MASTER: The

MODIS/ASTER Airborne
Simulator

Ames Research Center

Jeff Myers
Univ. Of California, Santa Cruz

Introduction

Overview & Context

Some Fundamentals of Earth Observation

The Concept of an Imaging Spectrometer

MASTER Instrument Description & Data

characteristics
Sensor Calibration
Example Applications

The A-train constellation: Four NASA satellites carrying 15 separate

scientific instruments that observe the same path of Earth's atmosphere
and surface
EOS-Aqua: measurements of temperature, water vapor, and rainfall.
EOS-Aura: a suite of instruments that produce high-resolution vertical
maps of greenhouse gases, and other atmospheric constituents.
CloudSat & CALIPSO: radar and laser instruments that offer threedimensional views of clouds

So Why Airborne Measurements?

(US Army WW1)

The Role of Airborne

Observations:
Multi-Stage sampling for remote
sensing observations, and in situ
measurements for atmospheric
chemistry

Support for satellite programs:

Validation of on-orbit sensor performance and retrieval algorithms

Testing prototypes of candidate satellite systems

Support focused studies of geophysical processes

Rapid response for evolving geophysical events, often not possible

with satellites

Some Fundamentals of Earth Observation

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

The Effects of the Atmosphere on Observations

The Electromagnetic Spectrum

MASTER l Range

Atmospheric Absorption

Solar Energy Spectrum

Solar Energy Available at the Surface

Thermal IR Radiation

The Imaging Spectrometer

Concept

A Spectrometer typically uses a Prism or Diffraction Grating to

disperse incoming light into its spectral components.

A Spectro-Radiometer uses discrete detector elements

placed along the dispersion pattern of the spectrometer to
measure the intensity of the various wavelength
components.

Detector
elements
placed at each
wavelength of
interest

Placing spatial imaging optics (e.g. a scanning telescope)

at the input to the Spectro-Radiometer creates a MultiSpectral Imager or Imaging Spectrometer

Detector
elements
placed at each
wavelength of
interest

Imaging Optics

MASTER:
(the MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator)
Instrument Description

Spectral Band Placement

Data Archive Format

Linear Detector
Array

Spectral Dispersion
Concept

LN2 Dewars

Incoming Energy

4 Spectrometers

Scanning
Telescope Optics

ER-2 Sensor
Sensor
ViewingCoverage
Geometry

65,000 ft

24 in.
LENS
8 n. mi.

6.6 n. mi./min

IRIS II
Panoramic Camera
12 in.
LENS

MAS, MASTER,
AOCI, MAMS
TMS

4 n. mi
8 n. mi.

6 in.
LENS

20 n. mi.
21.4
n. mi.
36 Km
16 n. mi

2 n. mi.

50 meters
at NADIR
at Nadir
16 n. mi

MASTER FOV (Field of View) = 86 Degrees

IFOV (Instantaneous Field of View) = 2.5 mRad

or ~0.06 degrees

MASTER Functional Components

Scan Head Assembly
Spectrometers
& Detectors

Data System

Analog Signals

Collimated Energy
Beam

Digitizer &
Data System

Scanning Optics
(telescope, scan mirror,
motor/encoder, blackbody
calibrators)

Inertial
Measurement
Unit

Motor Controller

Blackbody Controller

Applanix POS-AV

Disk
Storage

MASTER Scanhead in WB-57 Pallet

Instrument Characteristics
Wavelength range
Number of channels
Number of pixels
Instantaneous Field of
View
Total Field of View
Platforms
Pixel size DC-8
Pixel size ER-2
Pixel size B200
ER-2 Range
B200 Range
DC-8 Range
Scan speeds
Products
Calibration VIS-SWIR
Calibration MIR-TIR
Data Format
Digitization

0.4-13 micrometers
50
716
2.5 milliradians
85.92 degrees
KingAir (Beechcraft B200)
NASA ER-2, DC-8, WB-57, P-3B
6-30 m
50 m
5-20 m
3700 statute miles
700 statute miles
6200 statute miles
6.25/12.5/25 rps
Radiance at sensor (Level 1B)
Laboratory Integrating Sphere
2 On-board Blackbodies
Hierarchical Data Format (HDF)
16-bit

