Aerosol retrieval over Cape of Good Hope (Enlargement)

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This Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) image is an enlargement of the Aerosol retrieval over Cape of Good Hope, August 23, 2000, showing a more detailed comparison of Level 1 imagery (from the Da camera) with the Level 2 retrieved surface albedo. The albedo is the ratio of the amount of radiant energy reflected by the surface into all angles, divided by the incoming energy, so MISR's contribution is not only the aerosol retrieval necessary to do the correction, but the multi-angular integration. The image is a red, green, blue composite. Note that the albedo is retrieved at 1.1-km resolution, but the aerosol is retrieved at 17.6-km resolution. This is why there is a slight "quilting" effect in the albedo product, and also some 17.6-km squares where the aerosol retrieval has obviously blundered. Again, more areas to keep working on, along with the imperfect cloud masking.

Image Credit: NASA/GSFC/JPL, MISR Science Teams