Multi-Angle Polarimetric Radiance Data for Aerosol Characterization

8 spectral wavelengths from 355 to 935 nm provide radiometric and polarimetric imagery of clouds, aerosols, and Earth's surface. The Airborne Multi-angle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) Level 1B2 product contains radiance, solar/view geometry, and Stokes parameters. NASA's LARC_ASDC released this data from the ImPACT-PM flight campaign conducted July 5-8, 2016.

Use Cases

• Retrieving atmospheric particle types by analyzing Stokes parameters Q and U across the 470, 660, and 865 nm polarization bands.
• Validating aerosol models using multi-angle radiance measurements from 8 distinct spectral bands.
• Studying cloud and surface properties through georegistered radiance data at specific solar zenith, solar azimuth, view zenith, and view azimuth angles.
• Calculating the degree of linear polarization (DOLP) and angle of linear polarization (AOLP) to characterize light scattering by particulates.

Strengths

• Data includes polarization information (Stokes Q, U, DOLP, AOLP) for three key wavelengths (470, 660, 865 nm).
• Imagery is map-projected and georegistered, providing spatial context for analysis.
• Covers a specific, coordinated flight campaign (ImPACT-PM) with defined objectives for method testing.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a 4-day campaign in July 2016.
• Spatial coverage is restricted to flight paths over California from the ER-2 and Twin Otter aircraft.
• Data is distributed in the specialized HDF-EOS-5 format, which may require specific libraries for access.

Provenance

Source

NASA's LARC_ASDC (Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center).

Collection Method

Acquired by the Airborne Multi-angle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) instrument flown on NASA's ER-2 high-altitude aircraft.

Time Range

July 5, 2016 through July 8, 2016.

Freshness

Data is from a 2016 campaign; no update frequency is specified.

Geography

Flight paths originating from Armstrong Flight Research Center, Palmdale, CA and Monterey, CA.