MISR Level 3 FIRSTLOOK Component Global Albedo product covering a day V002

MI3DALF_002 is the Multiangle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) Level 3 FIRST LOOK Component Global Albedo product covering a day version 2. It is intended to be used starting with MISR Release version 4.2, a global summary of the Level 2 albedo parameters of interest averaged over a day and reported on a geographic grid. It has multiple data layers, with varying temporal resolutions of 1 degree by 1 degree and 5 degrees by 5 degrees. Data collection for this product is ongoing. FIRSTLOOK processing uses the new time dependence of the Atmospheric and Surface Climatology (TASC) from the same month/previous year. The TASC data set now contains snowice and ocean surface wind speed values that are updated monthly. Therefore, these data sets cannot be generated until the end of the month. The presence of FIRST LOOK in the file names distinguishes the products generated. 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 an instrument designed to view Earth with cameras pointed in 9 different directions. As the "instrument flies overhead, each piece of Earth's "surface below is successively imaged by all 9 cameras, in each of 4 wavelengths (blue, green, red, and near-infrared). The goal of MISR is to improve our understanding of the effects of sunlight on Earth, as well as 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.