Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) observations during several 2013 NASA field campaigns
Abstract
The Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) is an ultraviolet/visible/near-infrared pushbroom camera mounted on a single-axis gimbal to acquire multiangle imagery over a ×67° along-track range. The instrument flies aboard NASA's high-altitude ER-2 aircraft, and acquires Earth imagery with ~10 m spatial resolution across an 11-km wide swath. Intensity (I) images are obtained in eight spectral bands (355, 380, 445, 470, 555, 660, 865, and 935 nm). Dual photoelastic modulators (PEMs), achromatic quarter-wave plates, and wire-grid polarizers enable imagery of the linear polarization Stokes components Q and U at 470, 660, and 865 nm. The data are used to derive degree of linear polarization (DOLP) and angle of linear polarization (AOLP). Example flight data acquired during various NASA field campaigns in 2013, including the Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) Polarimeter Definition Experiment (PODEX), Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI), and Studies of Emissions and Atmospheric Composition, Clouds and Climate Coupling by Regional Surveys (SEAC4RS) are presented. Observations of aerosols, low- and mid-level cloud fields, cirrus, and different types of surfaces under clear skies were obtained for a variety of land and ocean targets. Radiance and polarization imagery for several scenes, along with modeling of aerosol, cloud, and surface scattering, are presented to illustrate quantitatively some of the instrument's capabilities. Laboratory and vicarious calibration results are also discussed.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFM.A24E..03D
- Keywords:
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- 0305 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE Aerosols and particles;
- 0319 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE Cloud optics;
- 1640 GLOBAL CHANGE Remote sensing;
- 0394 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE Instruments and techniques