AirMSPI ACEPOL Polarimetric Radiance Data from 2017 Campaign

AirMSPI Level 1B2 products contain radiometric and polarimetric imagery across eight specific wavelengths (355, 380, 445, 470, 555, 660, 865, and 935 nm) for studying clouds, aerosols, and Earth's surface. Data includes radiance, solar/view geometry, and for three wavelengths, full Stokes polarization parameters (Q, U, DOLP, AOLP). The dataset captures all targets from the NASA ACEPOL airborne campaign conducted between October 19 and November 9, 2017.

Use Cases

• Characterizing aerosol properties using multi-wavelength radiance and polarization data from the 470, 660, and 865 nm bands.
• Validating satellite retrieval algorithms for clouds and air quality with georegistered, airborne imagery.
• Studying surface reflectance and ocean ecosystems using spectral radiance measurements across eight wavelengths.
• Analyzing angular scattering effects using included solar zenith, solar azimuth, view zenith, and view azimuth columns.

Strengths

• Provides polarimetric data (Stokes Q, U, DOLP, AOLP) for three key wavelengths, enabling detailed aerosol scattering analysis.
• Contains georegistered, map-projected imagery from a focused 22-day airborne campaign with a clear scientific objective (ACEPOL).
• Offers multi-spectral coverage from ultraviolet (355 nm) to near-infrared (935 nm) wavelengths.

Limitations

• Exact row count, file size, and complete column list are not provided by any source.
• Sources conflict on the last updated date, listing both 2017-11-09 and 2026-03 13.
• Data is distributed in the specialized HDF-EOS-5 format, which may require specific tools for access.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

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

Time Range

2017-10-19 to 2017-11-09

Freshness

2026-03-13 06:23:53.800692

Geography

Campaign based out of Armstrong Flight Research Center, Palmdale, CA; specific flight targets not detailed.