ASTER Global Emissivity Dataset, 100 meter, HDF5 V003

The Terra Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Emissivity Dataset (GED) is a collection of monthly files (see known issues for gaps) for each year of global emissivity. The ASTER GED data products are generated for 2000 through 2015 using the ASTER Temperature Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm atmospheric correction method. This algorithm method uses Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Atmospheric Profiles product MOD07 and the MODerate spectral resolution TRANsmittance (MODTRAN) 5.2 radiative transfer model along with the snow cover data from the standard monthly MODIS/Terra snow cover monthly global 0.05 degree product MOD10CM, and vegetation information from the MODIS monthly gridded NDVI product MOD13C2. ASTER GED Monthly V041 data products are offered in Hierarchical Data Format 5 (HDF5). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), California Institute of Technology, developed the ASTER GED product. When using this data product in a publication, please include the citations listed under the Publications header on the Documents and Resources tab in addition to the data product citation provided below. Known Issues * Since ASTER GED Monthly V041 uses MOD10CM as an input, there will be some months that were unable to be created due to missing data. Please see the MODIS/Terra Data Outages Webpage for more information.

The NASA Making Earth System Data Records for Use in Research Environments (MEaSUREs) Combined Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Emissivity for Land (CAMEL) dataset provides monthly emissivity at 0.05 degree (~5 kilometer) resolution (CAM5K30EM). The CAM5K30EM data product was created by combining the University of Wisconsin-Madison MODIS Infrared Emissivity dataset (UWIREMIS) and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory ASTER Global Emissivity Dataset Version 4 (GED V4). The two datasets have been integrated to capitalize on the unique strengths of each product's characteristics. The integration steps include: adjustment of ASTER GED Version 3 emissivities for vegetation and snow cover variations to produce ASTER GED Version 4, aggregation of ASTER GED Version 4 emissivities from 100 meter resolution to the University of Wisconsin-Madison MODIS Baseline Fit (UWBF) 5 kilometer resolution, merging of the 5 ASTER spectral emissivities with the UWBF emissivity to create CAMEL at 13 hinge points, and extension of the 13 hinge points to high spectral resolution (HSR) utilizing the Principal Component (PC) regression method. Additional details regarding the methodology are available in the User Guide and Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). Provided in the CAM5K30EM product are layers for the CAMEL emissivity, ASTER Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), snow fraction derived from MODIS (MOD10), latitude, longitude, CAMEL quality, ASTER quality, and Best Fit Emissivity (BFE) quality information.

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. Acquisitions for AST_05 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. 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.

The NOAA-20 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) monthly Climate Modeling Grid Version 2 product (VJ121C3) provides LST&E by a process of selecting the best available pixel over a monthly acquisition period at 0.05 degree (~5,600 meter) resolution. The VJ121C3 dataset is a monthly composite LST&E product that uses an algorithm based on a simple averaging method and is formatted as a CMG for use in climate simulation models. The algorithm calculates the average from all the cloud free VJ121A1D and VJ121A1N daily acquisitions from the monthly period. Unlike the VJ121A1 data sets where the daytime and nighttime acquisitions are separate products, the VJ121C3 contains both daytime and nighttime acquisitions as separate Science Dataset (SDS) variables within a single Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) file. Additional details regarding the method used to create this Level 3 (L3) product are available in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). The VJ121C3 product contains 27 Science Datasets (SDS) variables: LST, quality control, view zenith angle, and time of observation for both day and night observations along with emissivity for bands M14, M15, and M16. Low-resolution browse images for day and night LST are also available for each VJ121C3 granule. Known Issues * For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website and the User Guide.

The NOAA-21 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) monthly Climate Modeling Grid Version 2 product (VJ221C3) provides LST&E by a process of selecting the best available pixel over a monthly acquisition period at 0.05 degree (~5,600 meter) resolution. The VJ221C3 dataset is a monthly composite LST&E product that uses an algorithm based on a simple averaging method and is formatted as a CMG for use in climate simulation models. The algorithm calculates the average from all the cloud free VJ221A1D and VJ221A1N daily acquisitions from the monthly period. Unlike the VJ221A1 data sets where the daytime and nighttime acquisitions are separate products, the VJ221C3 contains both daytime and nighttime acquisitions as separate Science Dataset (SDS) variables within a single Hierarchical Data Format (HDF) file. Additional details regarding the method used to create this Level 3 (L3) product are available in the Algorithm Theoretical Basis Document (ATBD). The VJ221C3 product contains 27 variables: LST, quality control, view zenith angle, and time of observation for both day and night observations along with emissivity for bands M14, M15, and M16. Low-resolution browse images for day and night LST are also available for each VJ221C3 granule. Known Issues * For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.

The Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) Land Surface Temperature/Emissivity Monthly (MYD11C3) Version 6.1 product provides monthly Land Surface Temperature and Emissivity (LST&E) values in a 0.05 degree (5,600 meters at the equator) latitude/longitude Climate Modeling Grid (CMG). A CMG granule is a geographic grid with 7,200 columns and 3,600 rows representing the entire globe. The LST&E values in the MYD11C3 product are derived by compositing and averaging the values from the corresponding month of MYD11C1 daily files. Each MYD11C3 product consists of the following layers for daytime and nighttime observations: LSTs, quality control assessments, observation times, view zenith angles, and number of clear-sky observations along with percentage of land in the grid and emissivities from bands 20, 22, 23, 29, 31, and 32. Known Issues * For complete information about known issues please refer to the MODIS/VIIRS Land Quality Assessment website.