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    • MISR Level 2 Surface parameters V002

    Metadata Updated: April 10, 2026

    MIL2ASLS_2 is the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Level 2 Land Surface parameters version 2 data product. It contains a variety of information on the Earth's surface; such ashemispherical directional reflectance factor (HDRF), bihemispherical reflectance (BHR) (i.e., albedo), bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF), directional hemispherical reflectance (DHR), BRF model parameters, Fractional absorbed Photosysenthetically Active Radiation (FPAR), and terrain-referenced view and illumination angles. A surface retrieval is conducted on regions for which valid land aerosol retrieval exists. The retrieval is performed using the corrected equivalent reflectances, retrieved aerosol parameters, and auxiliary information from the Simulated MISR Ancillary Radiative Transfer (SMART) dataset. The spectral and Photosynthetically Active spectral Region (PAR)-integrated BHR and DHR are retrieved, along with the spectral land HDRF and BRF and BRF model parameters, for all valid land and inland water subregions. Subregion surface classification, leaf area index (LAI), and regional FPAR are also determined. Subregion variability is also calculated for land regions. Data collection for this product was completed in June 2017. The entire mission has been reprocessed to version 3. The revision to the aerosol and land surface products includes both product format and significant algorithm changes, which impact the quality and performance of both aerosol and land surface retrievals. The MISR instrument consists of nine push-broom cameras that measure radiance in four spectral bands. Global coverage is achieved in nine days. The cameras are arranged with one camera pointing toward the nadir, four forward, and four aftward. It takes seven minutes for all nine cameras to view the same surface location. The view angles relative to the surface reference ellipsoid are 0, 26.1, 45.6, 60.0, and 70.5 degrees. The spectral band shapes are nominally Gaussian, centered at 443, 555, 670, and 865 nm. MISR is designed to view Earth with cameras in 9 different directions. As the instrument flies overhead, all nine cameras successfully imaged each piece of Earth's surface below in 4 wavelengths (blue, green, red, and near-infrared). MISR aims to improve our understanding of the effects of sunlight on Earth and distinguish different types of clouds, particles, and surfaces. Specifically, MISR monitors the monthly, seasonal, and long-term trends in three areas: 1) amount and type of atmospheric particles (aerosols), including those formed by natural sources and by human activities; 2) amounts, types, and heights of clouds, and 3) distribution of land surface cover, including vegetation canopy structure.

    Access & Use Information

    Public: This dataset is intended for public access and use. License: See this page for license information.

    Downloads & Resources

    Dates

    Metadata Created Date April 9, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026

    Metadata Source

    Harvested from NASA Data.json

    Other Data Resources

    Additional Metadata

    Resource Type Dataset
    Metadata Created Date April 9, 2025
    Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026
    Publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
    Maintainer
    Identifier 10.5067/TERRA/MISR/MIL2ASLS_L2.002
    Data Last Modified 2026-04-06
    Category Earth Science
    Public Access Level public
    Bureau Code 026:00
    Metadata Context https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.jsonld
    Schema Version https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema
    Catalog Describedby https://project-open-data.cio.gov/v1.1/schema/catalog.json
    Harvest Object Id 2e928bf3-8bf9-41f3-87ca-fd8c1947e830
    Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
    Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
    License https://www.usa.gov/government-works
    Old Spatial {"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90,"EastBoundingCoordinate":180,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90},"CARTESIAN"
    Program Code 026:000
    Source Datajson Identifier True
    Source Hash 44dfafe63447ba3328a372350260421f5ae71f54b59077eb2b2cacf54b14296b
    Source Schema Version 1.1
    Spatial
    Temporal 1999-12-18/2026-03-30

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