An ATSR-2 Mosaic Image of Australia

A cloud free mosaic of Australia has been assembled using images from the Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR-2) onboard the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS-2). The mosaic is composed of daytime ATSR-2 images selected from the months of October and November 1995. The Australian mosaic is presented as a Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI ) image and a false colour image with the nadir 0.67, 0.87 and 1.6 w m channels being assigned to blue, green and red respectively. The individual ATSR-2 scenes show a strong systematic increase in brightness from east to west. This variation is identified as an illumination and viewing geometry effect and is a good example of how the surface Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function (BRDF) can effect satellite sensor imagery. The mosaic is intended to be the first in a series to be generated at bi-monthly intervals. The mosaic is being made available via the CSIRO Atmospheric Research web site to the general scientific community as a demonstration of ATSR-2 capabilities. The data includes all ATSR-2 spectral channels and views, and provides the basis for the derivation of various geophysical data products on a continental scale.