Smoke, Clouds and Radiation Brazil NASA ER-2 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) Airborne Simulator (MAS) Data

SCARB_ER2_MAS data are Smoke, Clouds and Radiation Brazil (SCARB) NASA ER2 Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) Airborne Simulator (MAS) Data.Smoke/Sulfates, Clouds and Radiation - Brazil (SCAR-B) data include physical and chemical components of the Earth's surface, the atmosphere and the radiation field collected in Brazil with an emphasis in biomass burning. SCAR-B, the third SCAR experiment, was completed in September 1995, studied the effects of biomass burning on atmospheric processes and aids in the preparation of new techniques for remote sensing of these processes from space.The objectives for the SCAR mission are: to advance our knowledge of how the physical, chemical and radiative processes in our atmosphere are affected by sulfate aerosol and smoke from biomass burning; to improve our expertise at remotely sensing smoke, water vapor, clouds, vegetation and fires; and to assess the effects of deforestation and biomass burning on tropical landscapes. The MODIS Airbourne Simulator (MAS) is a modified Daedalus Wildfire scanning spectrometer which flies on a NASA ER-2 and provides spectral information similar to that provided by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), launched on Terra (EOS AM-1) in 1999 and Aqua (EOS PM-1) in 2002. The MAS spectrometer acquires high spatial resolution imagery in the wavelength range of 0.55 to 14.3 microns. A total of 50 spectral bands are available in this range, and the digitizer can be configured to collect data from any 12 of these bands. The digitizer was configured with four 10-bit channels and seven 8-bit channels. The MAS spectrometer was mated to a scanner subassembly which collected 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. The data granules were written using the self documenting file storage format provided through the netCDF interface routines included in the HDF libraries.