Multiangle Imaging of the Earth: Present and Future

The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument aboard the Terra spacecraft is pioneering a new paradigm in remote sensing of the Earth's environment and climate system. MISR acquires radiometrically and geometrically calibrated imagery at moderately high spatial resolution (275 m) over a widelyspaced array of along-tracking viewing angles (up to 70" from local vertical). New algorithms developed especially for use with these data are demonstrating the ability to retrieve quantitative characteristics of aerosols over a wide variety of land surfaces, generate automated global stereoscopic cloud heights and height-resolved winds, retrieve cloud and surface albedos, distinguish polar clouds from snow and ice, and obtain textural information to distinguish different surface types. Successor mission concepts inspired by MISR seek to incorporate advances in optical, electronic, detector, and computational technologies to reduce the instrument size and mass, broaden the spectral coverage, obtain finer E-mail: [email protected] spatial resolution, and shorten the global coverage time. These enhancements will make for more affordable accommodation on future space platforms, improve aerosol, cloud, and vegetation canopy characterization, enable more rapid capture of transient events, and extend the observations to other times of day and meteorological regimes. This paper includes highlights from the current mission and concepts for future multiangle imaging systems.