Development of an aerosol opacity retrieval algorithm for use with multi-angle land surface images

In 1998, the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) will fly aboard the EOS-AM1 spacecraft. MISR will enable unique methods for retrieving the properties of atmospheric aerosols, by providing global imagery of the Earth at nine viewing angles in four visible and near-IR spectral bands. As part of the MISR algorithm development, theoretical methods of analyzing multi-angle, multispectral data are being tested using images acquired by the airborne Advanced Solid-State Array Spectroradiometer (ASAS). The authors derive a method to be used over land surfaces for retrieving the change in opacity between spectral bands, which can then be used in conjunction with an aerosol model to derive a bound on absolute opacity. They demonstrate the method using ASAS data