USGS EROS Archive - Landsat - Atmospheric Auxiliary Data - ASTER GED C2

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Dataset Citation

Please cite this dataset in the following manner: 

Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. (2021). ASTER GED, Collection 2 [dataset]. U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.5066/P9ZQJ30Q

These data are available for users wanting to generate custom Level-2 products using the Collection 2 surface reflectance and surface temperature algorithms. It is not necessary for users to download the atmospheric auxiliary data for use with Collection 2 Level-2 products. 

Emissivity data from Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) Global Emissivity Dataset (GED) bands 13, 14, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) are used in the ST algorithm for Landsat 4-9 data. The ASTER GED is divided into a separate file for each 1×1-degree area of all major non-frozen land masses of the Earth’s land surface. Antarctica and some small islands are not covered. The USGS extracts Emissivity, NDVI, and geolocation information from each ASTER GED file and stores them in a new Hierarchical Data Format Version 5 (HDF5) file. Within a file, the Emissivity and NDVI data are recorded in 100m grids. The Emissivity “Mean” and “SDev” datasets contain a value for ASTER bands 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14, although only bands 13 and 14 are used in the ST algorithm. The latitude and longitude values at each grid point are also stored. The new files are in the same format and spatial resolution as the original files.

Additional Information

• Landsat Collection 2 Atmospheric Auxiliary Home Page
• Landsat Atmospheric Auxiliary Data - Data Format Control Book (DFCB) 

Access Data

Use EarthExplorer to search and download the ASTER GED C2 Subset Product. The data are located under the Landsat category, Atmospheric Auxiliary Data, and listed as ASTER GED C2 Subset

Data Citation History

The preferred citation for this dataset was revised in 2024 to improve accuracy and alignment with USGS Fundamental Science Practices. The dataset digital object identifier (DOI) and version did not change. 

Please cite this dataset in the following manner:

Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center. (2021). ASTER GED, Collection 2 [dataset]. U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.5066/P9ZQJ30Q

The previously used citation shown below is provided here for historical reference only: 
U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation And Science (EROS) Center. (2021). ASTER GED C2 Subset [dataset]. U.S. Geological Survey. https://doi.org/10.5066/P9ZQJ30Q