MISR abstract

Smith, W. L., Charlock, T., Wielicki, B., Kahn, R., Martins, J., Remer, L., Gatebe, C., Hobbs, P. V., Purgold, G., Redemann, J. and Rutledge, K. (2001). The Chesapeake Lighthouse and Aircraft Measurements for Satellite (CLAMS) Campaign: Experiment Overview. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #A41B-0076.

The Chesapeake Lighthouse and Aircraft Measurements for Satellites (CLAMS) field campaign was conducted from NASA Wallops Flight Facility and successfully executed over the middle Atlantic eastern seaboard from July 10 - August 2, 2001. CLAMS is primarily a shortwave closure experiment designed to validate and improve EOS TERRA satellite data products being derived from three sensors: CERES (Clouds and Earth's Radiant Energy System), MISR (Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer) and MODIS (MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer). CLAMS is jointly sponsored by the CERES, MISR and MODIS instrument teams and the NASA GEWEX Global Aerosol Climatology Project (GACP). CLAMS primary objectives are to validate satellite-based retrievals of aerosol properties and vertical profiles of radiative flux, temperature and water vapor. Central to CLAMS measurement strategy is the Chesapeake Lighthouse, a stable sea platform located in the Atlantic Ocean, 13 miles east of Virginia Beach near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay and the site of an ongoing CERES Ocean Validation Experiment (COVE). Six research aircraft including NASA's ER-2 and OV-10, the University of Washington CV-580, the Proteus, a Cessna 210 and a Lear Jet were deployed to make detailed measurements of the atmosphere and ocean surface in the vicinity of COVE, over the surrounding ocean, over nearby NOAA buoys and over a few land sites. The measurements are used to validate and provide "ground truth" for simultaneous products being derived from TERRA data, a key step toward an improved understanding and ability to predict changes in the Earth's climate. One of the two CERES instruments on-board TERRA was programmed for Rotating Azimuth Plane Scans (RAPS) during CLAMS, increasing the CERES coverage over COVE by a factor of 10. Nine coordinated aircraft missions and numerous additional sorties were flown under a variety of atmospheric conditions and aerosol loadings. On one "golden day", July 17, all six aircraft flew coordinated patterns, vertically stacked between 100 ft and 65,000 ft over the COVE site as the TERRA satellite orbited overhead. A summary of CLAMS measurement campaign, a description of the platforms, measurements and anticipated data products will be presented.

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