# EMIT L2B Estimated Mineral Identification and Band Depth and Uncertainty
*data products*

## Specifications
- **level**: L2
- **distributor**: nasa
- **spectral range nm**: {"min":380,"max":2500}
- **spectral band count**: 285
- **gsd m**: {"native":60}
- **file format**: NetCDF-4
- **access endpoint**: https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov
- **access model**: open
- **licence**: NASA EOSDIS open data (no restrictions on use or redistribution)
- **primary data portal url**: https://www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/catalog/lpcloud-emitl2bmin-001
- **use cases**: ["Regional-scale surface mineral mapping in arid and semi-arid dust source regions without requiring field calibration","Mineral exploration reconnaissance: per-pixel identification of clay, carbonate, sulphate, and iron-oxide alteration assemblages at 60 m GSD across continental swaths","Dust radiative forcing research: constraining mineral aerosol optical properties by mapping source-region iron-oxide vs aluminium-silicate abundance at global scale","Input to mineral aerosol parameterisation in Earth system models (upstream of the EMIT L3 global gridded mineralogy product)","Cross-sensor mineral validation: verifying mineralogy outputs from airborne or higher-resolution systems using EMIT L2B as an open-access reference layer","Geological baseline mapping in terrain with limited cloud cover where 60 m resolution is sufficient for lithological unit delineation"]
- **practical limitations**: ["Non-orthocorrected product: data are delivered in spatially raw format without terrain geometric correction; users must apply orthorectification before GIS integration or cross-sensor comparison","60 m GSD produces mixed-pixel responses in heterogeneous outcrops; sub-pixel mineral mixing limits quantitative abundance accuracy at deposit scale; field validation required for resource-grade mineral mapping","Coverage restricted to approximately 52 S to 52 N latitude by the ISS 51.6-degree inclination; polar and sub-polar regions are not accessible","ISS non-sun-synchronous orbit produces variable solar illumination geometry across acquisitions; radiometric comparison between scenes acquired at different local times requires care","Significant data gap from 13 September 2022 to 6 January 2023 due to ISS external power issues; archive coverage is discontinuous for the first year of operations","Ten validated mineral classes only; additional minerals present in scenes but not identified with full validation; separation of spectrally similar pairs (e.g. goethite and hematite) is an area of active research per LP DAAC","NASA Earthdata account registration required for download"]
- **known artefacts**: ["Two independent spectral fitting groups are run per pixel (one targeting the SWIR clay-carbonate-sulphate absorption range approximately 2100-2400 nm, one targeting the VNIR iron-oxide range approximately 700-1000 nm); each group returns its own mineral ID, band depth, and fit score independently. A single pixel may show confident identification in one group and low confidence in the other; users must inspect both group outputs and associated r-squared fit scores before interpreting a combined mineral assignment.","Band depths are estimated, not orthocorrected spectral measurements; the product title includes 'Estimated' to reflect that Tetracorder spectral fitting produces model-derived band depth values subject to the quality of the input L2A reflectance and the representativeness of the USGS spectral library reference spectra","illite+muscovite is reported as a combined class because the two minerals have overlapping diagnostic absorption features near 2200 nm and cannot be reliably separated at 7.4 nm spectral sampling; downstream users treating illite and muscovite as independent end-members should note this conflation"]
- **last verified date**: "2026-05-19T00:00:00.000Z"
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-verified
- **deployment context**: orbital

## Compositional position
- minerals (topics) --[topic_capabilities]--> EMIT L2B Estimated Mineral Identification and Band Depth and Uncertainty

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/data_products/emit-l2b-mineralogy
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)