Overview of Intercalibration of Satellite Instruments
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paper_title: Achieving Satellite Instrument Calibration for Climate Change

paper_content:

For the most part, satellite observations of climate are not presently sufficiently accurate to establish a climate record that is indisputable and hence capable of determining whether and at what rate the climate is changing. Furthermore, they are insufficient for establishing a baseline for testing long-term trend predictions of climate models. Satellite observations do provide a clear picture of the relatively large signals associated with interannual climate variations such as El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and they have also been used to diagnose gross inadequacies of climate models, such as their cloud generation schemes. However, satellite contributions to measuring long-term change have been limited and, at times, controversial, as in the case of differing atmospheric temperature trends derived from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) microwave radiometers.
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paper_title: Establishing the Antarctic Dome C community reference standard site towards consistent measurements from Earth observation satellites

paper_content:

Establishing satellite measurement consistency by using common desert sites has become increasingly more important not only for climate change detection but also for quantitative retrievals of geophysical variables in satellite applications. Using the Antarctic Dome C site (75°06′S, 123°21′E, elevation 3.2 km) for satellite radiometric calibration and validation (Cal/Val) is of great interest owing to its unique location and characteristics. The site surface is covered with uniformly distributed permanent snow, and the atmospheric effect is small and relatively constant. In this study, the long-term stability and spectral characteristics of this site are evaluated using well-calibrated satellite instruments such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). Preliminary results show that despite a few limitations, the site in general is stable in the long term, the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model works well, an...
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paper_title: Workshop on Strategies for Calibration and Validation of Global Change Measurements

paper_content:

The Committee on Environment and Natural Resources (CENR) Task Force on Observations and Data Management hosted a Global Change Calibration/Validation Workshop on May 10-12, 1995, in Arlington, Virginia. This Workshop was convened by Robert Schiffer of NASA Headquarters in Washington, D.C., for the CENR Secretariat with a view toward assessing and documenting lessons learned in the calibration and validation of large-scale, long-term data sets in land, ocean, and atmospheric research programs. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)/Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) hosted the meeting on behalf of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS)/Working Group on Calibration/walidation, the Global Change Observing System (GCOS), and the U. S. CENR. A meeting of experts from the international scientific community was brought together to develop recommendations for calibration and validation of global change data sets taken from instrument series and across generations of instruments and technologies. Forty-nine scientists from nine countries participated. The U. S., Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Switzerland, Russia, and Kenya were represented.
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paper_title: The Global Space-Based Inter-Calibration System

paper_content:

The Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) is a new international program to assure the comparability of satellite measurements taken at different times and locations by different instruments operated by different satellite agencies. Sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization and the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites, GSICS will intercalibrate the instruments of the international constellation of operational low-earth-orbiting (LEO) and geostationary earth-orbiting (GEO) environmental satellites and tie these to common reference standards. The intercomparability of the observations will result in more accurate measurements for assimilation in numerical weather prediction models, construction of more reliable climate data records, and progress toward achieving the societal goals of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. GSICS includes globally coordinated activities for prelaunch instrument characterization, onboard routine calibration, sensor intercomparison of...
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paper_title: Satellite Instrument Calibration for Measuring Global Climate Change

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Measuring the small changes associated with long-term global climate change from space is a daunting task. The satellite instruments must be capable of observing atmospheric and surface temperature trends as small as 0.1°C decade−1, ozone changes as little as 1% decade−1, and variations in the sun's output as tiny as 0.1% decade−1. To address these problems and recommend directions for improvements in satellite instrument calibration, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System–Integrated Program Office (NPOESS-IPO), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) organized a workshop at the University of Maryland Inn and Conference Center, College Park, Maryland, 12–14 November 2002. Some 75 scientists participated including researchers who develop and analyze long-term datasets from satellites, experts in the field of satellite instrument calibration, and phy...
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paper_title: An overview of sensor calibration inter-comparison and applications

paper_content:

Long-term climate data records (CDR) are often constructed using observations made by multiple Earth observing sensors over a broad range of spectra and a large scale in both time and space. These sensors can be of the same or different types operated on the same or different platforms. They can be developed and built with different technologies and are likely operated over different time spans. It has been known that the uncertainty of climate models and data records depends not only on the calibration quality (accuracy and stability) of individual sensors, but also on their calibration consistency across instruments and platforms. Therefore, sensor calibration inter-comparison and validation have become increasingly demanding and will continue to play an important role for a better understanding of the science product quality. This paper provides an overview of different methodologies, which have been successfully applied for sensor calibration inter-comparison. Specific examples using different sensors, including MODIS, AVHRR, and ETM+, are presented to illustrate the implementation of these methodologies.
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paper_title: Earth observation sensor calibration using a global instrumented and automated network of test sites (GIANTS)

paper_content:

