USGS TerraWeb: Dust Detection and Mapping

[GOES][Landsat MSS][Landsat TM][WiFS]

WiFS Images (1996 to present):

General Comments

The Wide Field Sensor (WiFS) is on-board the Indian Remote Sensing Satellite 1C (IRS-1C) launched in 1996. It collects images during mid-morning (about 10:30 AM) with a spatial resolution of about 200 meters in both a red and near-infrared spectral band. The temporal resolution/revisit time frame is five days, which is an improvement over the two weeks of the Landsat systems, but still not as frequent as that of the GOES (every 15-30 minutes) or SeaWiFS (once per day). A major advantage of this data set is that it fills in the spatial resolution gap between the Landsat TM and MSS (30 and 75 meters, respectively) and the GOES and SeaWiFS (1 km) data sets. This, combined with the fact that our eolian erosion vulnerability image mapping algorithm uses the red and near-infrared bands (the two bands collected by WiFS), allows excellent regional image maps to be made using these data. The five day temporal resolution makes them better than the Landsat MSS and TM data for possible imaging of active dust storms, but still not acceptable for operational monitoring and detection of active dust storms.

WiFS Characteristics

	Spatial Resolution	200 m
	Spectral Resolution	1 visible 1 NIR
	Temporal Resolution	5 days

Image group 2: Online August 11, 1998

WiFS
May 10, 1996
698 x 638, 224 k

Eolian Erosion Vulnerability Map
May 10, 1996
698 x 638, 224 k

Click one of the thumbnails to view an 8x compressed overview image and access full resolution images of subareas of particular interest.

Click on the blink button to view a 8x compressed image pair: a false color composite and the eolian erosion vulnerability image map of the region. The images will be blinked back and forth between the pair. Viewing images in this manner allows one to easily compare vulnerable areas (yellow tones in the map) with the false color composite.

The blink animations require a JavaScript capable/enabled browser, such as Netscape or MS Internet Explorer versions 3.0 and higher. Contact webman@TerraWeb.wr.usgs.gov for help or comments.

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Page History:
Online Since: 12 August 1998
Last Modified: 12 August 1998

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Last Modified: Thu Oct 31 15:08:46 MST 2002