Fourth Convection and Moisture Experiment ER2 MODIS Airborne Simulator

The Convection And Moisture EXperiment (CAMEX) 4 focused on the study of tropical cyclone (hurricane) development, tracking, intensification, and landfalling impacts using NASA-funded aircraft and surface remote sensing instrumentation. These aircraft flew over, through, and around selected hurricanes as they approached landfall in the Caribbean, Gulf of America, and along the East Coast of the United States. This study yields high spatial and temporal information of hurricane structure, dynamics, and motion. The data set contains the measurements collected by the MAS instrument onboard the ER2 aircraft. The MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) is an airborne scanning spectrometer that acquires high spatial resolution imagery of cloud and surface features from its vantage point on-board a NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft. The MAS spectrometer acquires high spatial resolution imagery in the range of 0.55 to 14.3 microns. A total of 50 spectral bands are available in this range. A 50-channel digitizer which records all 50 spectral bands at 12 bit resolution became operational in January 1995. The MAS spectrometer is mated to a scanner sub-assembly which collects image data with an IFOV of 2.5 mrad, giving a ground resolution of 50 meters from 20000 meters altitude, and a cross track scan width of 85.92 degrees.