Attu, the westernmost Aleutian island, is nearly 1760 km from the Alaskan
mainland and 1200 km northeast of the northernmost of the Japanese Kurile
Islands. Attu is about 32 by 56 km in size, and is today the home of a
small number of U. S. Coast Guard personnel operating a Loran station. The
weather on Attu is typical of Aleutian weather in general...cloudy, rain,
fog, and occasional high winds. The weather becomes progressively worse as
you travel from the easternmost islands to the west. On Attu, five or six
days a week are likely to be rainy, with hardly more than eight or ten
clear days a year. The image was acquired July 4, 2000, covers an area of
31.2 by 61.1 km, and is centered near 52.8 degrees north latitude, 173
degrees east longitude.
With its 14 spectral bands from the visible to the thermal infrared
wavelength region, and its high spatial resolution of 15 to 90 meters
(about 50 to 300 feet), ASTER images Earth to map and monitor the changing
surface of our planet.
ASTER is one of five Earth-observing instruments launched December 18,
1999, on NASA's Terra satellite. The instrument was built by Japan's
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. A joint U.S./Japan science team
is responsible for validation and calibration of the instrument and the
data products.
The broad spectral coverage and high spectral resolution of ASTER provides
scientists in numerous disciplines with critical information for surface
mapping, and monitoring of dynamic conditions and temporal change. Example
applications are: monitoring glacial advances and retreats; monitoring
potentially active volcanoes; identifying crop stress; determining cloud
morphology and physical properties; wetlands evaluation; thermal pollution
monitoring; coral reef degradation; surface temperature mapping of soils
and geology; and measuring surface heat balance.
The U.S. science team is located at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory,
Pasadena, Calif. The Terra mission is part of NASA's Science Mission
Directorate.
Size: 31.2 by 61.1 kilometers (19.3 by 37.9 miles)
Location: 52.8 degrees North latitude, 173 degrees East longitude
Orientation: North at top
Image Data: ASTER bands 3, 2, and 1
Original Data Resolution: 15 meters (49.2 feet)
Dates Acquired: July 4, 2000
