Six Years of Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI): An Overview

This paper summarizes the acquisitions of remote sensing data from the Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) made since 2010. An overview of AirMSPI data acquired during the PODEX, SEAC4RS, Pre-PACE, CalWater2, RADEX, ImPACT-PM, and ORACLES flight campaigns is presented.AirMSPI operates aboard NASA's ER-2 high altitude research aircraft. The instrument collects passive remote sensing data in eight radiometric bands (355, 380, 445, 470, 555, 660, 865, 935 nm), with the 470, 660, and 865 nm bands being polarimetric. Each dataset provides multiangular observations, either in a targeted, "step-and-stare" mode that provides one image per view angle in the range of ±67° with 10 m spatial resolution, or in a continuous "sweep" mode with a constantly changing view angle and a spatial resolution of 25 m. The step-and-stare mode is optimized primarily for aerosol retrievals and typically consists of nine different views over an area of 10 km x 10 km, although other sequences are possible. The sweep mode is optimized for cloud property retrievals and surface mapping, providing the spatial context within a 100 km along-track distance.Data products from some AirMSPI campaigns are publicly available, and include calibrated and georectified radiance and polarization images (Level 1 data). Release of a larger set of processed image data is planned, and geophysical products are also in development (Level 2 data). Examples of AirMSPI aerosol and cloud property products will be shown, along with inter-comparisons with satellite, other airborne, ground-based remote sensing data, and in-situ reference data.