Scientists have seen the first images from NASA’ s Earth Observing-1(EO-1) spacecraft, now flying in formation with the Landsat 7 satellite,and are excited with the performance of the instruments.
Scenes of Alaska taken by EO-1’ s Advanced Land Imager (ALI) in thepanchromatic (PAN) band are of considerably better quality than the PANband image taken by Landsat 7 under nearly identical lighting andsurface conditions almost one year earlier to the day (November 24,2000), said EO-1 Mission Scientist Dr. Stephen Ungar.
“The EO-1 PAN band has a higher spatial resolution (10-meter pixel sizeas opposed to 15-meter for Landsat 7) and a better “signal-to-noise”ratio enabling it to reliably make more sensitive measurements,” saidUngar. “EO-1’ s PAN band is located in a region of the light spectrumwhich allows for better discrimination on the ground than available withthe Landsat 7 PAN band,” he added.
The Hyperion instrument onboard EO-1 also has taken its first images,and scientists are delighted with the results. An image taken in SouthAmerica in a mountainous region of Argentina shows area of new springgrowth.
The Hyperion instrument is able to see the Earth more “completely” andhas a higher spectral resolution than previous instruments. The uses foran instrument than can make such fine distinctions include studies ofland use, changes in land cover, mineral resource assessment, researchinto coastal processes, changes in the atmosphere and more.
References & Resources
Images courtesy EO-1 science team
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