An ATSR-2 mosaic image of Australia

A cloud free mosaic of Australia has been assembled using images from the A long Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR-2) onboard the European Remote Sensing satellite (ERS-2). The mosaic is composed of daytime ATSR-2 images selecte d from the months of October and November 1995. The Australian mosaic is pr esented as a Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) image and a fals e colour image with the nadir 0.67, 0.87 and 1.6 mm channels being assigned to blue, green and red respectively. The individual ATSR-2 scenes show a s trong systematic increase in brightness from east to west. This variation i s identified as an illumination and viewing geometry effect and is a good e xample 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 b eing made available via the CSIRO Atmospheric Research web site to the gene ral scientific community as a demonstration of ATSR-2 capabilities. The dat a includes all ATSR-2 spectral channels and views, and provides the basis f or the derivation of various geophysical data products on a continental sca le.