ASTER land surface emissivity database of California and Nevada

Land surface temperature and emissivity (LST&E) are essential parameters for a wide range of studies undertaken at a variety of spatial scales. LST&E products are generated by a number of spaceborne sensors such as ASTER, MODIS, and AIRS at varying spatial, spectral and temporal resolutions. We have developed an approach for producing gridded, mean, seasonal ASTER LST&E Datasets at a spatial resolution of 100 m at nadir. This paper shows a mean wintertime and summertime emissivity dataset for California and Nevada, USA using all available data since mission launch ( 2000). Comparison of the two seasonal datasets indicates the greatest variability occurs in areas affected by snow such as the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and in agricultural regions. Comparisons of the new emissivity dataset with laboratory measurements of geologic samples show emissivity differences of less than 0.5%, while 1-3% differences were found for water and vegetation using spectra from the MODIS UCSB library.