Publication Abstracts

Travis 1993

Travis, L., 1993: Earth Observing System Polarimeter. In Long-Term Monitoring of Global Climate Forcings and Feedbacks, NASA CP-3234. J. Hansen, W. Rossow, and I. Fung, Eds., National Aeronautics and Space Administration, pp. 40-46.

Remote sensing of aerosols on other planets is more advanced than for the Earth, because the planetary measurements have made use of the significant additional information contained in the polarization of reflected sunlight. The effectiveness of polarimetry as a remote sensing tool was first convincingly demonstrated by analyses of ground-based observations of Venus, which were able to deduce basic microphysical and optical properties of the Venus clouds. Since then, spacecraft observations from polarimeters on the Pioneer 10 and II missions have provided information about aerosols on Jupiter, Saturn, and Titan and on Venus from the Pioneer Venus Orbiter mission.

The Earth Observing Scanning Polarimeter (EOSP) instrument, based upon design heritage and analysis techniques developed for planetary missions, will retrieve tropospheric aerosol characteristics from measurements of multispectral radiance and polarization. Moreover, the same radiance and polarization measurements will also provide very precise information on cloud properties and maps of surface characteristics for cloud-free regions. These capabilities also give EOSP the unique ability to discriminate aerosol from clouds and surface. We summarize the EOSP objectives, characteristics, and advantages. The EOSP predecessor polarimeters on several planetary missions have demonstrated impressive lifetimes (OCPP operations ended after more than 14 years when the spacecraft entered the Venus atmosphere).

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BibTeX Citation

@inproceedings{tr00100w,
  author={Travis, L.},
  editor={Hansen, J. and Rossow, W. and Fung, I.},
  title={Earth Observing System Polarimeter},
  booktitle={Long-Term Monitoring of Global Climate Forcings and Feedbacks},
  year={1993},
  pages={40--46},
  publisher={National Aeronautics and Space Administration},
  address={Washington, D.C.},
}

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RIS Citation

TY  - CPAPER
ID  - tr00100w
AU  - Travis, L.
ED  - Hansen, J.
ED  - Rossow, W.
ED  - Fung, I.
PY  - 1993
TI  - Earth Observing System Polarimeter
BT  - Long-Term Monitoring of Global Climate Forcings and Feedbacks
SP  - 40
EP  - 46
PB  - National Aeronautics and Space Administration
CY  - Washington, D.C.
ER  -

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