MISR Aerosol Climatology Product with Multi-Angle Component Mixtures

MIANACP_1 provides the microphysical and scattering characteristics of pure aerosols, their mixtures, and likelihood values for aerosol modes globally. The product is derived from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument, which uses nine cameras to measure radiance in four spectral bands from 443 to 865 nm at five view angles. It is produced by the LARC_CLOUD organization.

Use Cases

• Classifying aerosol particle types (small, medium, large; dirty, clean; spherical, nonspherical) based on MISR-derived microphysical properties.
• Analyzing the geographic distribution of aerosol component likelihood values to map dominant aerosol modes.
• Validating aerosol mixture models by comparing up to three component aerosol types from a list of eight against MISR observations.
• Studying aerosol single-scattering albedo and shape sensitivity using the four spectral bands (443, 555, 670, 865 nm) and five view angles (0 to 70.5 degrees).

Strengths

• Data considers MISR-specific sensitivity to three key particle properties: size, single-scattering albedo, and shape.
• Provides aerosol mixtures derived from eight distinct component types, allowing for complex representation.
• Global coverage is achieved by the MISR instrument within a nine-day repeat cycle.

Limitations

• Aerosol particle data quality is dependent on the ACP input data, which is based on literature descriptions, potentially introducing model assumptions.
• Specific row count, temporal coverage, and update frequency for the climatology product are not provided.
• The product's reliance on literature-based components may not capture all real-world, transient aerosol events.

Provenance

Source

LARC_CLOUD, derived from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument.

Collection Method

Remote sensing data from nine push-broom cameras measuring radiance, processed to derive aerosol climatology.

Geography

Global coverage.