PIA02452: ASTER's First Views of Red Sea, Ethiopia - Thermal-Infrared (TIR) Image (monochrome)
 Target Name:  Earth
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Terra
 Spacecraft:  Terra
 Instrument:  ASTER
 Product Size:  2160 x 2251 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  ERSDAC - Japan 
 Addition Date:  2000-03-11
 Primary Data Set:  ASTER
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA02452.tif (2.76 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA02452.jpg (185.8 kB)

Click on the image above to download a moderately sized image in JPEG format (possibly reduced in size from original)

Original Caption Released with Image:

ASTER succeeded in acquiring this image at night, which is something Visible/Near Infrared VNIR) and Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) sensors cannot do. The scene covers the Red Sea coastline to an inland area of Ethiopia. White pixels represent areas with higher temperature material on the surface, while dark pixels indicate lower temperatures. This image shows ASTER's ability as a highly sensitive, temperature-discerning instrument and the first spaceborne TIR multi-band sensor in history.

The size of image: 60 km x 60 km approx., ground resolution 90 m x 90 m approximately.

The ASTER instrument was built in Japan for the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. A joint United States/Japan Science Team is responsible for instrument design, calibration, and data validation. ASTER is flying on the Terra satellite, which is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD.

Image Credit:
NASA/Goddard/ERSDAC & JPL

Image Addition Date:
2000-03-11