Abstract
Abstract. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument has been operational on the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) Terra satellite since early 2000, creating an extensive data set of global Earth observations. Here we introduce the latest version of the MISR aerosol products. The level 2 (swath) product, which is reported on a 4.4 km spatial grid, is designated as version 23 (V23) and contains retrieved aerosol optical depth (AOD) and aerosol particle property information derived from MISR's multi-angle observations over both land and water. The changes from the previous version of the algorithm (V22) have significant impacts on the data product and its interpretation. The V23 data set is created from two separate retrieval algorithms that are applied over dark water and land surfaces, respectively. Besides increasing the horizontal resolution to 4.4 km compared with the coarser 17.6 m resolution in V22 and streamlining the format and content, the V23 product has added geolocation information, pixel-level uncertainty estimates, and improved cloud screening. MISR data can be obtained from the NASA Langley Research Center Atmospheric Science Data Center at https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/project/misr/misr_table (last access: 11 October 2019). The version number for the V23 level 2 aerosol product is F13_0023. The level 3 (gridded) aerosol product is still reported at 0.5∘×0.5∘ spatial resolution with results aggregated from the higher-resolution level 2 data. The format and content at level 3 have also been updated to reflect the changes made at level 2. The level 3 product associated with the V23 level 2 product version is designated as F15_0032. Both the level 2 and level 3 products are now provided in NetCDF format.
Highlights
Atmospheric aerosols play important roles in the weather and climate of Earth
As part of this enterprise, the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on Terra has acquired more than 19 years of global observations using nine push broom cameras that image the Earth in four spectral bands across a common 380 km swath, with spatial resolutions ranging from 275 m to 1.1 km, depending on the band and camera (Diner et al, 1998)
Garay et al.: Introducing the MISR version 23 (V23) aerosol product angle observations (Diner and Martonchik, 1985; Gordon, 1997; Kahn et al, 1997, 1998, 2001; Martonchik, 1997; Martonchik and Diner, 1992). These algorithms have been refined into an operational aerosol product that has been used in a variety of global and regional studies (e.g., AlfaroContreras et al, 2017; Dey and Di Girolamo, 2010; Guo et al, 2013; Li et al, 2013; Liu et al, 2007; Scollo et al, 2012; Tosca et al, 2017; Witek et al, 2016; Zhang and Reid, 2010; Zhao et al, 2017; a complete bibliography may be found at https://misr.jpl.nasa.gov/publications/ peerReviewed/index.cfm, last access: 27 January 2020)
Summary
Atmospheric aerosols play important roles in the weather and climate of Earth. They affect the global and local energy budgets by scattering and absorbing solar radiation, impact the hydrological cycle through their influence on clouds and precipitation, and can have adverse effects on regional air quality and human health (e.g., IPCC, 2013; Kahn, 2012; Lelieveld et al, 2015). The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) launched the Terra satellite into a near-polar orbit in December 1999 as the flagship mission of the Earth Observing System (EOS) to measure key parameters – including aerosol amount and properties – that describe the state of the Earth system (Kaufman et al, 1998) As part of this enterprise, the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument on Terra has acquired more than 19 years of global observations using nine push broom cameras that image the Earth in four spectral bands (three visible and one near-infrared) across a common 380 km swath, with spatial resolutions ranging from 275 m to 1.1 km, depending on the band and camera (Diner et al, 1998). There have been over 800 MISR-related publications pertaining to aerosol studies from the scientific community, with more than 200 of these papers related to air quality and human health
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