The Ship-Aircraft Bio-Optical Research (SABOR) campaign focused on what role phytoplankton plays in the carbon cycle between the ocean and the atmosphere. SABOR had one deployment over the northwestern Atlantic Ocean during the boreal summer of 2014. Measurements were taken of phytoplankton with airborne and shipborne instruments. These measurements were supplemented by measurements taken from fixed water-based platforms. SABOR results have contributed to the development of NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission.
The Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP) is an airborne, passive polarimeter developed by SpecTIR Corporation. It measures total radiance and linear polarization across 9 spectral bands in the visible and infrared wavelengths (410-2250 nm). These measurements can be used to derive aerosol and cloud properties. RSP has a time resolution of 0.8 seconds, a field of view of 14 mrad, and a horizontal resolution of about 100 m at an altitude of 5 km.
The High Spectral Resolution Lidar (HSRL) is an airborne lidar system developed at NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC). It utilizes the HSRL technique at 532 nm and the standard backscatter technique at 1064 nm to provide profile measurements of aerosol backscatter, extinction, and depolarization. The profiles of aerosol backscatter and depolarization have a typical vertical resolution of 30 m and a horizontal resolution of about 1 km. For the extinction profiles, the vertical resolution is 300 m with a horizontal resolution of about 6 km. HSRL is typically flown on investigations to validate observations from the CALIPSO spaceborne lidar.
The Absorption and Attenuation Meter (ac-9) is an in situ water-based spectrophotometer manufactured by WET Labs, Inc. It simultaneously measures the attenuation and absorption of water across a spectral range of 412-715 nm. It can operate in depths up to 500 or 5000 meters and has a nominal sample rate of 6 Hz.
The ECO BB9 Backscattering Sensor is an in situ water-based optical sensor manufactured by WET Labs, Inc. It measures scattering across 9 wavelengths (412-715 nm) at a 117-degree angle. It can provide scattering measurements up to an ocean depth of 600 m. and in temperatures from 0 to 30 degrees Celsius. ECO BB9 has a sample rate of 1 Hz.
Sunphotometers are passive optical sensors that measure the amount of sunlight. They are pointed directly at the sun to measure direct sunlight and not sunlight scatter from aerosols. These measurements can be used to determine the aerosol optical depth by following Beer’s Law. Sunphotometers have been deployed on aircraft, research vessels, and field sites for aerosol research and monitoring.
The Sea-Viewing Wide Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) Photometer Revision for Incident Surface Measurements (SeaPRISM) is a surface-based photometer. It supports the marine component of the AERONET network called AERONET-Ocean Color (AERONET-OC). It is a CIMEL Electronique automated sun photometer modified to measure sky- and sea-radiance. These measurements can be used to determine the chlorophyll-ɑ concentration or ocean color. SeaPRISM operates across the 412 to 1020 nm spectral range and has a data acquisition rate of 1 Hz.
Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Radiation > Solar Irradiance
