ASTER instrument performance, operation status, and application to Earth sciences

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a high spatial resolution multi-spectral imaging radiometer on NASA's Terra satellite. Observational performance of the ASTER instrument was examined by using the actual ASTER images, and it was confirmed that the ASTER has excellent radiometric and geometric performance. ASTER obtains data by target observation based upon data acquisition requests. Currently ASTER is acquiring approximately 600 scenes per day as an average, and has already obtained more than 180,000 scenes by the end of March 2001. The ASTER data are being used for a variety of applications in Earth sciences, e.g., intensive monitoring of volcanic eruptions, monitoring of coastal environment, day and night observation of large cities, and surface lithologic mapping.