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Data

Airborne Hyperspectral and LiDAR Data - Australian Field Sites 

Ver: 1.0
Status of Data: completed
Update Frequency: notPlanned
Security Classification: unclassified
Dataset Published: 2021-12-15
Dataset Last Modified: 2026-06-18
Metadata viewed 2538 times
Dataset accessed 836 times
Metadata Created: 2013-03-13
Metadata Last Modified: 2026-06-18
How to cite this collection:
Department of the Environment, T. (2021). Airborne Hyperspectral and LiDAR Data - Australian Field Sites. Version 1.0. Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network. Dataset. https://portal.tern.org.au/metadata/4ff0b4c9-cfa0-4d09-9520-b5402adc583f 
Data can be accessed from the following links:
HTTPJRSRP Field Data Portal
HTTPTERN Field Calibration/Validation
HTTPAirborne Hyperspectral Files
HTTPAirborne LiDAR Files
HTTPFile Naming Convention
HTTPGround Calibration Targets for Hyperspectral Flights
HTTPAirborne Thermal Files
HTTPPoint-of-truth metadata URL
HTTPro-crate-metadata.json
TERN worked together with Airborne Research Australia (ARA) to deliver airborne hyperspectral, thermal and lidar data for a number of selected homogenous 5 km x 5 km field sites across several locations in Australia (formally known as the AusCover Supersites). A Riegl Q560 Lidar, a SPECIM AisaEAGLE II hyperspectral scanner (VNIR) and a SPECIM AisaHAWK hyper-spectral scanner were mounted in underwing pods of ARA's ECO-Dimona research aircraft VH-EOS, each one together with its own navigation and altitude system. The spatial resolution of the Airborne hyperspectral data is 0.5m and Airborne LiDAR is 0.3m. Thermal imagery was collected concurrently for the South East Queensland sites. Details on the data acquisition for each site is summarized in the Data Acquisition report. This collection also includes supplementary materials that support interpretation and application of the datasets. These include field-based measurements used for calibration and validation, such as ground control targets, and Sun-photometer observations of Aerosol Optical Depth and ozone. Further details on these datasets are available here. Additional documentation covering instrumentation, data acquisition, quality assurance processes, and data conventions is also provided.  
Credit
We at TERN acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians throughout Australia, New Zealand and all nations. We honour their profound connections to land, water, biodiversity and culture and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. This work was funded by the Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network (TERN), an Australian Government National Collaborative Research Infrastructure Strategy (NCRIS) project. 
Purpose
Between January 2011 and June 2013, TERN Landscapes collected field, airborne hyperspectral and airborne LiDAR data coincidently from several locations across Australia to be used for upscaling ground gathered observations, and to help calibrate satellite sensors passing overhead. 
Lineage
Data not provided. 
Method DocumentationData not provided.
Procedure Steps

1. 

Documents containing information on instrumentation, platforms, data acquisitions, quality audits, naming conventions and more are available at https://data.tern.org.au/rs/public/data/airborne_validation/metadata/data_report/ 

Spatial Description
Australia 
Temporal Coverage
From 2012-02-01 to 2013-07-01 
Spatial Resolution

Data not provided.

Vertical Extent

Data not provided.

Data Quality Assessment Scope
The process used to test quality assurance of the airborne hyperspectral data and airborne lidar data are documented in Chapter 15 and 16 of the TERN Effective Field Calibration and Validation Practices handbook (see references). 
Data Quality Report
Data not provided. 
Data Quality Assessment Outcome
See the individual flights for information on data quality. 
ANZSRC - FOR
Climate change impacts and adaptation
Data Stream
Airborne Observation
GCMD Sciences
BIOSPHERE - VEGETATION COVER
Horizontal Resolution
< 1 meter
Instruments
RIEGL LMS-Q560
SPECIM AisaEAGLE
SPECIM AisaHAWK
Parameters
radiation wavelength
surface bidirectional reflectance
vegetation area fraction
Project
TERN Landscapes
Temporal Resolution
Daily - < Weekly
Topic
environment
User Defined
3D point cloud
calperum chowilla
credo
Diamond Aircraft HK-36 Eco-Dimona VH-EOS
litchfield
robson creek
rushworth forest
tumbarumba
watts creek
whroo
zigzag creek
Author
Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation, Queensland Government
Contact Point
Data Enquiries, Earth Observation and Social Sciences (EOSS)
Publisher
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
Broomhall, M., Johansen, K., Wu. D., 2018, Chapter 15: Quality Assurance Steps for TERN Landscape Assessment Hyper-Spectral Data in TERN Effective Field Calibration and Validation Practices
Reports and extensive site documentation
Terrestrial Ecosystem Research Network
80 Meiers Road, Indooroopilly, Queensland, 4068, Australia.
Contact Us
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
The Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license allows others to copy, distribute, display, and create derivative works provided that they credit the original source and any other nominated parties. Details are provided at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ 
Rights owned by the Airborne Research Australia (ARA). 
TERN services are provided on an “as-is” and “as available” basis. Users use any TERN services at their discretion and risk. They will be solely responsible for any damage or loss whatsoever that results from such use including use of any data obtained through TERN and any analysis performed using the TERN infrastructure.

Web links to and from external, third party websites should not be construed as implying any relationships with and/or endorsement of the external site or its content by TERN.

Please advise any work or publications that use this data via the online form at https://www.tern.org.au/research-publications/#reporting