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MISR Level 3 Cloud Fraction by Altitude Product covering a day V001

Metadata Updated: September 19, 2025

This file contains the public MISR Level 3 Cloud Fraction by Altitude Product covering a day.MIL3DCFA_001 is the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Level 3 Cloud Fraction by Altitude Product covering a day version 1. It provides the frequency of cloud occurrence partitioned into different cloud top height bins at a global and monthly scale with a latitude/longitude resolution of 0.5 degrees by 0.5 degrees and a vertical resolution of 500m. For each height bin, the frequency of cloud occurrence of a region over a time period is represented by the temporal mean of the spatial coverage of cloud tops. The spatial coverage of clouds is called cloud fraction, which is defined as the ratio of the number of cloudy pixels to the total number of cloudy and cloud-free pixels observed by the instrument. Clouds are assigned to height bins based on their top height, as the MISR stereoscopic technique retrieved. Data collection for this product is complete.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 pointed 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: No license information was provided. If this work was prepared by an officer or employee of the United States government as part of that person's official duties it is considered a U.S. Government Work.

Downloads & Resources

Dates

Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2025

Metadata Source

Harvested from NASA Data.json

Additional Metadata

Resource Type Dataset
Metadata Created Date April 11, 2025
Metadata Updated Date September 19, 2025
Publisher NASA/LARC/SD/ASDC
Maintainer
Identifier 10.5067/Terra/MISR/MIL3DCFA_L3.001
Data Last Modified 2025-09-11
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 596f8473-318a-4c46-ae65-a3b6aefcb5bc
Harvest Source Id 58f92550-7a01-4f00-b1b2-8dc953bd598f
Harvest Source Title NASA Data.json
Homepage URL https://search.earthdata.nasa.gov/search/granules?p=C2873770864-LARC_CLOUD
Old Spatial {"WestBoundingCoordinate":-180,"NorthBoundingCoordinate":90,"EastBoundingCoordinate":180,"SouthBoundingCoordinate":-90},"CARTESIAN"
Program Code 026:000
Source Datajson Identifier True
Source Hash 9f7f1a9430dbba152fb3a28f65cf3361a8510e11083d8b6cc3158e47bb0afe29
Source Schema Version 1.1
Spatial
Temporal 1999-12-18/1999-12-18

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