MISR Quality Statements
September 30, 2014
SUMMARY STATEMENT
Intensive assessment of MISR product data quality is underway. Focused studies of some parameters have been completed. Uncertainties for specific parameters are reported in the individual quality statements. Quality designators indicate the maturity of products and individual parameters, and include "Beta", "Provisional", "Validated Stage 1", "Validated Stage 2", and "Validated Stage 3".
Maturity Level Definitions
Beta: Early release products for users to gain familiarity with data formats and parameters.
Provisional: Limited comparisons with independent sources have been made and obvious artifacts fixed.
Validated Stage 1: Uncertainties are estimated from independent measurements at selected locations and times.
Validated Stage 2: Uncertainties are estimated from more widely distributed independent measurements.
Validated Stage 3: Uncertainties are estimated from independent measurements representing global conditions.
A product may contain parameters at varying quality levels.
ORGANIZATION
MISR Products are divided into four groups, Level 1, Level 2 Aerosol/Surface, Level 2 Top-of-Atmosphere/Cloud, and Level 3. Each group is addressed by a separate Quality Statement which may be reached from this introductory page. Each statement applies to data currently being produced. Beware that products generated in the past by older software versions may be of different quality than current products. It is important, therefore, to note that dates on quality statements correspond to the date when the MISR product was generated, not to the date when the raw data was acquired by the MISR instrument. Links to older quality statements are available from the current Quality Statement pages. For a thorough description of MISR software version history, see the Versioning Page.
SPECIFIC STATEMENTS
Statement Concerning Quality of MISR Level 1 Products dated August 29, 2007 addresses the following products:
Geometric Parameters (a.k.a. GP_GMP, MIB2GEOP) (Stage 3 Validated)
L1B2 Terrain Radiance (Global/Local) (a.k.a. GRP_TERRAIN_GM/LM, MI1B2T/MB2LMT) (Stage 3 Validated)
L1B2 Ellipsoid Radiance (Global/Local) (a.k.a. GRP_ELLIPSOID_GM/LM, MI1B2E/MB2LME) (Stage 3 Validated)
L1A CCD (a.k.a. FM_SCI, MIL1A) (Stage 3 Validated)
L1B1 Radiance (a.k.a. RP_GM, MI1B1) (Stage 3 Validated)
Statement Concerning Quality of MISR Level 2 Aerosol/Surface Products dated July 01, 2014 addresses the following products:
L2AS Aerosol (a.k.a. AS_AEROSOL, MIL2ASAE, MIL2ASAF) (Stage 2 Validated - selected parameters)
L2AS Land Surface (a.k.a. AS_LAND, MIL2ASLS, MIL2ASLF) (Stage 1 Validated)
Statement Concerning Quality of MISR Level 2 Top-of-Atmosphere/Cloud Products dated December 01, 2007 addresses the following products:
Radiometric Camera-by-camera Cloud Mask (a.k.a. GRP_RCCM, MIRCCM, MIRCCMF) (Stage 2 Validated over ocean, Stage 1 Validated over snow and ice-free land)
L2TC Stereo (a.k.a. TC_STEREO, MIL2TCST, MIL2TCSF) (Stage 2 Validated - selected parameters)
L2TC Classifiers (a.k.a. TC_CLASSIFIERS, MIL2TCCL, MIL2TCCF) (Stage 2 Validated - selected parameters)
L2TC Albedo (a.k.a. TC_ALBEDO, MIL2TCAL, MIL2TCAF) (Stage 1 Validated)
Statement Concerning Quality of MISR Level 3 Component Products dated December 1, 2005 addresses the following products:
Level 3 Radiance (a.k.a. CGGRP, MIL3DRD, MIL3MRD, MIL3QRD, MIL3YRD) (Stage 3 Validated)
Level 3 Aerosol (a.k.a. CGAS, MIL3DAE, MIL3MAE, MIL3QAE, MIL3YAE) (Stage 2 Validated)
Level 3 Land Surface (a.k.a. CGLS, MIL3DLS, MIL3MLS, MIL3QLS, MIL3YLS) (Stage 1 Validated/Provisional)
Level 3 Albedo (a.k.a. CGAL, MIL3DAL, MIL3MAL, MIL3QAL, MIL3YAL) (Stage 1 Validated/Provisional)
Level 3 Cloud (a.k.a. CGCL, MIL3DCLD, MIL3MCLD, MIL3QCLD, MIL3YCLD) (Stage 2 Validated/Stage 1 Validated)
Statement Concerning Quality of MISR Level 3 CFbA Product dated September 22, 2014 addresses the following L3 Cloud Fraction by Altitude product:
Level 3 Cloud Fraction by Altitude (a.k.a. MIL3DCFA, MIL3MCFA, MIL3QCFA, MIL3YCFA) (Stage 2 Validated)
Statement Concerning Quality of MISR Level 3 CMV Product dated September 30, 2014 addresses the following L3 Cloud Motion Vector product:
Level 3 Cloud Motion Vector (a.k.a. MI3MCMVN, MI3QCMVN, MI3YCMVN) (Stage 2 Validated)
ANCILLARY PRODUCTS
The following ancillary data products impact the quality of many of the MISR Standard Products already described. Individual quality statements regarding these ancillary products are provided both to complement Standard Product quality information and to satisfy those who order the ancillary products.