Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) is a Japanese remote sensing instrument onboard the Terra satellite launched by NASA in 1999.

ASTER provides high-resolution images of Earth in 14 different bands of the electromagnetic spectrum, ranging from visible to thermal infrared light.

[8][9] A joint operation between NASA and Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI), the Global Digital Elevation Model is the most complete mapping of the earth ever made, covering 99% of its surface.

[11] It was created by compiling 1.3 million VNIR images taken by ASTER using single-pass[13] stereoscopic correlation techniques,[8] with terrain elevation measurements taken globally at 30-meter (98 ft) intervals.

[19] A 2014 study[18] showed that over rugged mountainous terrain the ASTER version 2 data set can be a more accurate representation of the ground than the SRTM elevation model.

ASTER image draped over terrain model of Mount Etna
ASTER image of Rub' al Khali (Arabia's Empty Quarter)
ASTER false-colour satellite image of 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi , showing evidence of a large pyroclastic flow along the Gendol River south of Mount Merapi
SRTM3 vs. ASTER1 comparison ( Île d'Yeu ), inaccuracies and errors of the latter are indicated by arrows
STL 3D model of Penang Island terrain based on ASTER Global DEMv2 data