NASA ORACLES Campaign Aerosol and Cloud Polarimetric Radiance Maps

AirMSPI Level 1B2 products provide radiometric and polarimetric images across 8 wavelengths from 355 to 935 nm. The dataset contains all targets from the NASA ORACLES flight campaign, which was based in Walvis Bay, Namibia and focused on the South Atlantic Ocean. Data was acquired by the LARC_ASDC organization from July 28 to October 6, 2016.

Use Cases

• Analyze aerosol optical properties by correlating radiance measurements at 355, 380, 445, 470, 555, 660, 865, and 935 nm wavelengths with solar and view zenith angles.
• Study polarization effects on clouds using Stokes parameters Q and U, degree of linear polarization (DOLP), and angle of linear polarization (AOLP) available at 470, 660, and 865 nm.
• Model atmospheric scattering by integrating georegistered radiance data with solar azimuth and view azimuth parameters across all spectral bands.
• Investigate spatial distribution of aerosols above clouds by mapping the ellipsoid-projected radiance data over the South Atlantic Ocean region.

Strengths

• Includes polarimetric data (Stokes Q, U, DOLP, AOLP) at three key wavelengths (470, 660, 865 nm) for detailed scattering analysis.
• Covers a defined 3-month observational campaign (July 28 to October 6, 2016) with consistent acquisition methodology.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single campaign in 2016, preventing longitudinal or seasonal trend analysis.
• Geographic scope is focused on the South Atlantic Ocean off Namibia and Angola, limiting global applicability.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Acquired by the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) instrument during NASA ORACLES flight campaigns.

Time Range

July 28, 2016 to October我们发现一个错误。根据输入，最后更新日期是2016-10-06，这与活动结束日期一致。因此，时间范围应为该日期范围。, 2016.

Freshness

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Geography

South Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Namibia and Angola, based from Walvis Bay, Namibia.