NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Level 3 product provides a daily statistical summary of key land surface parameters averaged over a month. The dataset includes average directional hemispherical reflectance (DHR), DHR for photosynthetically active radiation (DHR-PAR), fractional absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR), leaf area index (LAI), and normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Data collection for this version 2 product was completed in August 2007 by the LARC_CLOUD organization.
Use Cases
- Model regional carbon uptake by analyzing the fractional absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FPAR) and leaf area index (LAI) time series.
- Assess vegetation health and phenology by tracking the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) derived from multi-angle observations.
- Study surface albedo and radiative forcing using the average directional hemispherical reflectance (DHR) across four spectral bands.
- Validate ecosystem models by comparing the photosynthetically active spectral region reflectance (DHR-PAR) with ground-based measurements.
Strengths
- Data derived from nine cameras providing multi-angle observations at 0, 26.1, 45.6, 60.0, and 70.5 degree view angles.
- Global land coverage achieved by the MISR instrument every nine days.
- Includes five key biophysical parameters (DHR, DHR-PAR, FPAR, LAI, NDVI) as daily statistical summaries.
Limitations
- Primary data collection concluded in August 2007, making the dataset temporally stale for contemporary analysis.
- Specific row count, column details, and spatial resolution are not provided in the available metadata.
- Limited to land regions; does not include oceanic or atmospheric parameters.
Provenance
- Source
- NASA's Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on the Terra satellite.
- Collection Method
- Satellite remote sensing using nine push-broom cameras measuring radiance in four spectral bands (443, 555, 670, 865 nm). Daily statistics are aggregated into a monthly product.
- Time Range
- Coverage up to August 2007.
- Freshness
- Static dataset; collection complete as of 2007-08.
- Geography
- Global land coverage.