Multispectral Thermal Imager Project

Data Processing and Analysis

In order to analyze the images that the MTI satellite collected, algorithms needed to be developed for each aspect of MTI data being considered.  Science algorithms were created for water and land temperature retrieval, detecting water boundaries, cloud masks, material identification, vegetation analysis, and more. 

Images taken by the MTI were processed at the Data Processing and Analysis Center (DPAC) at Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Data from the satellite was downlinked to Sandia National Laboratory and then sent to the DPAC.  The majority of the code was written with Interactive Data Language (IDL), although other types of software were utilized as well.

Level 0 data products include state-of-health data and uncalibrated, unregistered images. Because the MTI focal plane is segmented into three sensor-chip assemblies, images are in three sections at this level. The spectral bands are not co-aligned at Level 0. Level 1 starts with the calibration, which is one of the emphases for the MTI project. The 3 sub-images and 15 bands are then coregistered, which is the end of the automated processing. Other Level 1 products include ephemeris and georeferenced products. The geophysical quantities of interest are produced at Level 2 and Level 3 products are time-series of Level 2 products. Level 4 products are more advance analyses.

- LA-UR-01-0397
- LA-UR-98-306; Part 1, Part 2, Part 3.

This page has paths: