MISR Monthly Global Land Surface Reflectance and Vegetation Index Data

MI3MLSNF_002 is a monthly global land surface dataset from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR). It provides statistical summaries of key vegetation and surface reflectance parameters, including Leaf Area Index (LAI), FPAR, and NDVI, gridded at a 0.5-degree resolution. The data is processed using a FIRSTLOOK algorithm that incorporates updated atmospheric and surface climatology.

Use Cases

• Monitoring global vegetation health and phenology using the DHR-based NDVI and FPAR columns.
• Modeling land surface energy balance and albedo with directional hemispherical reflectance (DHR) parameters across multiple spectral bands.
• Analyzing canopy structure and photosynthetic activity via the Leaf Area Index (LAI) and photosynthetically active radiation (DHR-PAR) data.
• Classifying land cover types using the dataset's classification into six vegetated and one non-vegetated type.

Strengths

• Provides multi-angle observations from nine cameras, enabling detailed surface and atmospheric characterization.
• Offers global coverage achieved every nine days, supporting frequent temporal analysis.
• Includes specific vegetation indices like LAI and FPAR, derived from physically-based reflectance models.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as row count, column names, and exact file size are unavailable from all sources.
• The FIRSTLOOK processing introduces a one-month latency, as data cannot be generated until the end of the month.
• Spatial resolution is coarse at 0.5 degrees, limiting analysis of fine-scale features.

Provenance

Source

NASA Langley Research Center (LARC_CLOUD) via the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing data from the MISR instrument's nine push-broom cameras, processed to Level 3 global land products.

Time Range

Ongoing collection; temporal coverage is not explicitly stated but implies monthly data from the instrument's operational lifetime.

Freshness

2026-03-13 00:07:55.358513

Geography

Global land surface coverage.