To meet operational demands for vertically-resolved atmospheric winds, we propose a wide-swath multiangle stereo imaging system that could be easily integrated into future satellite platforms. The concept uses techniques proven with the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument, currently flying in polar low-Earth orbit (LEO) on NASA's Terra satellite. MISR has demonstrated the feasibility of obtaining accurate stereophotogrammetric retrievals of cloud and aerosol plume heights and height-resolved cloud-tracked wind vectors. MISR obtains multiangle imagery with along-track pointing angles ranging from nadir to 70° forward and backward of nadir and makes use of the several-minute time delay among a triplet of multiangle views to separate the effects of wind displacement from height-induced stereoscopic parallax. Careful attention to multiangle image co-registration (crucial for obtaining accurate wind retrievals) has led to wind estimates that exhibit negligible bias relative to reanalysis data. The root-mean-square uncertainty in speed is estimated to be in the 1-3 m/sec range, depending on whether the wind component is parallel or perpendicular to the flight direction and on the degree of quality control applied. The uncertainty in height assignment is on the order of 300 m. Comparison of results from a forward-viewing angle triplet with independent retrievals from a backward-viewing triplet provides an important control on retrieval quality. A key attribute of the stereophotogrammetric approach to retrieving cloud heights (and winds) is that the technique is purely geometric. Accurate radiometric calibration is not required, thereby enabling significant simplification of a future instrument dedicated to stereo height and wind retrievals.


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    Title :

    Future Mission Concept for Operational Retrieval of Cloud-Top Heights and Cloud Motion Wind Vectors




    Publication date :

    2007-03-01


    Size :

    676579 byte





    Type of media :

    Conference paper


    Type of material :

    Electronic Resource


    Language :

    English