With MISR, detailed analysis of the surface feature can be studied across the entire length of the fissure. By using images taken by the forward, nadir, and aft cameras, we can see differences in reflectance in the crack very clearly. This helps scientists track the crack as it grows as well as better understand the forces that led to its formation. On the first downbeat, the audience might recognize the advertised concerto, but they certainly wouldn t appreciate the raucous din of all those musicians out of tune. Said in terms of scientific hardware, the various musicians would not have properly calibrated their instruments to each other.
Calibration is simply a term that describes a process of conforming to a standard.
For example, all thermometers will measure the freezing point of water, but unless properly calibrated they cannot determine how much the temperature of a quantity of water had changed. In terms of remote sensing, calibration is vital for analysis of data gathered by different instruments. Unless certain standards for measurement are determined by the research teams and imposed on the instruments, the measurements will have no absolute relevance to each other. Researchers might be able to identify an image, but the value of that data as compared to other relevant instrumentation would be zero. To put it in terms of our musicians again, if a clarinet and a violin each play the same note, but the musicians have not tuned their instruments to each other in advance, their simultaneous playing of that same note will sound dissonant.