Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager

Airborne Multi-angle Spectro Polarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) is an airborne prototype instrument similar to that of the future satellite-borne MSPI instrument for obtaining multi-angle polarization imagery. AirMSPI flies on the NASA-owned ER-2 aircraft. The instrument was built for NASA by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.

AirMSPI is an 8-band (355, 380, 445, 470, 555, 660, 865, 935 nm) pushbroom camera, measuring polarization in the 470, 660, and 865 nm bands, mounted on a gimbal to acquire multiangular observations over a ±67° along-track range. Two principal observing modes are employed: step-and-stare, in which 11 km x 11 km targets are observed at a discrete set of view angles with a spatial resolution of ~10 m; and continuous sweep, in which the camera slews back and forth along the flight track between ±67° to acquire wide area coverage (11 km swath at nadir, target length 108 km) with ~25 m spatial resolution. Step-and-stare provides more angles, but continuous sweep gives greater coverage. Multiple observing modes can be programmed into the instrument and activated under cockpit control. Multiangle radiance and polarization imagery from AirMSPI will (a) provide 3-D scene context where clouds and aerosol plumes are present, plus constraints on radiometric closure, particularly over heterogeneous scenes where 3-D radiative transfer may dominate, and (b) enable retrieval of aerosol and cloud macrophysical properties (distribution, height), microphysical properties (size distribution, single scattering albedo, shape), and optical depth.

Preliminary AirMSPI Datasets

Disciplines:   Aerosols Clouds Field Campaigns
Collection Disciplines Spatial Temporal
AirMSPI_ORACLES_Cloud_Droplet_Size_and_Cloud_Optical_Depth_1
AirMSPI version 1 cloud droplet size and cloud optical depth product acquired during the ORACLES flight campaign Jul-Oct 2016. 		Clouds Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2016-08-03 - 2016-09-29
Collection Disciplines Spatial Temporal
AirMSPI_ACEPOL_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 ellipsoid-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the NASA ACEPOL flight campaign Oct-Nov 2017 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2017-10-19 - 2017-11-09
AirMSPI_ACEPOL_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the NASA ACEPOL flight campaign Oct-Nov 2017 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2017-10-19 - 2017-11-09
AirMSPI_CalWater-2_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI version 6 ellipsoid-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the CalWater-2 flight campaign Jan-Feb 2015 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2015-01-20 - 2015-02-24
AirMSPI_CalWater-2_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI version 6 terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the CalWater-2 flight campaign Jan-Feb 2015 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2015-01-20 - 2015-02-24
AirMSPI_FIREX-AQ_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI version 6 terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the FIREX-AQ flight campaign 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2019-08-01 - 2019-08-22
AirMSPI_ImPACT-PM_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 ellipsoid-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the ImPACT-PM flight campaign 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2016-07-05 - 2016-07-08
AirMSPI_ImPACT-PM_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the ImPACT-PM flight campaign 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2016-07-05 - 2016-07-08
AirMSPI_ORACLES_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 ellipsoid-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the NASA ORACLES flight campaign Jul-Oct 2016 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -24, N: 40), (W: -126, E: 15)
Temporal Coverage:
2016-07-28 - 2016-10-06
AirMSPI_ORACLES_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the NASA ORACLES flight campaign Jul-Oct 2016 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -24, N: 40), (W: -126, E: 15)
Temporal Coverage:
2016-07-28 - 2016-10-06
AirMSPI_PODEX_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_5
AirMSPI version 5 ellipsoid-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the NASA PODEX flight campaign January-February 2013 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 28, N: 42.5), (W: -130, E: -114)
Temporal Coverage:
2013-01-14 - 2013-02-06
AirMSPI_PODEX_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_5
AirMSPI version 5 terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the NASA PODEX flight campaign Jan-Feb 2013 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 28, N: 42.5), (W: -130, E: -114)
Temporal Coverage:
2013-01-14 - 2013-02-06
AirMSPI_RADEX_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 ellipsoid-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the RADEX flight campaign 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2015-11-10 - 2015-12-13
AirMSPI_RADEX_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the RADEX flight campaign 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2015-11-10 - 2015-12-13
AirMSPI_SPEX-PR_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 ellipsoid-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the SPEX-PR flight campaign 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2016-02-02 - 2016-02-09
AirMSPI_SPEX-PR_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_6
AirMSPI verison 6 terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the SPEX-PR flight campaign 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: -90, N: 90), (W: -180, E: 180)
Temporal Coverage:
2016-02-02 - 2016-02-09
GroundMSPI_ACEPOL_Radiance_Data_9
GroundMSPI version 9 radiance product acquired during the ACEPOL flight campaign 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 34.8, N: 37.8), (W: -119.8, E: -118)
Temporal Coverage:
2017-10-25 - 2017-11-07
Collection Disciplines Spatial Temporal
AirMSPI_SEAC4RS_Ellipsoid-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_5
AirMSPI ellipsoid-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the NASA SEAC4RS flight campaign August-September 2013, V005 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 14, N: 53), (W: -127, E: -73)
Temporal Coverage:
2013-08-01 - 2013-09-23
AirMSPI_SEAC4RS_Terrain-projected_Georegistered_Radiance_Data_5
AirMSPI terrain-projected georegistered radiance product acquired during the NASA SEAC4RS flight campaign August-September 2013, V005 		Aerosols,  Clouds,  Field Campaigns Spatial Coverage:
(S: 15, N: 52), (W: -126, E: -74)
Temporal Coverage:
2013-08-01 - 2013-09-23

