MISR Level 3: Global Monthly Aerosol Summary

MIL3MAE_4 is a Level 3 satellite data product from NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument. It provides a monthly, global statistical summary of column aerosol optical depth at 555 nanometers and aerosol compositional type frequencies, gridded at a 0.5-degree resolution. The dataset is designed to monitor long-term trends in atmospheric particles, clouds, and land surface cover.

Use Cases

• Tracking monthly and seasonal trends in global aerosol loading based on the 555-nm optical depth summary.
• Analyzing the frequency of different aerosol types (e.g., dust, smoke) using the compositional histogram.
• Validating climate and air quality models with gridded, globally averaged satellite observations.
• Studying the angular reflectance properties of Earth's surface and atmosphere using data from nine camera angles.

Strengths

• Provides data from a unique instrument with nine cameras at different view angles (0, 26.1, 45.6, 60.0, and 70.5 degrees).
• Offers global coverage with a consistent 0.5-degree geographic grid.
• Captures data in four spectral bands (443, 555, 670, and 865 nm) for multi-spectral analysis.

Limitations

• The collection for this specific product version was completed in May 2017, limiting temporal coverage for recent studies.
• Exact column names and dataset size (rows, file size) are not provided in the available metadata.
• Sources conflict on the 'last updated' date (2017-05-31 vs. 2026-04-10), creating uncertainty about metadata maintenance.

Provenance

Source

NASA Langley Research Center (LARC_CLOUD) via the MISR instrument on the Terra satellite.

Collection Method

Satellite remote sensing using push-broom cameras, with data processed to Level 3 (global, monthly summaries).

Time Range

Up to May 2017.

Freshness

2026-04-10 01:10:25.904192

Geography

Global.