The MVIRI Aerosol Optial depth demonstration dataset contains the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) as retrieved from the visible channel of the Meteosat Visible and Infrared Imager (MVIRI) operated on board Meteosat First Generation (MFG) spacecrafts. The channel is centred around 0.7 µm but the spectral coverage of this channel is very broad. The dataset is produced for 2 of the 7 Meteosat satellites, Meteosat -5 and Meteosat-7, that were operated during the period between 1991 and 2007. While Meteosat-7 was, during the considered period, positioned above 0° longitude, Meteosat-5 was moved from 0° to 63° longitude in support of the INDOEX Experiment in 1998, with continued service in the course of the Indian Ocean Data Coverage (IODC) mission.

The aerosol optical thickness (AOT) was retrieved from the MVIRI fundamental climate data record (FCDR) using the Combined Inversion of Surface and AeRosol (CISAR) Algorithm. Both datasets were produced as part of the FIDUCEO (Fidelity and uncertainty in climate data records from Earth Observations) EU Horizon 2020 project. The primary objective of this data record is to assess and demonstrate how the recalibrated and uncertainty-quantified MVIRI FCDR can support improved retrieval of geophysical parameters. Of particular interest is the impact of in-flight reconstructed and spectrally degrading spectral response functions.

More information is available in the MVIRI Report and Release Note in the documentation