Airborne Polarimetric Radiance Imagery From RADEX Flight Campaign

AirMSPI Level 1B2 products contain radiometric and polarimetric images of clouds, aerosols, and the Earth's surface at 8 wavelengths from 355 to 935 nm. The dataset includes radiance, solar/view geometry angles, and Stokes parameters Q and U for polarized bands. NASA's LARC_ASDC produced this data during the RADEX flight campaign from November 10 to December 13, 2015.

Use Cases

• Retrieve cloud optical thickness and droplet size by analyzing radiance values across the 8 spectral bands.
• Characterize aerosol types and loading using the degree of linear polarization (DOLP) and angle of linear polarization (AOLP) at 470, 660, and 865 nm.
• Model surface bidirectional reflectance distribution functions (BRDF) using radiance data paired with solar zenith, solar azimuth, view zenith, and view azimuth angles.
• Validate satellite-derived atmospheric products by comparing co-located AirMSPI radiance and polarization measurements.
• Study polarized light scattering in clouds by analyzing Stokes parameters Q and U relative to the scattering and view meridian planes.

Strengths

• Data includes polarimetric measurements (Stokes Q, U, DOLP, AOLP) at three wavelengths for detailed scattering analysis.
• Imagery is georegistered and map-projected, facilitating spatial analysis and integration with other geospatial datasets.
• Covers 8 specific wavelengths from ultraviolet to near-infrared (355, 380, 445, 470, 555, 660, 865, 935 nm) for spectral fingerprinting.

Limitations

• Temporal coverage is limited to a single 34-day campaign in late 2015, offering no longitudinal data.
• Spatial coverage is restricted to flight paths from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, limiting geographic generalizability.
• Data is distributed in the legacy HDF-EOS-5 format, which may require specialized libraries for access and processing.

Provenance

Source

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

Collection Method

Acquired by the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) instrument during flights of the Radar Definition Experiment (RADEX) campaign.

Time Range

November 10, 2015 to December 13,我们发现 2015.

Freshness

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Geography

Flight paths originating from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, USA.