This paper shows how to reconstruct the original 275-m resolution data of the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument in the 24 spectrodirectional global mode channels that are spatially averaged to 1.1 km on-board the Terra platform, with negligible loss of information relative to images acquired in native-resolution local mode. Standard approaches to improve the spatial resolution of products rely on one (typically panchromatic) high-resolution (HR) image to sharpen multiple spectral images. In the case of the MISR-HR package described here, three of the 12 available HR channels are combined to regenerate each of the 24 reduced-resolution channel to its native resolution. The accurate and rigorously reconstructed spectral bidirectional reflectance data allow sensitive and physically meaningful land surface attributes to be recovered at a spatial resolution appropriate to document the spatial heterogeneity of the land surface and relevant for climate and environment studies. MISR has been in continuous operation since February 2000 and provides global coverage in at most nine days (depending on latitude). This technique allows the generation of quantitative information to monitor change and model ecosystem function virtually anywhere and at any time during the last decade. The potential is demonstrated for a savanna landscape in South Africa.

Plume heights from wildfires are used in climate modeling to predict and understand trends in aerosol transport. This paper examines whether smoke from grassland fires in the desert regions of western and central Australia ever rises above the atmospheric boundary layer. Three methods for deriving plume heights from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument were utilized: (1) the MISR standard stereo-height algorithm; (2) the MISR enhanced stereo product; and (3) the MISR INteractive eXplorer (MINX) v.1 tool. To provide context and to search for correlative factors, stereo heights were combined with fire radiant energy flux from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer instrument, atmospheric structure information from the National Centers for Environmental Prediction/National Center for Atmospheric Research reanalysis project model, surface cover from the Australia National Vegetation Information System, and forward and backward trajectories from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model. Although most smoke plumes concentrate in the near-surface boundary layer as expected, some appear to rise higher. Smoke that gets above the boundary layer will travel farther, remain in the atmosphere longer, and therefore have a larger environmental impact. It was previously thought unlikely for grassland fires to inject smoke above the boundary layer. Our findings suggest that climate modelers should reevaluate common assumptions about the heights of smoke plumes when producing aerosol transport models involving grassland fires. A closer examination of grassland fire energetics may also be warranted.

In this paper, Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) aerosol product attributes are described, including geometry and algorithm performance flags. Actual retrieval coverage is mapped and explained in detail using representative global monthly data. Statistical comparisons are made with coincident aerosol optical depth (AOD) and Angstrom exponent (ANG) retrieval results from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument. The relationship between these results and the ones previously obtained for MISR and MODIS individually, based on comparisons with coincident ground-truth observations, is established. For the data examined, MISR and MODIS each obtain successful aerosol retrievals about 15% of the time, and coincident MISR-MODIS aerosol retrievals are obtained for about 6%-7% of the total overlap region. Cloud avoidance, glint and oblique-Sun exclusions, and other algorithm physical limitations account for these results. For both MISR and MODIS, successful retrievals are obtained for over 75% of locations where attempts are made. Where coincident AOD retrievals are obtained over ocean, the MISR-MODIS correlation coefficient is about 0.9; over land, the correlation coefficient is about 0.7. Differences are traced to specific known algorithm issues or conditions. Over-ocean ANG comparisons yield a correlation of 0.67, showing consistency in distinguishing aerosol air masses dominated by coarse-mode versus fine-mode particles. Sampling considerations imply that care must be taken when assessing monthly global aerosol direct radiative forcing and AOD trends with these products, but they can be used directly for many other applications, such as regional AOD gradient and aerosol air mass type mapping and aerosol transport model validation. Users are urged to take seriously the published product data-quality statements.

The DOMAIN system is an architecture for networks of personal workstations and servers which creates an integrated distributed computing environment. Its distinctive features include: a network-wide file system of objects addressed by unique identifiers (UID's); the abstraction of a single level store for transparently accessing all objects, regardless of their location in the network; and a network-wide hierarchical name space. The implementations of these facilities exhibit several interesting approaches to layering the system software. In addition to network transparent data access, interprocess communication is provided as a basis for constructing distributed applications; as a result, we have some experience to guide the choice between these two alternative implementation techniques. Networks utilizing this architecture have been Operational for almost three years; some experience with it and lessons derived from that experience are presented, as are some performance data.