AirMISR Multi-Angle Flight Data Over Smithsonian Research Center

AirMISR_SERC_2003 contains airborne multi-angle imagery captured by a single pivoting camera on a NASA ER-2 aircraft over the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center on August 20, 2003. The dataset includes one flight run, providing Level 1B1 radiometric and Level 1B2 georectified radiance products from nine distinct view angles. It was built by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory for NASA to support studies of Earth's ecology and climate.

Use Cases

• Analyzing surface bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDF) using radiance data from nine camera angles.
• Validating satellite-derived land cover classifications by comparing airborne multi-angle imagery with ground measurements.
• Studying atmospheric aerosol properties by examining spectral radiance variations across different viewing geometries.
• Assessing vegetation canopy structure and biomass through multi-angle observations of the same ground area.

Strengths

• Provides data from nine distinct view angles (0°, 26.1°, 45.6°, 60.0°, 70.5° forward and aft) for a single target area.
• Includes both raw radiometric (Level 1B1) and georectified radiance (Level 1B2) products for analysis.
• Offers browse images in PNG and JPEG formats for quick visual assessment of the data.
• Captures a swath width varying from 11 km at nadir to 32 km at the most oblique angle, providing wide coverage.

Limitations

• The dataset consists of only one flight run from a single day (August 20, 2003), limiting temporal analysis.
• Specific column names, row counts, and total file size are not provided by any source platform.
• Sources disagree on license information: NASA Earthdata lists it as unknown, while Data.gov lists 'other-license-specified'.

Provenance

Source

Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), Pasadena, California, provided the data for NASA.

Collection Method

Data acquired by the Airborne Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (AirMISR) instrument on a NASA ER-2 aircraft during a flight over the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland.

Time Range

2003-08-20

Freshness

2026-03-13 18:51:47.256001

Geography

Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland, USA.