Calibration is critical for useful long-term data records, as well as independent data quality control. However, in the context of Earth observation sensors, post-launch calibration and the associated quality assurance perspective are far from operational. This paper explores the possibility of establishing a global instrumented and automated network of test sites (GIANTS) for post-launch radiometric calibration of Earth observation sensors. It is proposed that a small number of well-instrumented benchmark test sites and data sets for calibration be supported. A core set of sensors, measurements, and protocols would be standardized across all participating test sites and the measurement data sets would undergo identical processing at a central secretariat. The network would provide calibration information to supplement or substitute for on-board calibration, would reduce the effort required by individual agencies, and would provide consistency for cross-platform studies. Central to the GIANTS concept is the use of automation, communication, coordination, visibility, and education, all of which can be facilitated by greater use of advanced in-situ sensor and telecommunication technologies. The goal is to help ensure that the resources devoted to remote sensing calibration benefit the intended user community and facilitate the development of new calibration methodologies (research and development) and future specialists (education and training).
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paper_title: Achieving Satellite Instrument Calibration for Climate Change

paper_content:

For the most part, satellite observations of climate are not presently sufficiently accurate to establish a climate record that is indisputable and hence capable of determining whether and at what rate the climate is changing. Furthermore, they are insufficient for establishing a baseline for testing long-term trend predictions of climate models. Satellite observations do provide a clear picture of the relatively large signals associated with interannual climate variations such as El Nino-Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and they have also been used to diagnose gross inadequacies of climate models, such as their cloud generation schemes. However, satellite contributions to measuring long-term change have been limited and, at times, controversial, as in the case of differing atmospheric temperature trends derived from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) microwave radiometers.
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paper_title: Intersatellite Differences of HIRS Longwave Channels Between NOAA-14 and NOAA-15 and Between NOAA-17 and METOP-A

paper_content:

Intersatellite differences of the High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) longwave channels (channels 1-12) between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 14 (NOAA-14) and NOAA-15 and between NOAA-17 and METOP-A are examined. Two sets of colocated data are incorporated in the examination. One data set is obtained during periods when equator crossing times of two satellites are very close to each other, and the data set is referred to as global simultaneous nadir overpass observation (SNO). The other data set is based on multiyear polar SNOs. The examination shows that intersatellite differences (ISDs) of temperature-sounding channels from lower stratosphere to lower troposphere, i.e., channels 3-7, are correlated with their corresponding lapse rate factors. Many of the channels also vary with respect to channel brightness temperatures; however, for the upper tropospheric temperature channel (channel 4), the patterns of ISDs from low latitudes and high latitudes are very different due to the fact that the latitudinal variation of brightness temperature does not necessarily follow the latitudinal variation of the temperature lapse rate. The differences between observations in low latitudes and high latitudes form “fork” patterns in scatter plots of ISDs with respect to brightness temperatures. A comparison of ISDs derived from short-term global SNOs and those derived from multiyear polar SNOs reveals the advantage and the limitation of the two data sets. The multiyear polar SNO generally provides larger observation ranges of brightness temperatures in channels 1-4. The global SNO extends the brightness temperature observations to the warm sides for channels 5-12 and captures the occurrences of larger ISDs for most longwave channels.
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paper_title: GSICS Inter-Calibration of Infrared Channels of Geostationary Imagers Using Metop/IASI

paper_content:

The first products of the Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) include bias monitoring and calibration corrections for the thermal infrared (IR) channels of current meteorological sensors on geostationary satellites. These use the hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the low Earth orbit (LEO) Metop satellite as a common cross-calibration reference. This paper describes the algorithm, which uses a weighted linear regression, to compare collocated radiances observed from each pair of geostationary-LEO instruments. The regression coefficients define the GSICS Correction, and their uncertainties provide quality indicators, ensuring traceability to the selected community reference, IASI. Examples are given for the Meteosat, GOES, MTSAT, Fengyun-2, and COMS imagers. Some channels of these instruments show biases that vary with time due to variations in the thermal environment, stray light, and optical contamination. These results demonstrate how inter-calibration can be a powerful tool to monitor and correct biases, and help diagnose their root causes.
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paper_title: Establishing the Antarctic Dome C community reference standard site towards consistent measurements from Earth observation satellites

paper_content:

