GLIMS ASTER data update

[Rick Wessels]

Dear GLIMS Colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that by the end of next week, glims.org will become
our official website address.  We will also be reached by glims.net, but
glims.com is already use by a private software company.  Several additions have
been made to both our main GLIMS website and our protected website.  The
biggest addition is a link to a new web page with an interactive map showing
ASTER scenes for all Regional Centers at:
http://wwwflag.wr.usgs.gov/GLIMS/astermaps.html   This map presents a web-based
searchable version of our Flagstaff ASTER database in ArcView.  For those of
you who have the latest version of ArcView or ArcExplorer, you may also access
this data as a map service to add the map layers to your existing ArcView
maps.  Please check the linked ArcIMS help files if you are unfamiliar with
ArcIMS or ArcView.

As reflected in the above map service, the ASTER scene lists by Regional Center
have finally been updated for each regional center on our protected website (We
have added a link to the protected site on the GLIMS homepage).  As of April
25, there were over 9400 images over glaciers with 4100 acquired using GLIMS
appropriate gain settings.  Due to a major system upgrade at EDC, few scenes
were added to the EDG since April 26.  They should be back up to speed soon.
We've also added a new example of ASTER data (in a gzipped HDF format) acquired
with GLIMS gain settings from the North Patagonia Ice Field in Chile.

In addition to the image lists for each regional center, we've again posted a
table (procrc.tab) that contains scene statistics for all glacier areas and
each Regional Center. The first entry of the procrc.tab file represents a count
of all ASTER scenes listed at EDG that cover glacier areas(see below). This
entry is followed by a block for each RC.  This file is the best place to find
each area's RC number so that the appropriate RC#.tab file may be downloaded by
individual groups.

 File=/farm/hhk1/aster/GLIMS/searches/glacierbyregion_oct11-apr25.txt
# scenes: total, 1A, 1B, other=  9435  8916   519     0    GLIMS=4101
        OFF  HIGH  NORM   LOW  Low1  Low2    ON
  Sub     0     1     2     3     4     5     6     7     8     9
 VNIR     0  4467  4831    75     0     0    62     0     0     0
 3aft    62    37  9261    75     0     0     0     0     0     0
 SWIR    62  4175  5123     0     0    75     0     0     0     0
  TIR    62     0     0     0     0     0  9373     0     0     0
----------------------------------------------------------

As we've stated before, many of these scenes may be cloud-covered.  The listed
cloud values in the image list are not dependable except that very low values
often accurately reflect clear scenes.

PLEASE NOTE:  The format for the ASTER image lists (RC#.tab) has changed
slightly from the previous files.  Instead of center lat/long and scene twist,
we now list the four scene corners.  This provides more accurate plotting of
scene boundaries within GIS applications.  We have also listed the four
instrument gain settings as four numbers in the V3ST column.  The file format
and values are explained in theRC_header_description.txt file on the web page.

We are sorry for the delay in posting new data and any inconvenience we may
have caused for you.  Please contact us if you have any questions.

Sincerely,
-- Rick Wessels
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Rick Wessels, Ph.D.      rwessels at flagmail.wr.usgs.gov
U.S. Geological Survey      Phone  (520)-556-7022
2255 N. Gemini Drive        FAX             -7014
Flagstaff, AZ 86001         Main Office     -7000
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