Marine-Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer
The Marine-Atmospheric Emitted Radiance Interferometer (M-AERI) was installed on Deck 7 port side forward, with a view of the ice, ocean, and atmosphere at angles directly overhead and at ± 55 degrees. Ninety scans are conducted at each of the 3 environmental viewing angles, as well as at two internal calibration views of ambient and hot blackbodies. Each measurement cycle, which includes the 3 environmental and 2 calibration views, takes ~10 minutes and produces a set of infrared spectra. From the spectra, a highly accurate measurement of sea surface (or ice/snow surface) skin temperature and air temperature is derived.
During precipitation events, including snow flurries, and times of spray over the bridge, the M-AERI may be tarped or the mirror safed to prevent droplets from collecting on the mirror and distorting the retrieved spectra. There were several periods especially during the icebreaking phase of the cruise when the instruments computer froze up, likely due to the vibrations caused by the icebreaking. These would be the only times of data loss, as the sensor operates 24-hours a day from port-to-port. M-AERI air temperature is derived from combination measurements at ± 55 degrees from horizon. A correction was applied to the -55 deg radiance that accounts for the contribution of surface emission to the radiation at this angle. Further information about M-AERI operation can be found in the paper Minnett et al.,. 2001*.
The spectra are logged as daily files, whereas the skin and air temperatures have been collated into one cruise file. Spectral data files can be provided on request. The columns of the temperature file can be described as:
1 day of year ( UTC; yd.decimal yd )
2 hour ( UTC; hour.decimal hour )
3 corrected air temperature ( degrees K )
4 standard deviation of the air temperature
5 mean uncertainty of the air temperature
6 skin temperature ( degrees K )
7 standard deviation of the skin temperature
8 mean uncertainty of the skin temperature
9 latitude
10 longitude
*Minnett, P. J., R. O. Knuteson, F. A. Best, B. J. Osborne, J. A. Hanafin, and O. B. Brown (2001), The Marine-Atmosphere Emitted Radiance Interferometer (M-AERI), a high-accuracy, sea-going infrared spectroradiometer, Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology, 18, 994-1013.