Establishing satellite measurement consistency by using common desert sites has become increasingly more important not only for climate change detection but also for quantitative retrievals of geophysical variables in satellite applications. Using the Antarctic Dome C site (75°06′S, 123°21′E, elevation 3.2 km) for satellite radiometric calibration and validation (Cal/Val) is of great interest owing to its unique location and characteristics. The site surface is covered with uniformly distributed permanent snow, and the atmospheric effect is small and relatively constant. In this study, the long-term stability and spectral characteristics of this site are evaluated using well-calibrated satellite instruments such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). Preliminary results show that despite a few limitations, the site in general is stable in the long term, the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model works well, an...
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paper_title: Using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) to calibrate advanced very high resolution radiometer reflectance channels

paper_content:

[1] A series of 10 advanced very high resolution radiometers (AVHRRs) flown on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)'s polar-orbiting satellites for over 20 years has provided data suitable for many quantitative remote sensing applications. To be useful for geophysical research, each radiometer must be accurately calibrated, which poses problems in the AVHRR reflectance channels because they have no onboard calibration. Previous studies have shown that values of the reflectance channel calibrations, accurately measured during preflight, change abruptly immediately after launch and then change slowly during the satellite's lifetime. The presence of the dual-gain reflectance channels on the current series of AVHRRs also complicates the application of previous calibration techniques. A technique is presented here for calibrating the AVHRR dual-gain reflectance channels using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) data. This method employs selective criteria to reproduce a laboratory type calibration where instrument counts observed by AVHRR are matched to reflectances measured by MODIS on a pixel by pixel basis for coincident and co-located scenes. Unlike AVHRR, MODIS employs onboard calibration of its reflectance channels. The goal here was to explore the utility of using MODIS to calibrate the new dual-gain reflectance channels of the AVHRR. The AVHRRs in the NOAA-KLM series of spacecraft employ a dual-gain approach to increase the sensitivity to dark scenes. Traditional methods using radiometrically stable targets to calibrate the reflectance channels of AVHRR typically do not provide data for both gain settings. The data from two scenes that met the over-pass criteria are analyzed. The regression of the MODIS reflectances versus the AVHRR counts for these scenes were able to produce calibration slopes and intercepts in both the low and high gain regions. The reflectance differences using the MODIS-derived calibration compared to preflight calibration are well within the expected behavior of the AVHRR during its first year in orbit. Comparison with reference ch1 and ch2 reflectance values from NOAA 9 for a Libyan Desert Target were within 5% of those using the MODIS-derived calibration. While the determination of the absolute accuracy this approach needs further study, it clearly offers the potential for calibration of the AVHRR dual-gain reflectance channels.
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paper_title: Accurate radiometry from space: an essential tool for climate studies

paper_content:

The Earth’s climate is undoubtedly changing; however, the time scale, consequences and causal attribution remain the subject of significant debate and uncertainty. Detection of subtle indicators from a background of natural variability requires measurements over a time base of decades. This places severe demands on the instrumentation used, requiring measurements of sufficient accuracy and sensitivity that can allow reliable judgements to be made decades apart. The International System of Units (SI) and the network of National Metrology Institutes were developed to address such requirements. However, ensuring and maintaining SI traceability of sufficient accuracy in instruments orbiting the Earth presents a significant new challenge to the metrology community. This paper highlights some key measurands and applications driving the uncertainty demand of the climate community in the solar reflective domain, e.g. solar irradiances and reflectances/radiances of the Earth. It discusses how meeting these uncertainties facilitate significant improvement in the forecasting abilities of climate models. After discussing the current state of the art, it describes a new satellite mission, called TRUTHS, which enables, for the first time, high-accuracy SI traceability to be established in orbit. The direct use of a ‘primary standard’ and replication of the terrestrial traceability chain extends the SI into space, in effect realizing a ‘metrology laboratory in space’.
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paper_title: Traceable radiometry underpinning terrestrial- and helio-studies (TRUTHS)

paper_content:

