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MISR Level 3 FIRSTLOOK Component Global Aerosol Product covering a day V002

Metadata Updated: April 10, 2026

MI3DAEF_002 is the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Level 3 FIRSTLOOK Component Global Aerosol Product covering a day version 2 data product. It contains a statistical summary of column aerosol 555-nanometer optical depth and a monthly aerosol compositional type frequency histogram. Data collection for this product was completed in November 2017. This data product is a global summary of the Level 2 aerosol parameters of interest averaged over a day and reported on a geographic grid with a resolution of 0.5 degrees by 0.5 degrees. FIRSTLOOK processing uses the new time dependence of the Atmospheric and Surface Climatology (TASC) from the same month/previous year. The TASC data set now contains snow-ice and ocean surface wind speed values that are updated on a monthly basis. Therefore, these data sets cannot be generated until the end of the month. Products generated are distinguished by the presence of FIRSTLOOK in the file names. 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 exact 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, each piece of Earth's surface below is successfully imaged by all nine cameras in 4 wavelengths (blue, green, red, and near-infrared). The goal of MISR is 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 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date April 10, 2026
Publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
Maintainer
Identifier 10.5067/Terra/MISR/MI3DAEF_L3.002
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 94efd7bc-62bb-43f8-80d9-58d15734a04c
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 835024a2ca788801feb30b7ec91356b171c23e452e95950bd89e88bb5bd4db0b
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial
Temporal 1999-12-18/2026-03-30

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