Principle MASTER Platforms

WB-57F

ER-2

DC-8
B200

24

Spectral Band Placement

MASTER: the MODIS/ASTER

Airborne Simulator
Simulates:
- ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Reflection
Radiometer) on the Terra satellite
- MODIS (Moderate resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer)
on the Terra and Aqua satellites
Supports NASA satellite validation and fundamental Earth
science research
50 spectral bands in four spectral regions
(visible through thermal infrared)

Precision Geo-Referencing

Spectral Range
(m)
0.440 - 0.965 (Vis/NIR)
1.600 - 2.427 (SWIR)
3.075 - 5.325 (MWIR)
7.700 - 13.000 (LWIR)

Number
of Bands

Bandwidth
(m)

11
14
15
10

0.040
0.050
0.150
0.500

MASTER Bands
Reflected Solar Energy Bands

Emitted Infrared Energy Bands

Visible
Mid-Wave IR

Near-IR

Thermal IR

Short-Wave IR

Spectral Band Placement and

H2O

O2

H2O

CO2

H2O

CO2

H2O

Window and Atmospheric bands

Spectral Band Placement and

H2O

O3

CO2

Data Archive Format

MASTER Level 1B HDF Archive Data Format

NASA Level-1B pixels are calibrated to at-sensor radiance, and geolocated. Calibrated MASTER image pixels are 32-bit floating values
scaled to16-bit integers, to conserve storage space
Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) is the NASA standard for image products.
HDF consists of a directory structure and a collection of data objects or
Scientific Data Sets (SDS).
MASTER HDF currently consists of 37 Global attributes and 44 scientific data
sets, including:
15 SDSs for calibration information
12 SDSs for navigation information
27 SDSs for engineering information
Software is available to directly import MASTER HDF
Unpacking code available to strip image data out of HDF format

http://www.hdfgroup.org

http://masterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/

Click!

Sensor Calibration

Airborne Sensor Calibration

The Requirements:
A Science-Quality Image Data Product with Pixels Calibrated to Physical
Units, and geo-located.
NASA Level-1B Data Standard:
- Pixels Converted to At-Sensor-Radiance
(units: Watts/M2/m/Steradian)
- Labeled with Latitude/Longitude/Elev.
The Steps:
I.

Observe known radiometric laboratory sources

II.

Measure the spectral response of each MASTER band

III.

Calculate the In-Band Radiance for each band

IV.

Conduct vicarious ground truth validation flights

ASF Sensor Calibration Lab

Spectral and Radiometric
Calibration Facility for Airborne Sensors
Spectral Range = 350nm 14um
Fully NIST-Traceable, with NASA EOS Program Oversight
Resources:
Integrating Spheres
Infrared Blackbodies
12 Collimator with
spectral sources
Focus targets
Environmental chambers
Transfer Radiometer
Spectral Calibration Configuration

Ref. Paper:
Radiometric Validation of NASA ARC
Calibration Laboratory, S. Brown, C.
Johnson, et al. Applied Optics/Vol.44,
No. 30, Oct. 2005

MONOCHROMETER
MAS SPECTROMETER
LIGHT SOURCES
(Tungsten Lamp, Glowbar)

CHOPPER
FILTER WHEEL

Integrating Spheres

M3

Spectral Sources
M2

M4

M1

Spectral Calibration Bench

36

Measured Spectral Response Functions

(atmospherically corrected)

Example Data
&
Research Applications

A MASTER Data Cube

(512 x 512 spatial pixels x 50 spectral bands)

R-G-B Natural
Color
Composite
SARP 2010
(Sheely Farm Site)

Natural Color
R: B5 G: B3 B: B2

Color Infrared
R: B7 G: B5 B: B3

NDVI
(B7+B5 ) / (B7-B5)

Thermal Infrared
B48 (dark = cold)

Land Cover Mapping

Costa Rica (2005)
Training Sites

Land Cover Mapping

Costa Rica (2005)
Supervised Classification

Southern California Post-fire Assessment

Witch Fire Flight Plan (2007)

