BOREAS RSS-18: Ground-Based Sunphotometer Data

BOREAS RSS-18 team collected ground-based sunphotometer data to support AVIRIS remote sensing activities at the Southern Study Area (SSA). The data likely contains measurements of atmospheric optical depth and water vapor indicators. It was compiled by the BOREAS Information System (BORIS) staff for documentation.

Use Cases

• Validating AVIRIS atmospheric correction based on ground-based sunphotometer measurements.
• Analyzing atmospheric water vapor trends in a boreal forest environment.
• Studying aerosol optical depth for climate modeling in northern latitudes.
• Correlating ground-truth atmospheric data with satellite or airborne remote sensing products.

Strengths

• Data originates from the NASA-led BOREAS project, a major field campaign.
• Supports a specific, high-profile remote sensing instrument (AVIRIS).
• Cross-platform presence on Data.gov and NASA EarthData indicates established curation.

Limitations

• Critical metadata conflicts: last updated date is 2026-03-13 on Data.gov vs. 1994-12-31 on NASA EarthData, suggesting potential metadata errors.
• Column names and row counts are unknown, limiting understanding of data structure and volume.
• License is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without details.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Collected by the BOREAS RSS-18 team using ground-based sunphotometers.

Freshness

2026-03-13 (Data.gov), but conflicts with 1994-12-31 (NASA EarthData).

Geography

BOREAS Southern Study Area (SSA)