Hyperspectral infrared sounders require accurate knowledge of the land surface emissivity (LSE) to retrieve important climate variables such as surface temperature, air temperature, and total water vapor from space. This study provides a method for validating and assessing the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) version 5 LSE product using high–spatial resolution data (90 m) from the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) which has five bands in the thermal infrared region (8–12 μm, 1250–833 cm⁻¹) and high–spectral resolution laboratory measurements of sand samples collected over the Namib and Kalahari deserts in southern Africa. Results indicate that the mean, absolute daytime LSE difference between AIRS and the laboratory results for six wavelengths in window regions between 3.9 and 11.4 μm (2564–877 cm⁻¹) was 2.3% over the Namib and 0.70% over the Kalahari, while the mean difference with ASTER was 2.3% over the Namib and 2.26% over the Kalahari for four bands between 8 and 12 μm. Systematic modeling and surface dependent AIRS LSE retrieval errors such as large discrepancies between day and nighttime shortwave LSE (up to 15%), unphysical values (LSE >1), and large daytime temporal variations in the shortwave region (up to 30%) are further discussed. Keywords: AIRS, emissivity, validation.