PIA25555: Xochimilco, Mexico
 Target Name:  Earth
 Is a satellite of:  Sol (our sun)
 Mission:  Terra
 Spacecraft:  Terra
 Instrument:  ASTER
 Product Size:  898 x 768 pixels (w x h)
 Produced By:  JPL
 Full-Res TIFF:  PIA25555.tif (2.07 MB)
 Full-Res JPEG:  PIA25555.jpg (234.4 kB)

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Original Caption Released with Image:

Twenty-eight kilometers south of Mexico City are the Floating Gardens of Xochimilco. These man-made island-farms are the last vestiges of a massive 14th-Century land reclamation project of the Aztec Empire that continues to feed the people of Mexico City even today. The chinampas are artificially constructed, long, narrow strips of land in the ancient Lake Xochimilco. The image was acquired April 27, 2019, covers an area of 13.5 by 11.5 km, and is located at 19.3 degrees north, 99.1 degrees west.

With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelength region and its high spatial resolution of about 50 to 300 feet (15 to 90 meters), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet. ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched Dec. 18, 1999, on Terra. The instrument was built by Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and data products.

The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface mapping and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example applications are monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.

The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission Directorate, Washington.

More information about ASTER is available at http://asterweb.jpl.nasa.gov/.

Image Credit:
NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Space Systems, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Image Addition Date:
2022-10-19