ASTER thermal infrared observations over New Mexico

Excellent scenes from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection radiometer (ASTER) on the Terra satellite were obtained over the Jornada Experimental Range test site along the Rio Grande and the White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. They were acquired on May 9, 2000, February 12, May 12, July 15 & 22, September 17, October 19 and November 11, 2001. There were simultaneous field campaigns for the 5/09/00, 5/12/01 and 9/17/01 scenes. Also, MASTER coverage was obtained for the 5/12/01 scene. The White Sands National Monument was also within several of the scenes. Emissivity values from the ASTER data from the 5/09/00 and 5/12/01 scenes for the gypsum sand at White Sands were in good agreement with values calculated from the lab spectra for gypsum and with each other, except for band 10. At both the mesquite and the grass sites the agreement amongst the ASTER results is excellent and in reasonable agreement with those calculated from the lab spectra and those observed with a field radiometer. These results indicate that ASTER and TES are working very well. The surface brightness temperatures from ASTER were in reasonable agreement with measurements made on the ground during the field campaigns mentioned above.