The island of Phuket on the Indian Ocean coast of Thailand is a major
tourist destination and was also in the path of the tsunami that washed
ashore on December 26, 2004, resulting in a heavy loss of life. These
simulated natural color ASTER images show a 27 kilometer (17-mile) long
stretch of coast north of the Phuket airport on December 31 (right),
along with an image acquired two years earlier (left). The changes along
the coast are obvious where the vegetation has been stripped away.
These images are being used to create damage assessment maps for the U.S.
Agency for International Development (USAID) Office of Foreign Disaster
Assistance.
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: 9.8 by 27.6 kilometers (6.1 by 17.1 miles)
Location: 8.6 degrees North latitude, 98.2 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: November 15, 2002, and December 31, 2004