The ASTER Surface Kinetic Temperature (AST_08) is generated (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/996/ASTER_Earthdata_Search_Order_Instructions.pdf) using the five Thermal Infrared (TIR) bands (acquired either during the day or night time) between 8 and 12 µm spectral range. It contains surface temperatures at 90 m spatial resolution for the land areas only. Surface kinetic temperature provides a vital input to studies of volcanism, thermal inertia, surface energy, and high-resolution mapping of fires. This product is derived using the same algorithm as the ASTER Surface Emissivity (AST_05) (https://doi.org/10.5067/ASTER/AST_05.003) Product. Surface kinetic temperature is determined by applying Planck's Law using the emissivity values from the Temperature/Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm, which uses atmospherically corrected ASTER surface radiance (TIR) data. The TES algorithm first estimates emissivity in the TIR channels using the Normalized Emissivity Method (NEM). These estimates are used along with Kirchoff's Law to account for the land-leaving TIR radiance that is due to sky irradiance. That figure is subtracted from TIR radiance iteratively to estimate the emitted radiance from which temperature is calculated using the NEM module. ASTER Level 2 data requests for observations that occurred after May 27, 2020 will resort back to using the climatology ozone input. Additional information can be found in the ASTER L2 Processing Options Update (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/news/aster-l2-processing-options-update/).Starting June 23, 2021, radiometric calibration coefficient Version 5 (RCC V5) will be applied to newly observed ASTER data and archived ASTER data products. Details regarding RCC V5 are described in the following journal article.Tsuchida, S., Yamamoto, H., Kouyama, T., Obata, K., Sakuma, F., Tachikawa, T., Kamei, A., Arai, K., Czapla-Myers, J.S., Biggar, S.F., and Thome, K.J., 2020, Radiometric Degradation Curves for the ASTER VNIR Processing Using Vicarious and Lunar Calibrations: Remote Sensing, v. 12, no. 3, at https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030427.As of December 15, 2021, the LP DAAC has implemented changes to ASTER PGE Version 3.4, which will affect all ASTER Level 2 on-demand products. Changes include:• Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) has been added as one of the ancillary ozone inputs for any observations made after May 27, 2020. The sequence of fallbacks for ozone will remain the same.• Toolkit has been updated from Version 5.2.17 to 5.2.20. Users may notice minor differences between the two versions. Differences may include minuscule changes in digital numbers around the peripheral of the granule and boundaries of a cloud for Surface Reflectance and Surface Radiance (AST07 and AST09) QA Data Plane depending on the Operating System and libraries being used by the user to process the data.Additionally, Climatology, which is one of the inputs for Ozone and Moisture, Temperature and Pressures (MTP) will be removed from the Earthdata Order Form. It has been observed that PGEs generated with Climatology as an input yield noticeable differences statistically during image and spectral analysis. Climatology will continue to be used as the final default if neither of the first two selectable options are available for Ozone and MTP. Users can check the OPERATIONALQUALITYFLAGEXPLANATION field in the metadata or the output file for atmospheric parameters that were applied.Aura OMI data are no longer available as an input for ASTER Level 2 data acquisitions after October 6, 2023. For data acquired after this date, ozone inputs will automatically fall back to climatology ozone inputs when Aura OMI is selected as an input. For more details, please refer to the Discontinuation of Aura OMI as an Input news announcement (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/news/discontinuation-of-aura-omi-as-an-ancillary-ozone-input-for-aster-products/).

The Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Surface Kinetic Temperature (AST_08) V004 product delivers surface kinetic temperature data derived from the five Thermal Infrared (TIR) bands (Bands 10–14), collected during both daytime and nighttime observations. This Level 2 (L2) product is produced using the Temperature/Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm, which processes atmospherically corrected ASTER surface radiance (TIR) data to estimate emissivity and compute temperature. In Version 4, atmospheric correction has been significantly improved by integrating Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2) data, enhancing the accuracy of temperature retrievals.Known Issues* Level 2 products that are on the international date line/anti-meridian have incorrect bounding coordinates for the UTM zone defined in the file metadata.Improvements/Changes from Previous Versions* SWIR Crosstalk Correction: Applies a correction to reduce stray light effects in the SWIR bands, enhancing data quality by minimizing artifacts. Enhanced Atmospheric Correction: Version 4 uses Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2) data as the primary source for atmospheric parameters (ozone, water vapor, pressure, and temperature), improving the precision of emissivity calculations. Fallback Mechanisms: When MERRA-2 data are unavailable, the product employs Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) data as a backup, with climatology data serving as a final fallback to ensure continuous processing. Radiometric Calibration Update: Version 4 applies Radiometric Calibration Coefficient Version 5 (RCC V5) to improve the radiometric accuracy of the raw DNs, based on research by [Tsuchida and others (2020)](https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030427), published in Remote Sensing.

The Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Surface Emissivity (AST_05) is produced using the Temperature/Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm for the five Thermal Infrared (TIR) 90 meter bands, acquired during the day or night. The product comprises per-pixel emissivity measurements generated over land in addition to embedded metadata and quality assurance data planes. Known Issues* Level 2 products that are on the international date line/anti-meridian have incorrect bounding coordinates for the Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) zone defined in the file metadata.Improvements/Changes from Previous Versions* Enhanced Atmospheric Correction: Version 4 uses Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications Version 2 (MERRA-2) data as the primary source for atmospheric parameters (ozone, water vapor, pressure, and temperature), improving the precision of emissivity calculations. Fallback Mechanisms: When MERRA-2 data are unavailable, the product employs Global Data Assimilation System (GDAS) data as a backup, with climatology data serving as a final fallback to ensure continuous processing. Radiometric Calibration Update: Version 4 applies Radiometric Calibration Coefficient Version 5 (RCC V5) to improve the radiometric accuracy of the raw DNs, based on research by [Tsuchida and others (2020)](https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030427), published in Remote Sensing.

The ASTER Digital Elevation Model (AST14DEM) product is generated (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/996/ASTER_Earthdata_Search_Order_Instructions.pdf) using bands 3N (nadir-viewing) and 3B (backward-viewing) of an (ASTER Level 1A) (https://doi.org/10.5067/ASTER/AST_L1A.003) image acquired by the Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) sensor. The VNIR subsystem includes two independent telescope assemblies that facilitate the generation of stereoscopic data. The band 3 stereo pair is acquired in the spectral range of 0.78 and 0.86 microns with a base-to-height ratio of 0.6 and an intersection angle of 27.7 degrees. There is a time lag of approximately one minute between the acquisition of the nadir and backward images. For a better understanding, refer to this (diagram) (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/301/ASTER_Along_Track_Imaging_Geometry.png) depicting the along-track imaging geometry of the ASTER VNIR nadir and backward-viewing sensors. The accuracy of the new LP DAAC produced DEMs will meet or exceed accuracy specifications set for the ASTER relative DEMs by the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD) (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/81/AST14_ATBD.pdf). Users likely will find that the DEMs produced by the new LP DAAC system have accuracies approaching those specified in the ATBD for absolute DEMs. Validation testing has shown that DEMs produced by the new system frequently are more accurate than 25 meters root mean square error (RMSE) in xyz dimensions. Improvements/Changes from Previous Versions As of January 2021, the LP DAAC has implemented version 3.0 of the Sensor Information Laboratory Corporation ASTER DEM/Ortho (SILCAST) software, which is used to generate the Level 2 on-demand ASTER Orthorectified and Digital Elevation Model (DEM) products (AST14). The updated software provides digital elevation extraction and orthorectification from ASTER L1B input data without needing to enter ground control points or depending on external global DEMs at 30-arc-second resolution (GTOPO30). It utilizes the ephemeris and attitude data derived from both the ASTER instrument and the Terra spacecraft platform. The outputs are geoid height-corrected and waterbodies are automatically detected in this version. Users will notice differences between AST14DEM, AST14DMO, and AST14OTH products ordered before January 2021 (generated with SILCAST V1) and those generated with the updated version of the production software (version 3.0). Differences may include slight elevation changes over different surface types, including waterbodies. Differences have also been observed over cloudy portions of ASTER scenes. Additional information on SILCAST version 3.0 can be found on the SILCAST website (http://www.silc.co.jp/en/products.html). Starting June 23, 2021, radiometric calibration coefficient Version 5 (RCC V5) will be applied to newly observed ASTER data and archived ASTER data products. Details regarding RCC V5 are described in the following journal article. Tsuchida, S., Yamamoto, H., Kouyama, T., Obata, K., Sakuma, F., Tachikawa, T., Kamei, A., Arai, K., Czapla-Myers, J.S., Biggar, S.F., and Thome, K.J., 2020, Radiometric Degradation Curves for the ASTER VNIR Processing Using Vicarious and Lunar Calibrations: Remote Sensing, v. 12, no. 3, at https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030427.