NASA ASTER's Satellite Image Gallery

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (NASA), California, United States

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

Description icon-questionA descriptive note detailing the content and context of the digital collection.

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument is one of NASA’s five Earth-observing instruments. Launched on December 18, 1999, on the Terra satellite, ASTER “images Earth to map and monitor the changing surface of our planet” by capturing high-resolution (15 to 90 square meters per pixel) images of the Earth. Since then, more than 2.95 million images were captured. The content “ranges from massive scars across the Oklahoma landscape from an EF-5 tornado and the devastating aftermath of flooding in Pakistan, to volcanic eruptions in Iceland and wildfires in California”. Users can view a fraction of the images from this website, while the rest can be accessed from a series of different tools provided.

Collection Type icon-questionBroad terms that define the type of digital collection

Subject icon-question Broad terms or phrases that describe, identify, or interpret the digital image collection and what it depicts or expresses. Values were obtained using the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) by the Getty Research Institute.

Style Period icon-questionTerms that define the styles, art periods, movements, etc. whose characteristics are represented in digital image collection. Values were obtained using the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT) by the Getty Research Institute

Work Types icon-questionTerms that identify the kinds of works in the digital collection being described. It typically refers to a work’s physical form, function, or medium in digital image collection. Values were obtained using the Thesaurus For Graphic Materials (TGM) by Library of Congress.

Openness icon-questionOpenness of the digital collection determined using the 4R activities by Wiley (2010).

Allow Reuse, Redistribute, Revise and Remix for educational and non-commercial purposes

Allow Reuse, Redistribute, Revise and Remix for educational and non-commercial purposes

Notes on Usage icon-questionAdditional notes on the terms of use on the digital images in the collection.

Unless otherwise noted, images from the site “may be used for any purpose without prior permission”. Citation is required. Unless otherwise noted in the caption information for an image, the credit line should be “Courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech.”.

Please read their Image Use Policy for full details before using images.