NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Back to Results
Remote sensing of cloud, aerosol and water vapor properties from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS)The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) is an Earth-viewing sensor being developed as a facility instrument for the Earth Observing System (EOS) to be launched in the late 1990s. MODIS consists of two separate instruments that scan a swath width sufficient to provide nearly complete global coverage every two days from a polar-orbiting, Sun-synchronous, platform at an altitude of 705 km. Of primary interest for studies of atmospheric physics is the MODIS-N (nadir) instrument which will provide images in 36 spectral bands between 0.415 and 14.235 micrometers with spatial resoulutions of 250 m (2 bands), 500 m (5 bands) and 1000 m (29 bands). These bands have been carefully selected to enable advanced studies of land, ocean and atmosperhic processes. The intent of this lecture is to describe the current status of MODIS-N and its companion instrument MODIS-T (tilt), a tiltable cross-track scanning radiometer with 32 uniformly spaced channels between 0.410 and 0.875 micrometers, and to describe the physical principles behind the development of MODIS for the remote sensing of atmospheric properties. Primary emphasis will be placed on the main atmospheric applications of determining the optical, microphysical and physical properties of clouds and aerosol particles form spectral-reflection and thermal-emission measurements. In addition to cloud and aerosol properties, MODIS-N will be utilized for the determination of the total precipitable water vapor over land and atmospheric stability. The physical principles behind the determination of each of these atmospheric products will be described herein.
Document ID
19950057640
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
King, M. D.
(NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, Maryland, US, United States)
Date Acquired
August 16, 2013
Publication Date
January 1, 1992
Publication Information
Publication: In: The use of EOS for studies of atmospheric physics; Proceedings of the International School of Physics (Enrico Fermi), Course 115, Varenna, Italy, Jun. 26 - Jul. 6, 1990 . A95-89225
Publisher: North-Holland
Subject Category
Geophysics
Accession Number
95A89239
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

Available Downloads

There are no available downloads for this record.
No Preview Available