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Climate and Radiation
Operational

Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR)

No instrument like MISR has flown in space before. Viewing the sunlit Earth simultaneously at nine widely spaced angles, MISR provides ongoing global coverage with high spatial detail. Its imagery is carefully calibrated to provide accurate measures of the brightness, contrast, and color of reflected sunlight.

MISR provides new types of information for scientists studying Earth's climate, such as the partitioning of energy and carbon between the land surface and the atmosphere, and the regional and global impacts of different types of atmospheric particles and clouds on climate. The change in reflection at different view angles affords the means to distinguish different types of atmospheric particles (aerosols), cloud forms, and land surface covers. Combined with stereoscopic techniques, this enables construction of 3-D models and estimation of the total amount of sunlight reflected by Earth's diverse environments.

Launch Date
November 1999
Class
Instrument
Website

No instrument like MISR has flown in space before. Viewing the sunlit Earth simultaneously at nine widely spaced angles, MISR provides ongoing global coverage with high spatial detail. Its imagery is carefully calibrated to provide accurate measures of the brightness, contrast, and color of reflected sunlight.

MISR provides new types of information for scientists studying Earth's climate, such as the partitioning of energy and carbon between the land surface and the atmosphere, and the regional and global impacts of different types of atmospheric particles and clouds on climate. The change in reflection at different view angles affords the means to distinguish different types of atmospheric particles (aerosols), cloud forms, and land surface covers. Combined with stereoscopic techniques, this enables construction of 3-D models and estimation of the total amount of sunlight reflected by Earth's diverse environments.

Related Publications

2025. "Analysis of a saline dust storm from the Aralkum Desert – Part 1: Consistency between multisensor satellite aerosol products.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 25 (13): 7403-7429 [10.5194/acp-25-7403-2025] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Seasonality biases arise from the interplay of retrieval quality and solar zenith angle effects in passive sensor AOD products.", Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics, 25 (21): 14333-14351 [10.5194/acp-25-14333-2025] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Particle Microphysical‐Property Evolution in a North African Dust Plume During Trans‐Atlantic Transport.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 130 (16): e2025JD043779 [10.1029/2025jd043779] [Journal Article/Letter]

2025. "Mentoring and Supporting Mid‐Career Scientists.", Perspectives of Earth and Space Scientists, 6 (1): [10.1029/2024cn000250] [Journal Article/Letter]

2024. "Evolving Particles in the 2022 Hunga Tonga—Hunga Ha'apai Volcano Eruption Plume.", Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129 (11): [10.1029/2023jd039963] [Journal Article/Letter]