The MISR Cloud Motion Vector Product: 10 years of height resolved, cloud-track winds

By utilizing multiple camera views and fast image matching algorithms to identify common features and determine feature motion, the MISR instrument on NASA’s Terra satellite has now collected 10 years of height-resolved, cloud-track, vector winds using a single, globally consistent algorithm. MISR cloud-track winds are packaged within the new MISR Cloud Motion Vector product, reported on mesoscale domains of 70.4 km × 70.4 km and referenced to stereoscopically derived heights above the earth ellipsoid with a nominal precision of 230 m. Importantly, from the standpoint of climate research, the stereo height assignment and wind retrieval are largely insensitive to instrument calibration changes and independent of a priori assumptions because the product algorithms depend only on patterns of observed brightness variability. We will describe comparisons with other wind observations, including geostationary cloud drift winds, raob winds, and scatterometer surface winds that demonstrate the quality of the MISR winds. We will also show the coverage and resolution advantages that MISR provides relative to these other datasets. Additionally, we will analyze agreement and discrepancies between MISR winds and reanalysis winds.