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Level 1A (AST_L1A) contains reconstructed, instrument digital numbers (DNs) derived from the acquired telemetry streams of the telescopes: Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR), Shortwave Infrared (SWIR), and Thermal Infrared (TIR). Additionally, geometric correction coefficients and radiometric calibration coefficients are calculated and appended to the metadata, but not applied. The spatial resolution is 15 m (VNIR), 30 m (SWIR), and 90 m (TIR) with a temporal coverage of 2000 to present. Starting June 23, 2021, radiometric calibration coefficient Version 5 (RCC V5) will be applied to newly observed ASTER data and archived ASTER data products. Details regarding RCC V5 are described in the following journal article.Tsuchida, S., Yamamoto, H., Kouyama, T., Obata, K., Sakuma, F., Tachikawa, T., Kamei, A., Arai, K., Czapla-Myers, J.S., Biggar, S.F., and Thome, K.J., 2020, Radiometric Degradation Curves for the ASTER VNIR Processing Using Vicarious and Lunar Calibrations: Remote Sensing, v. 12, no. 3, at https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030427.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Level 1A (AST_L1A) contains reconstructed, instrument digital numbers (DNs) derived from the acquired telemetry streams of the telescopes: Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR), Shortwave Infrared (SWIR), and Thermal Infrared (TIR). Additionally, geometric correction coefficients and radiometric calibration coefficients are calculated and appended to the metadata but not applied.Know Issues* The QAPERCENTINTERPOLATEDDATA field in .met files was found to be inconsistent due to a software upgrade. Following evaluation by the ASTER Science Team, it was determined to have no impact on science data and has been set to 0 and nullified.* SWIR data acquired after April 2008 may exhibit anomalous saturation and striping. Users should consult the ASTER SWIR User Advisory for additional details.Improvements/Changes from Previous Versions* Radiometric Calibration Update: Version 4 applies Radiometric Calibration Coefficient Version 5 (RCC V5) to improve the radiometric accuracy of the raw DNs, based on research by [Tsuchida and others (2020)](https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030427), published in Remote Sensing.

The ASTER L2 Surface Emissivity is an on-demand product ((https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/documents/996/ASTER_Earthdata_Search_Order_Instructions.pdf)) generated using the five thermal infrared (TIR) bands (acquired either during the day or night time) between 8 and 12 µm spectral range. It contains surface emissivity over the land at 90 meters spatial resolution. Estimates of surface emissivity were thus far only derived using surrogates such as land-cover type or vegetation index. The Temperature/Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm is used to derive both E (emissivity) and T (surface temperature). The main goals of the TES algorithm include: recovering accurate and precise emissivities for mineral substrates, and estimating accurate and precise surface temperatures especially over vegetation, water and snow.The TES algorithm is executed in the ASTER processing chain following generation of ASTER Level-2 Surface Radiance (TIR). The land-leaving radiance and down-welling irradiance vectors for each pixel are taken in account. Emissivity is estimated using the Normalized Emissivity Method (NEM), and is iteratively compensated for reflected sunlight. The emissivity spectrum is normalized using the average emissivity of each pixel. The minimum-maximum difference (MMD) of the normalized spectrum is calculated and estimates of the minimum emissivity derived through regression analysis. These estimates are used to scale the normalized emissivity and compensate for reflected skylight with the derived refinement of emissivity. ASTER Level 2 data requests for observations that occurred after May 27, 2020 will resort back to using the climatology ozone input. Additional information can be found in the ASTER L2 Processing Options Update (https://lpdaac.usgs.gov/news/aster-l2-processing-options-update/).V003 data set release date: 2002-05-03Starting June 23, 2021, radiometric calibration coefficient Version 5 (RCC V5) will be applied to newly observed ASTER data and archived ASTER data products. Details regarding RCC V5 are described in the following journal article.Tsuchida, S., Yamamoto, H., Kouyama, T., Obata, K., Sakuma, F., Tachikawa, T., Kamei, A., Arai, K., Czapla-Myers, J.S., Biggar, S.F., and Thome, K.J., 2020, Radiometric Degradation Curves for the ASTER VNIR Processing Using Vicarious and Lunar Calibrations: Remote Sensing, v. 12, no. 3, at https://doi.org/10.3390/rs12030427.As of December 15, 2021, the LP DAAC has implemented changes to ASTER PGE Version 3.4, which will affect all ASTER Level 2 on-demand products. Changes include:• Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) has been added as one of the ancillary ozone inputs for any observations made after May 27, 2020. The sequence of fallbacks for ozone will remain the same.