MISR Level 3 Cloud Motion Vector Yearly Product

MI3YCMVN_2 is a NASA MISR Level 3 yearly product providing cloud motion vectors derived from multi-angle satellite imagery. The data, stored in netCDF format, offers a proxy for horizontal atmospheric wind fields at cloud altitudes. It supports monitoring of long-term trends in cloud properties, aerosols, and land surface cover.

Use Cases

• Estimating horizontal wind fields at cloud altitude based on triangulated cloud motion vectors.
• Analyzing long-term trends in cloud properties and atmospheric circulation using yearly aggregated data.
• Studying aerosol-cloud interactions by correlating motion vectors with aerosol type and amount data.
• Validating climate and weather model outputs for cloud and wind parameterizations.

Strengths

• Derived from a sophisticated multi-angle instrument with nine cameras providing views at 0, 26.1, 45.6, 60.0, and 70.5 degrees.
• Provides global coverage, with the MISR instrument achieving complete coverage in nine days.
• Data collection is explicitly stated as ongoing, indicating a continuous time series.

Limitations

• Key metadata such as specific column names, row counts, and file sizes are not provided across any source.
• The license is ambiguously listed as 'other-license-specified' without further details.
• The 'last updated' date of 2026-04-10 appears to be a future date, which may indicate a metadata error.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing via the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra platform.

Time Range

Ongoing collection; specific start date not provided.

Freshness

2026-04-10 00:43:46.963285

Geography

Global