AIRMSPI Mission Publications

Harten, Gerard van; Diner, David J.; Daugherty, Brian J. S.; Rheingans, Brian E.; Bull, Michael A.; Seidel, Felix C.; Chipman, Russell A.; Cairns, Brian; Wasilewski, Andrzej P.; Knobelspiesse, Kirk D. (2021). Calibration and validation of Airborne Multiangle SpectroPolarimetric Imager (AirMSPI) polarization measurements.


Pistone, Kristina; Redemann, Jens; Doherty, Sarah; Zuidema, Paquita; Burton, Sharon; Cairns, Brian; Cochrane, Sabrina; Ferrare, Richard; Flynn, Connor; Freitag, Steffen; Howell, Steven G.; Kacenelenbogen, Meloë; LeBlanc, Samuel; Liu, Xu; Schmidt, K. Sebastian; Sedlacek III, Arthur J.; Segal-Rozenhaimer, Michal; Shinozuka, Yohei; Stamnes, Snorre; van Diedenhoven, Bastiaan; Van Harten, Gerard; Xu, Feng (2020). Intercomparison of biomass burning aerosol optical properties from in situ and remote-sensing instruments in ORACLES-2016. Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 19 (14), 9181. https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-19-9181-2019


Knobelspiesse, Kirk; Barbosa, Henrique M. J.; Bradley, Christine; Bruegge, Carol; Cairns, Brian; Chen, Gao; Chowdhary, Jacek; Cook, Anthony; Di Noia, Antonio; van Diedenhoven, Bastiaan; Diner, David J.; Ferrare, Richard; Fu, Guangliang; Gao, Meng; Garay, Michael; Hair, Johnathan; Harper, David; van Harten, Gerard; Hasekamp, Otto; Helmlinger, Mark; Hostetler, Chris; Kalashnikova, Olga; Kupchock, Andrew; Longo De Freitas, Karla; Maring, Hal; Martins, J. Vanderlei; McBride, Brent; McGill, Matthew; Norlin, Ken; Puthukkudy, Anin; Rheingans, Brian; Rietjens, Jeroen; Seidel, Felix C.; da Silva, Arlindo; Smit, Martijn; Stamnes, Snorre; Tan, Qian; Val, Sebastian; Wasilewski, Andrzej; Xu, Feng; Xu, Xiaoguang; Yorks, John (2018). The Aerosol Characterization from Polarimeter and Lidar (ACEPOL) airborne field campaign. Earth System Science Data, 12 (3), 2183. https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-12-2183-2020