Witch Fire Burn Area Assessment

(November 13-14, 2007, B-200 Aircraft)

Courtesy of JPL

Slide Fire Burn Area

R 2.2um (22) G 0.87um (9) B 0.65um (5)

Slide Fire Time Series: 2007 - 2008

Burn Severity

2007 Post-Fire

Summer 2008

Courtesy of JPL

Active Fire Mapping

Wallow Fire Mosaic 6/16/11

Mount Saint Helens 10-14-2004

5 meter MASTER data
2.5 meter LIDAR DEM

Shaded Relief from LIDAR DEM (2.5 m)

Temperatures from MASTER TIR (5 m)

Courtesy of JPL

Mount Saint Helens 10-14-2004

>300 oC (highest temp = 330 oC)

200-300 oC
75-90 oC
o
150-200 C
60-75 oC
o
105-150 C
45-60 oC
o
90-105 C
30-45 oC

2007 Bullion Fault Zone

Natural Color

Thermal Infrared
Emissivity Product

SARP 2010

(Sheely Farm Site)

Color Infrared Composite

Thermal Infrared

R= band 7 ; G = band 5; B= band 3

Band 45 (red = warm)

MASTER Atmospheric Data: TC4

(Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling Experiment)

DC-8 Contrail

Field-Generated Level-2 Data Products

(with GSFC MODIS Cloud Team)

MASTER IR Composite
59

ER-2
MASTER/AVIRIS
HyspIRI Simulation Mission
(SF Bay Area Box)

Altitude: 65,000ft/19,800M
MASTER resolution: 50M
AVIRIS resolution: 20M

ER-2 MASTER: Santa Barbara Channel

(May 16, 2015)

Natural Color

Thermal Infrared (3 renditions)

August 26, 2004: AVIRIS & MAS acquisitions

(two of five lines)

Stirring and seeding in progress?

(Courtesy J. Ryan, MBARI)

(Courtesy MBARI)

Monterey Bay Science Observation Network

63

Ocean Color: Mayaguez Bay and Rio Grande de Anasco

River Outfall, Puerto Rico

11/17/91

12/5/93

Airborne Ocean Color Imager

(50 m. resolution, Natural Color. From ER-2 Aircraft at 65,000 ft)
64

DMS (Digital Mapping System) Tracking Camera

(22-megapixel Canon EOS 5-D with 28mm calibrated lens)

Coincident DMS Frame

MASTER Swath

Airborne Sensor Facility

NASA Ames Research Center

Mission Statement:
Develop and Operate Facility-Class Remote Sensing Instruments

Collect Imagery for NASA Earth Science Research Programs

Provide Rapid Delivery of Calibrated Data

Component Labs For:

Sensor Engineering & Operations
Level-1B Data Processing and Archive

NIST-Traceable Sensor Calibration

Supported By:

EOS Project Science Office

NASA Airborne Science Program

Selected MASTER publications

Hook, S. J., Myers, J. S., Thome, K. J., Fitzgerald, M. and A. B. Kahle, The MODIS/ASTER
Airborne Simulator A New Instrument for Earth Science Studies. Remote Sensing of
Environment, Vol. 79, Issue 1, pp 93-102, 2001

Yang-Lang Chang, Chin-Chuan Han, Kuo-Chin Fan, K.S. Chen, and Jeng-Horng Chang.
2002. A Modular Eigen Subspace Scheme for High-dimensional Data Classification with
NASA MODIS/ASTER (MASTER) airborne simulator datasets of Pacrim II project.

F. A. Kruse. 2002. Combined SWIR and LWIR Mineral Mapping Using MASTER/ASTER.

RG Vaughan, SJ Hook, WM Calvin, JV Taranik. 2005. Surface mineral mapping at

Steamboat Springs, Nevada, USA, with multi-wavelength thermal infrared images

R. G. Vaughan, S. J. Hook, M. S. Ramsey, V. J. Realmuto, and D. J. Schneider. 2005.

Monitoring eruptive activity at Mount St. Helens with TIR image data.

http://masterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/

Ames Research Center

Jeff Myers
Univ. Of California, Santa Cruz