Close Window

The Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (MSPI): A MISR successor and candidate for the Decadal Survey's Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) mission

David Diner, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, djd@jord.jpl.nasa.gov
Ralph Kahn, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, ralph.kahn@nasa.gov
Mark Chopping, Montclair State University, chopping@pegasus.montclair.edu (Presenting)
Yuri Knyazikhin, Boston University, jknjazi@bu.edu

The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) has been acquiring global aerosol and surface bidirectional reflectance data aboard Terra since February 2000. MISR acquires moderately high-resolution imagery at nine view angles from nadir to 70 degrees, in four visible/near-infrared spectral bands. Stereoscopic parallax and the variation in radiance with angle and wavelength enables retrieval of aerosol plume injection heights, aerosol optical depth and particle type, and vegetation canopy structural information. In preparation for the National Research Council's Decadal Survey Aerosol-Cloud-Ecosystem (ACE) mission, we are developing the Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (MSPI) as a candidate instrument. MSPI extends MISR's spectral coverage into the ultraviolet and shortwave infrared, incorporates high-accuracy polarimetric imaging, and widens the observed swath. Under NASA's Instrument Incubator and Airborne Instrument Technology Transition Programs, we are developing key enabling MSPI technologies as well as a prototype instrument aimed at flight aboard the ER-2 high-altitude aircraft (AirMSPI), which will replace our previous airborne sensor, AirMISR. In this poster, we present examples of AirMISR and MISR data products relevant to the Carbon Cycle and Ecosytems focus area, and discuss how AirMSPI and MSPI observations will continue and enhance these results. Currently demonstrated synergies between multiangle optical and vegetation canopy lidar measurements suggest that fusion of MSPI data with a concurrently flying vegetation profiling lidar would significantly benefit carbon cycle and ecosystem research.


NASA Carbon Cycle & Ecosystems Active Awards Represented by this Poster:

  • Award: OTHER
     

Close Window