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MISR Level 3 Products Quality Statement |
Georecitified Radiance: Mike Smyth, Amy Braverman
Aerosol: Mike Smyth, Amy Braverman
Land Surface: Mike Smyth, Amy Braverman
Albedo: Mike Smyth, Amy Braverman
This statement applies to the MISR Level 3 Georectified Radiance product, MISR Level 3 Aerosol product, the MISR Level 3 Land Surface product, and the MISR Level 3 Albedo product with a production date of May 13, 2005, or later until such a time as further improvements to MISR software or ancillary inputs are made. See the Versioning Page for an in-depth explanation of the differences between various MISR product versions. Quality statements covering earlier time periods may be accessed through links at the bottom of this page.
An extensive review of product quality has not yet been performed. Please read the summary words of caution if you have not done so already.
Although there are warnings relating to Beta and Provisional quality parameters, the MISR Level 3 software which generated this product is believed to be functioning quite well except where noted below. This statement highlights major known problems with the products, as well as functionalities which are currently not implemented.
All component global georectified radiance parameters now have a "Stage 1 Validated" status.
The Level 3 Georectified Radiance product is a summary of the L1B2 Terrain and L1B2 Ellipsoid Radiance products and therefore, all of the Level 1 quality statements apply.
All component global aerosol parameters now have a "Stage 2 Validated" status.
The Level 3 Aerosol product is a summary of the Level 2 Aerosol product, therefore all of the Level 2 aerosol quality statements apply. In particular, it is noted that optical depth blunders in the Level 2 product can frequently occur over snow/ice fields due to low spatial contrast and also as a consequence of inadequate cloud screening. Many such blunders have been observed over Greenland and Antarctica. Therefore, these two geographic areas are currently being excluded in the Level 3 Global Aerosol Product but with the expectation that they will be included at a later date.
A problem with the "Time of Observation" data has been found. The "Time of Observation" vdata is missing many Level 2 observations. The actual Level 3 averages contain all of these observations, they simply aren't being recorded in the "Time of Observation" vdata. This will be fixed in the next version of the software.
All component global land surface parameters now have a "Provisional" status with the exception of
DHR Shortwave which has a "Beta" status.
The Level 3 Land Surface product is a summary of the Level 2 Land Surface product, and therefore all of the Level 2 land surface quality statements apply.
A problem with the "Time of Observation" data has been found. The "Time of Observation" vdata is missing many Level 2 observations. The actual Level 3 averages contain all of these observations, they simply aren't being recorded in the "Time of Observation" vdata. This will be fixed in the next version of the software.
All component global albedo parameters now have a "Beta" status.
The Level 3 Albedo product is a summary of the Level 2 Albedo product, and therefore all of the Level 2 albedo quality statements apply.
A problem with the "Time of Observation" data has been found. The "Time of Observation" vdata is missing many Level 2 observations. The actual Level 3 averages contain all of these observations, they simply aren't being recorded in the "Time of Observation" vdata. This will be fixed in the next version of the software.
