Capabilities and Limitations of MISR Aerosol Products in Dust-Laden Regions

Atmospheric mineral dust particles have significant effects on climate and the environment, and despite notable advances in modeling and satellite and ground-based measurements, remain one of the major factors contributing to large uncertainty in aerosol radiative forcing. We examine the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) 11+ year aerosol data record to demonstrate MISR's unique strengths and assess potential biases of MISR products for dust study applications. In particular, we examine MISR's unique capabilities to 1) distinguish dust aerosol from spherical aerosol types, 2) provide aerosol optical depths over bright desert source regions, and 3) provide high-resolution retrievals of dust plume heights and associated winds. We show examples of regional and global MISR data products in dusty regions together with quantitative evaluations of product accuracies through comparisons with independent data sources, and demonstrate applications of MISR data to dust regional and climatological studies, such as dust property evolution during transport, dust source climatology in relation to climatic factors, and dust source dynamics. The potential use of MISR radiance data to study dust properties is also discussed.