AirMSPI SEAC4RS: Polarimetric Radiance Imagery of US Clouds and Aerosols

AirMSPI Level 1B2 data provides georegistered, map-projected radiometric and polarimetric imagery from an airborne sensor. The dataset captures eight spectral bands from 355 to 935 nm, with full Stokes parameters (Q, U) for the 470, 660, and 865 nm bands. It contains all targets from the SEAC4RS flight campaign, which focused on atmospheric composition over the United States.

Use Cases

• Analyzing aerosol optical properties using multi-wavelength radiance and polarization data.
• Studying cloud microphysics and morphology with georegistered polarimetric imagery.
• Validating satellite-derived atmospheric products with high-resolution airborne observations.
• Investigating surface bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) using multi-angle view geometry parameters.

Strengths

• Contains polarimetric data (Stokes Q, U, DOLP, AOLP) for three key wavelengths, enabling detailed analysis of scattered light.
• Covers a specific, well-documented campaign (SEAC4RS) with a clear temporal range from August 1 to September 23, 2013.
• Data is georegistered and map-projected across eight spectral bands, facilitating spatial analysis and integration.

Limitations

• Column names and precise row/size counts are not provided in any source, limiting immediate assessment of data structure and volume.
• License information is inconsistent ('other-license-specified' vs. 'None'), requiring user verification.
• Last updated metadata conflicts between platforms (2026 vs. 2013), suggesting potential staleness or platform synchronization issues.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Collection Method

Acquired by the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) instrument during the SEAC4RS flight campaign.

Time Range

August 1, 2013 through September 23, 2013

Freshness

2026-03-13 16:22:36.699362

Geography

United States, with flights based from Ellington Field, Houston, Texas, and initially from Armstrong Flight Research Center, Palmdale, California.