The Traceable Radiometry Underpinning Terrestrial- and Helio-Studies (TRUTHS) mission offers a novel approach to the provision of key scientific data wtih unprecedented radiometric accuracy for Earth Observation (EO) and solar studies, which will also establish well-calibrated reference targets/standards to support other SI missions. This paper will present the TRUTHS mission and its objectives. TRUTHS will be the first satellite mission to calibrate its instrumentation directly to SI in orbit, overcoming the usual uncertainties associated with drifts of sensor gain and spectral shape by using an electrical rather than an optical standard as the basis of its calibration. The range of instruments flown as part of the payload will also proivde accurate input data to improve atmospheric radiative transfer codes by anchoring boundary conditions, through simultaneous measurements of aerosols, particulates and radiances at various heights. Therefore, TRUTHS will significantly improve the performance and accuracy of Earth observation misison with broad global or operational aims, as well as more dedicated missions. The providision of reference standards will also improve synergy between missions by reducing errors due to different calibration biases and offer cost reductions for future missions by reducing the demands for on-board calibration systems. Such improvements are important for the future success of strategies such as Global Monitoring for Environment and Security and the implementation and monitoring of international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol. TRUTHS will achieve these aims by measuring the geophysical variables of solar and lunar irradiance, together with both polarized and un-polarized spectral radiance of the Moon, and the Earth and its atmosphere.
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paper_title: Summary of current radiometric calibration coefficients for Landsat MSS, TM, ETM+, and EO-1 ALI sensors

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article i nfo This paper provides a summary of the current equations and rescaling factors for converting calibrated Digital Numbers (DNs) to absolute units of at-sensor spectral radiance, Top-Of-Atmosphere (TOA) reflectance, and at-sensor brightness temperature. It tabulates the necessary constants for the Multispectral Scanner (MSS), Thematic Mapper (TM), Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), and Advanced Land Imager (ALI) sensors. These conversions provide a basis for standardized comparison of data in a single scene or between images acquired on different dates or by different sensors. This paper forms a needed guide for Landsat data users who now have access to the entire Landsat archive at no cost.
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paper_title: Radiometric Calibration of the Landsat MSS Sensor Series

paper_content:

Multispectral remote sensing of the Earth using Landsat sensors was ushered on July 23, 1972, with the launch of Landsat-1. Following that success, four more Landsat satellites were launched, and each of these carried the Multispectral Scanner System (MSS). These five sensors provided the only consistent multispectral space-based imagery of the Earth's surface from 1972 to 1982. This work focuses on developing both a consistent and absolute radiometric calibration of this sensor system. Cross-calibration of the MSS was performed through the use of pseudoinvariant calibration sites (PICSs). Since these sites have been shown to be stable for long periods of time, changes in MSS observations of these sites were attributed to changes in the sensors themselves. In addition, simultaneous data collections were available for some MSS sensor pairs, and these were also used for cross-calibration. Results indicated substantial differences existed between instruments, up to 16%, and these were reduced to 5% or less across all MSS sensors and bands. Lastly, this paper takes the calibration through the final step and places the MSS sensors on an absolute radiometric scale. The methodology used to achieve this was based on simultaneous data collections by the Landsat-5 MSS and Thematic Mapper (TM) instruments. Through analysis of image data from a PICS location and through compensating for the spectral differences between the two instruments, the Landsat-5 MSS sensor was placed on an absolute radiometric scale based on the Landsat-5 TM sensor. Uncertainties associated with this calibration are considered to be less than 5%.
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paper_title: Assessment of Midnight Blackbody Calibration Correction (MBCC) using the Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS)

paper_content:

The geostationary meteorological satellites (GEO), such as Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES), ::: are susceptible to a calibration anomaly around local midnight of the sub-satellite point. A counter measure, the ::: Midnight Blackbody Calibration Correction (MBCC) currently exists at operational level. In this study, the MBCC ::: performance on GOES-11 satellite is characterized with the help of Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System ::: (GSICS) data sets. Results from the comparison of coincident and collocated GSICS-based GOES-11-AIRS data pairs, ::: corresponding to two and half year period from January 2007 through June 2009, reveal that "mid-night residuals" in ::: brightness temperatures persist in all of the GOES-11 Infra-Red (IR) channels, in spite of MBCC. The GOES-11 split ::: window channels (channels 4 and 5) consistently showed significantly large negative (GOES-11-AIRS) biases often ::: reaching values of -1. 5 K or less while the short wave Infra-Red (SWIR) channel (channel 2) produced relatively ::: smaller negative biases (~ -0.3 K or less). Interestingly, the water vapor IR channel (channel 3) exhibits a different ::: pattern from rest of the channels in which consistently opposite biases with small positive (GOES-11-AIRS) difference ::: values (~ 0.3 K or less) could be observed. The reason for the differential behavior of GOES-11 channel 3 is yet to be ::: understood, while it is hypothesized that this might be linked to the convolution algorithm used for matching the AIRS ::: data spectrally with those from GOES water vapor channel. The amount of midnight residuals is shown to have a ::: consistent seasonal dependency, which gets repeated year after year, for the period considered in the analysis.
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paper_title: Photometric Stability of the Lunar Surface

paper_content:

