The Passive Aerosol and Cloud Suite (PACS) is a multi-angle imaging polarimeter with five spectral channels centered between 470 and 870nm. All channels are sensitive to polarization with the use of Philips prisms. PACS images a scene as multiple simultaneous push-broom systems whose along track FOV is +/- 55˚. Ground spatial resolution at ER-2 altitude is 37m at nadir, and the instrument has a 37km wide swath.

HARP (the Hyper-Angular Rainbow Polarimeter) is an instrument developed for deployment on a cubesat no earlier than July 1st, 2016. Harp will have one channel at 670nm with up to 60 viewing angles and three 20 angle channels (440, 550, 670nm). Like PACS, all have polarization sensitivity with the use of Philips prisms. From a 650km orbit, HARP will have a 2.5km nadir spatial resolution and a 94˚ Field of View (FOV) in the cross track direction. In the along track direction, HARP will have a FOV of 110˚. 

Both PACS and HARP are new instruments, with no data, uncertainty or calibration information currently available. Other instruments in development are PACS-SWIR, a PACS like instrument with SWIR channels, and AirHARP, an airborne version of HARP.

Image: Illustration of PACS viewing geometry from the PACS presentation at the Electromagnetic and Light Scattering XIV meeting by J.V. Martins.

More information:

• PACS/HARP group homepage
• PACS presentation at Electromagnetic and Light Scattering XIV meeting

Data

PACS data are not yet available. The team is working to retrieve aerosol properties using the GRASP algorithm. 

Calibration

Calibration information is not yet available, although details are described in the PACS presentation at the ELS XIV meeting. 

Uncertainty

No uncertainty details are currently available.

References

None