  Volcanoes: A Planetary Perspective , 1993 .

[8]  Salvatore Giammanco,et al.  Degassing of SO2 and CO2 at Mount Etna (Sicily) as an indicator of pre-eruptive ascent and shallow emplacement of magma , 2001 .

[9]  A. Harris,et al.  Evolution of lava flow-fields at Mount Etna, 27–28 October 1999, observed by Landsat 7 ETM+ , 2001 .

[10]  Vincent J. Realmuto,et al.  The use of multispectral thermal infrared image data to estimate the sulfur dioxide flux from volcanoes: A case study from Mount Etna, Sicily, July 29, 1986 , 1994 .

[11]  David C. Pieri,et al.  Analyses of in‐situ airborne volcanic ash from the February 2000 eruption of Hekla Volcano, Iceland , 2002 .

[12]  William I. Rose,et al.  Integrating retrievals of volcanic cloud characteristics from satellite remote sensors: a summary , 2000, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences.

[13]  Arlin J. Krueger,et al.  Optimization of TOMS wavelength channels for ozone and sulfur dioxide retrievals , 1997 .

[14]  A. Kahle.  Surface emittance, temperature, and thermal inertia derived from Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner (TIMS) data for Death Valley, California , 1987 .

[15]  J. Crisp.  Rates of magma emplacement and volcanic output , 1984 .

[16]  Michael S. Ramsey,et al.  Spaceborne observations of the 2000 Bezymianny, Kamchatka eruption: the integration of high-resolution ASTER data into near real-time monitoring using AVHRR , 2004 .

[17]  Christopher O. Justice,et al.  Special issue on the moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS): a new generation of land surface monitoring , 2002 .

[18]  David C. Pieri,et al.  Operational implications of airborne volcanic ash , 2000 .

[19]  Vincent J. Realmuto,et al.  Multispectral thermal infrared mapping of the 1 October 1988 Kupaianaha flow field, Kilauea volcano, Hawaii , 1992 .

[21]  Simon J. Hook,et al.  Mapping Hydrothermally Altered Rocks at Cuprite, Nevada, Using the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), a New Satellite-Imaging System , 2003 .

[22]  A. Harris,et al.  Automated, high temporal resolution, thermal analysis of Kilauea volcano, Hawai'i, using GOES satellite data , 2001 .

[23]  H. Worden,et al.  Impact of atmospheric water vapor on the thermal infrared remote sensing of volcanic sulfur dioxide emissions: A case study from the Pu'u ‘O’ vent of Kilauea Volcano, Hawaii , 2000 .

[24]  David J. Diner,et al.  Performance of the MISR instrument during its first 20 months in Earth orbit , 2002, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..

[25]  A. Coradini,et al.  Remote sensing of Italian volcanos , 1990 .

[26]  Tommaso Caltabiano,et al.  SO2 flux measurements at Mount Etna (Sicily) , 1994 .

[27]  David C. Pieri,et al.  Failures in detecting volcanic ash from a satellite-based technique , 2000 .

[28]  James K. Crowley,et al.  MAPPING HYDROTHERMALLY ALTERED ROCKS ON MOUNT RAINIER, WASHINGTON, WITH AIRBORNE VISIBLE/INFRARED IMAGING SPECTROMETER (AVIRIS) DATA , 1997 .

[29]  Michael Abrams,et al.  Remote sensing for porphyry copper deposits in southern Arizona , 1983 .

[30]  Yasushi Yamaguchi,et al.  Overview of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) , 1998, IEEE Trans. Geosci. Remote. Sens..