Helicopter Hyperspectral Radiance Measurements Over Chesapeake Bay

Hyperspectral and multi-spectral polarization measurements of above-water radiance were collected from a helicopter platform. The dataset covers 10 stations in Chesapeake Bay during August 2022, with observations taken at four distinct altitudes ranging from 60 to 750 meters. It was produced by NASA as part of a VIIRS satellite validation experiment, with complementary in-situ measurements from a boat.

Use Cases

• Validating VIIRS satellite ocean color products using coordinated airborne and in-situ measurements.
• Studying the angular and polarization properties of water-leaving radiance for algorithm development.
• Analyzing the vertical profile of radiance measurements collected at four different flight altitudes.
• Investigating coastal water optical properties in Chesapeake Bay using hyperspectral and filtered multi-spectral data.
• Cross-comparing data from helicopter-mounted imagers with handheld spectroradiometer and flowthrough measurements.

Strengths

• Data collection was systematic, covering 10 specific stations with measurements at 4 precise altitudes (60m, 150m, 300m, 750m).
• Includes complementary in-situ validation data from a handheld GER spectroradiometer and ac-s flowthrough system.
• Dataset is part of a formal satellite validation experiment (VIIRS) and has a related submission to the SeaBASS archive with DOI 10.5067/SeaBASS/VIIRS_VALIDATION/DATA001.

Limitations

• Critical metadata is missing: no column names, row counts, or file sizes are provided on any platform.
• There is a conflict in the 'last updated' date: Data.gov lists 2026-03 -13 (a future date), while NASA Earthdata lists 2022-08-30.
• The specific terms of the 'other-license-specified' are not detailed, requiring further investigation for reuse.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Airborne measurements using a helicopter-mounted system containing a Cubert hyperspectral imager and a Teledyne Dalsa multi-spectral polarimetric camera with filters.

Time Range

August 2022

Freshness

2026-03-13 03:34:12.603818 (Note: This is a future date from Data.gov, conflicting with NASA's 2022 date.)

Geography

Chesapeake Bay, at 10 specific stations.