Daily Global Aerosol Optical Depth Summary on 0.5-Degree Grid

MI3DAER_002 provides a daily statistical summary of column aerosol optical depth at 555 nanometers and monthly aerosol type frequency histograms. The product is a global 0.5 by 0.5 degree geographic grid summary of Level 2 aerosol parameters, produced by NASA's LARC_CLOUD organization using data from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument. Data collection for this version was completed, with the last update recorded in August 2007.

Use Cases

• Analyzing spatial patterns of the 555 nm aerosol optical depth feature across the global grid to study particulate pollution transport.
• Investigating regional aerosol compositional type frequency from the monthly histogram data for climate model parameterization.
• Validating other satellite or model-derived aerosol products using the statistically summarized optical depth values from nine camera angles.
• Studying diurnal or short-term aerosol variability using the daily-averaged parameters from distinct field campaign regions.

Strengths

• Global coverage achieved through MISR's nine-camera system providing multi-angle observations.
• Data reported on a standardized geographic grid with 0.5-degree spatial resolution.
• Includes both daily optical depth summaries and monthly compositional type histograms.

Limitations

• Temporal staleness: data collection is complete with last update in 2007, limiting analysis of recent trends.
• Specific row count, sample size, and data volume metrics are unknown from the provided information.

Provenance

Source

NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra satellite.

Collection Method

Statistical summary of Level 2 aerosol parameters, averaged over a day from nine pushbroom cameras measuring radiance in four spectral bands.

Time Range

Coverage period is not specified, but data collection is stated as complete.

Freshness

Data collection is complete; product is not updated. Last updated: 2007-08-30.

Geography

Global coverage on a 0.5 by 0.5 degree geographic grid.