Abstract The rate at which cratering events currently occur on the Moon is considered in light of their influence on the use of the Moon as a radiometric standard. The radiometric effect of small impact events is determined empirically from the study of Clementine images. Events that would change the integral brightness of the moon by 1% are expected once per 1.4 Gyr. Events that cause a 1% shift in one pixel for low Earth-orbiting instruments with a 1-km nadir field of view are expected approximately once each 43 Myr. Events discernible at 1% radiometric resolution with a 5 arc-sec telescope resolution correspond to crater diameters of approximately 210 m and are expected once every 200 years. These rates are uncertain by a factor of two. For a fixed illumination and observation geometry, the Moon can be considered photometrically stable to 1 × 10 −8 per annum for irradiance, and 1 × 10 −7 per annum for radiance at a resolution common for spacecraft imaging instruments, exceeding reasonable instrument goals by six orders of magnitude.
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paper_title: Landsat 4 Thematic Mapper Calibration Update

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The Landsat 4 Thematic Mapper (TM) collected imagery of the Earth's surface from 1982 to 1993. Although largely overshadowed by Landsat 5 which was launched in 1984, Landsat 4 TM imagery extends the TM-based record of the Earth back to 1982 and also substantially supplements the image archive collected by Landsat 5. To provide a consistent calibration record for the TM instruments, Landsat 4 TM was cross-calibrated to Landsat 5 using nearly simultaneous overpass imagery of pseudo-invariant calibration sites (PICS) in the time period of 1988-1990. To determine if the radiometric gain of Landsat 4 had changed over its lifetime, time series from two PICS locations (a Saharan site known as Libya 4 and a site in southwest North America, commonly referred to as the Sonoran Desert site) were developed. The results indicated that Landsat 4 had been very stable over its lifetime, with no discernible degradation in sensor performance in all reflective bands except band 1. In contrast, band 1 exhibited a 12% decay in responsivity over the lifetime of the instrument. Results from this paper have been implemented at USGS EROS, which enables users of Landsat TM data sets to obtain consistently calibrated data from Landsat 4 and 5 TM as well as Landsat 7 ETM+ instruments.
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paper_title: Revised landsat-5 tm radiometric calibration procedures and postcalibration dynamic ranges

paper_content:

Effective May 5, 2003, Landsat-5 (L5) Thematic Mapper (TM) data processed and distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Earth Resources Observation System (EROS) Data Center (EDC) will be radiometrically calibrated using a new procedure and revised calibration parameters. This change will improve absolute calibration accuracy, consistency over time, and consistency with Landsat-7 (L7) Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) data. Users will need to use new parameters to convert the calibrated data products to radiance. The new procedure for the reflective bands (1-5,7) is based on a lifetime radiometric calibration curve for the instrument derived from the instrument's internal calibrator, cross-calibration with the ETM+, and vicarious measurements. The thermal band will continue to be calibrated using the internal calibrator. Further updates to improve the relative detector-to-detector calibration and thermal band calibration are being investigated, as is the calibration of the Landsat-4 (L4) TM.
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paper_title: Assessing the consistency of AVHRR and MODIS L1B reflectance for generating Fundamental Climate Data Records

paper_content:

[1] Satellite detection of the global climate change signals as small as a few percent per decade in albedo critically depends on consistent and accurately calibrated Level 1B (L1B) data or Fundamental Climate Data Records (FCDRs). Detecting small changes in signal over decades is a major challenge not only to the retrieval of geophysical parameters from satellite observations, but more importantly to the current state-of-the-art calibration, since such small changes can easily be obscured by erroneous variations in the calibration, especially for instruments with no onboard calibration, such as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). Without dependable FCDRs, its derivative Thematic Climate Data Records (TCDRs) are bound to produce false trends with questionable scientific value. This has been increasingly recognized by more and more remote sensing scientists. In this study we analyzed the consistency of calibrated reflectance from the operational L1B data between AVHRR on NOAA-16 and -17 and between NOAA-16/AVHRR and Aqua/MODIS, based on Simultaneous Nadir Overpass (SNO) observation time series. Analyses suggest that the NOAA-16 and -17/AVHRR operationally calibrated reflectance became consistent two years after the launch of NOAA-17, although they still differ by 9% from the MODIS reflectance for the 0.63 μm band. This study also suggests that the SNO method has reached a high level of relative accuracy (∼1.5%) for estimating the consistency for both the 0.63 and 0.84 μm bands between AVHRRs, and a 0.9% relative accuracy between AVHRR and MODIS for the 0.63 μm band. It is believed that the methodology is applicable to all historical AVHRR data for improving the calibration consistency, and work is in progress generating FCDRs from the nearly 30 years of AVHRR data using the SNO and other complimentary methods. A more consistent historical AVHRR L1B data set will be produced for a variety of geophysical products including aerosol, vegetation, cloud, and surface albedo to support global climate change detection studies.
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paper_title: Diurnal and Scan Angle Variations in the Calibration of GOES Imager Infrared Channels