• Toolkit has been updated from Version 5.2.17 to 5.2.20. Users may notice minor differences between the two versions. Differences may include minuscule changes in digital numbers around the peripheral of the granule and boundaries of a cloud for Surface Reflectance and Surface Radiance (AST07 and AST09) QA Data Plane depending on the Operating System and libraries being used by the user to process the data.Additionally, Climatology, which is one of the inputs for Ozone and Moisture, Temperature and Pressures (MTP) will be removed from the Earthdata Order Form. It has been observed that PGEs generated with Climatology as an input yield noticeable differences statistically during image and spectral analysis. Climatology will continue to be used as the final default if neither of the first two selectable options are available for Ozone and MTP. Users can check the OPERATIONALQUALITYFLAGEXPLANATION field in the metadata or the output file for atmospheric parameters that were applied.Aura OMI data are no longer available as an input for ASTER Level 2 data acquisitions after October 6, 2023. For data acquired after this date, ozone inputs will automatically fall back to climatology ozone inputs when Aura OMI is selected

Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Emissivity Dataset (GED) land surface temperature and emissivity (LST&E) data products are generated using the ASTER Temperature Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm with a Water Vapor Scaling (WVS) atmospheric correction method using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (MOD07) (https://modis-atmos.gsfc.nasa.gov/MOD07_L2/index.html) atmospheric profiles and the MODerate spectral resolution TRANsmittance (MODTRAN 5.2 radiative transfer model). This dataset is computed from all clear-sky pixels of ASTER scenes acquired from 2000 through 2008. AG100 data are available globally at spatial resolution of 100 meters. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, developed the ASTER GED product.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Expedited Level 1A Reconstructed Unprocessed Instrument Data (AST_L1AE) global product contains reconstructed, unprocessed instrument digital data derived from the acquired telemetry streams of the telescopes: Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR), Shortwave Infrared (SWIR), and Thermal Infrared (TIR). This data product is similar to the (AST_L1A) (http://doi.org/10.5067/ASTER/AST_L1A.003) with a few notable exceptions. These include:* The AST_L1AE is available for download within 48 hours of acquisition in support of field calibration and validation efforts, in addition to emergency response for natural disasters where the quick turn-around time from acquisition to availability would prove beneficial in initial damage or impact assessments.* The registration quality of the AST_L1AE is likely to be lower than the AST_L1A, and may vary from scene to scene.* The AST_L1AE data product does not contain the VNIR 3B (aft-viewing) Band.* This dataset does not have short-term calibration for the Thermal Infrared (TIR) sensor.* The AST_L1AE data product is only available for download 30 days after acquisition. It is then removed and reprocessed into an AST_L1A product.

Day and night spatially gridded (L3) global NASA skin sea surface temperature (SST) products from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onboard the Aqua satellite. Average daily, weekly (8 day), monthly and annual skin SST products at are available at both 4.63 and 9.26 km spatial resolution. Aqua was launched by NASA on May 4, 2002, into a sun synchronous, polar orbit with a daylight ascending node at 13:30, formation flying in the A-train with other Earth Observation Satellites (EOS), to study the global dynamics of the Earth atmosphere, land and oceans. MODIS captures data in 36 spectral bands at a variety of spatial resolutions. Two SST products can be present in these files. The first is a skin SST produced for both day and night (NSST) observations, derived from the long wave IR 11 and 12 micron wavelength channels, using a modified nonlinear SST algorithm intended to provide continuity of SST derived from heritage and current NASA sensors. At night, a second SST product is generated using the mid-infrared 3.95 and 4.05 micron wavelength channels which are unique to MODIS; the SST derived from these measurements is identified as SST4. The SST4 product has lower uncertainty, but due to sun glint can only be used at night. To generate the L3 products the L2 pixels are binned into an integerized sinusoidal area grid (ISEAG) and mapped into an equidistant cylindrical (also known as Platte Carre projection. Additional projection detailed can be found at https://oceancolor.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/format/ The NASA MODIS L3 SST data products are generated by the NASA Ocean Biology Processing Group (OBPG) and Peter Minnett and his team at the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) are responsible for sea surface temperature algorithm development, error statistics and quality flagging. JPL acquires MODIS ocean L3 SST data from the OBPG and is the official Physical Oceanography Data Archive (PO.DAAC) for SST. The R2019.0 supersedes the previous v2014.1 datasets which can be found at https://doi.org/10.5067/MODSA-AN4N4