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Description
The AST_L1B Version 3 data product was decommissioned on December 15, 2025. Users are encouraged to use the AST_LB1 Version 4 of this product
The Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Level 1B (AST_L1B) Registered Radiance at the Sensor data product is radiometrically calibrated and geometrically co-registered. Application of intra-telescope and inter-telescope registration corrections for all bands are relative to the reference band for each telescope: Visible and Near Infrared (VNIR) Band 2, Shortwave Infrared (SWIR) Band 6, and Thermal Infrared (TIR) Band 11. The AST_L1B product has a spatial resolution of 15 meters (m) for the VNIR bands, 30 m for the SWIR bands, and 90 m for the TIR bands.
The ASTER L1B Registered Radiance at the Sensor data product is only available through NASA's Earthdata Search. The ASTER Order Instructions provide step-by-step directions for ordering this product.
Known Issues
TIR bands: Acquisitions for TIR bands ended on January 16, 2026, at 05:10:45 UTC, when the ASTER TIR instrument was permanently turned off due to power limitations on the Terra spacecraft. More information is available in this NASA Science News Brief.
Data acquisition gaps: On November 28, 2024, one of Terra's power-transmitting shunt units failed. As a result, there was insufficient power to maintain functionality of the ASTER instrument. ASTER resumed acquisitions for the VNIR bands on January 18, 2025, and for the TIR bands on April 15, 2025. Users should note the data gap in ASTER acquisitions from November 28, 2024, through January 16, 2025, for VNIR observations, and a gap from November 28, 2024, through April 15, 2025, for TIR acquisitions.
SWIR bands: ASTER SWIR detectors are no longer functioning as of January 12, 2009, due to anomalously high SWIR detector temperatures.
SWIR anomaly: Users are advised that ASTER SWIR data acquired from April 2008 to January 11, 2009, exhibit anomalous saturation of values and anomalous striping. This effect is also present for some prior acquisition periods. Please refer to the ASTER SWIR User Advisory for more details.
Processing Improvements/Changes
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.
Version Description
The following changes and improvements were implemented for ASTER Version 3 data products: (1) Geometric correction to account for Earth's rotation angle and nutation, (2) Geometric correction for geolocation errors associated with nighttime TIR scenes, and (3) Radiometric correction to account for degradation of onboard calibration lamps.
15 Meters x 15 Meters 30 Meters x 30 Meters 90 Meters x 90 Meters
Location
GLOBAL
Coordinate System
CARTESIAN
Granule Spatial Representation
GEODETIC
Temporal Extent
2000-03-04 to 2025-12-15
Temporal Resolution
Varies
Data Partner
Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center (LP DAAC)
,
Ground Data System, Japan Space Systems, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry, Japan (JP/METI/AIST/JSS/GDS)
Concept ID
C3553655804-LPCLOUD
Data State
DEPRECATED
Number of Files/Granules
0
Processing Level
1B
Published
Updated
Science Keywords
REFLECTED INFRARED
,
THERMAL INFRARED
,
VISIBLE IMAGERY
,
Visible Radiance
Citation
Citation is critically important for dataset documentation and discovery. This dataset is openly shared, without restriction, in accordance with the EOSDIS Data Use and Citation Guidance.
Copy Citation
Citation Copied
NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. (2001). ASTER Level 1B Data Set Registered Radiance at the Sensor [Data set]. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center. https://doi.org/10.5067/ASTER/AST_L1B.003 Date Accessed: 2026-04-30
NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. “ASTER Level 1B Data Set Registered Radiance at the Sensor.” NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2001. doi:10.5067/ASTER/AST_L1B.003. Date Accessed: 2026-04-30
NASA/METI/AIST/Japan Spacesystems and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team. ASTER Level 1B Data Set Registered Radiance at the Sensor. NASA Land Processes Distributed Active Archive Center, 2001, doi:10.5067/ASTER/AST_L1B.003. Date Accessed: 2026-04-30
The file name begins with the Product Short Name (AST_L1B), followed by the 3-digit Version Number plus the Date and Time of Acquisition designated as MMDDYYYYHHMMSS (000309112025215121), Date and Time of Processing designated as YYYYMMDDHHMMSS (20250912142333), Unique Processing Identifier (667099), and the Data Format (hdf).
Khedr, Mohamed Zaki, Sayed, Mahmoud A., Ali, Shehata, Azer, Mokhles K., Ichiyama, Yuji, Takazawa, Eiichi, Kahal, Ali Y., Abdelrahman, Kamal, Mahdi, Ali M.
Karimpour, Mohammad Hassan, Malekzadeh Shafaroudi, Azadeh, Mohammadi, Fahimeh, Askari, Ali, Sadeghi, Martiya, Santos, Jose Francisco, Stern, Charles R.
The table below lists the variables contained within a single granule for this
dataset. Variables often contain observed or derived geophysical measurements
collected from a variety of sources, including remote sensing instruments on
satellite and airborne platforms, field campaigns, in situ measurements, and
model outputs. The terms variable, parameter, scientific data set, layer, and band
have been used across NASA’s Earth science disciplines; however, variable is the
designated nomenclature in NASA’s Common Metadata Repository (CMR).
Variable metadata attributes such as Name, Description, Units, Data Type, Fill
Value, Valid Range, and Scale Factor allow users to efficiently process and analyze
the data. The full range of attributes may not be applicable to all variables.
Additional information on variable attributes is typically available in the data,
user guide, and/or other product documentation.
For questions on a specific variable, please use the Earthdata Forum.