paper_content:

The current Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Imager infrared (IR) channels experience a midnight effect that can result in erroneous instrument responsivity around satellite midnight. An empirical method named the Midnight Blackbody Calibration Correction (MBCC) was developed and implemented in the GOES Imager IR operational calibration, aiming to correct the midnight calibration errors. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the MBCC performance for the GOES-11/-12 Imager IR channels by examining the diurnal variation of the mean brightness temperature (Tb) bias with respect to reference instruments. Two well-calibrated hyperspectral radiometers on low Earth orbits (LEOs), the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on the Aqua satellite and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the Metop-A satellite, are used as the reference instruments in this study. However, as the timing of the collocated geostationary-LEO intercalibration data is related to the GOES scan angle, it is then necessary to assess the GOES scan angle calibration variations, which becomes the second objective of this study. Our results show that the applications and performance of the MBCC method varies greatly between the different channels and different times. While it is usually applied with high frequency for about 8 h around satellite midnight for the short-wave channels (Ch2), it may only be intensively used right after satellite midnight or even barely used for the other IR channels. The MBCC method, if applied with high frequency, can reduce the mean day/night calibration difference to less than 0.15 K in almost all the GOES IR channels studied in this paper except for Ch4 (10.7 μm). The uncertainty of the nighttime GOES and IASI Tb difference for different scan angles is less than 0.1 K in each IR channel, indicating that there is no apparent systematic variation with the scan angle, and therefore, the estimated diurnal cycles of GOES Imager calibration is not prone to the systematic effects due to scan angle.
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paper_title: An Evaluation of the Uncertainty of the GSICS SEVIRI-IASI Intercalibration Products

paper_content:

Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) products to correct the calibration of the infrared channels of the Meteosat/SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager) geostationary imagers are based on comparisons of collocated observations with Metop/IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) as a reference instrument. Each step of the cross-calibration algorithm is analyzed to produce a comprehensive error budget, following the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. This paper aims to validate the quality indicators provided as uncertainty estimates with the GSICS correction. The methodology presented provides a framework to allow quantitative tradeoffs between the collocation criteria and the number of collocations generated to recommend further algorithm improvements. It is shown that random errors dominate systematic ones and that combined standard uncertainties (with coverage factor k = 1) in the corrected brightness temperatures are ~ 0.01 K for typical clear sky conditions but increase rapidly for low radiances - by more than one order of magnitude for 210 K scenes, corresponding to cold cloud tops.
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paper_title: CLARREO: cornerstone of the climate observing system measuring decadal change through accurate emitted infrared and reflected solar spectra and radio occultation

paper_content:

The CLARREO mission addresses the need to provide accurate, broadly acknowledged climate records that can be used ::: to validate long-term climate projections that become the foundation for informed decisions on mitigation and adaptation ::: policies. The CLARREO mission accomplishes this critical objective through rigorous SI traceable decadal change ::: observations that will reduce the key uncertainties in current climate model projections. These same uncertainties also ::: lead to uncertainty in attribution of climate change to anthropogenic forcing. CLARREO will make highly accurate and ::: SI-traceable global, decadal change observations sensitive to the most critical, but least understood climate forcing, ::: responses, and feedbacks. The CLARREO breakthrough is to achieve the required levels of accuracy and traceability to ::: SI standards for a set of observations sensitive to a wide range of key decadal change variables. The required accuracy ::: levels are determined so that climate trend signals can be detected against a background of naturally occurring ::: variability. The accuracy for decadal change traceability to SI standards includes uncertainties associated with ::: instrument calibration, satellite orbit sampling, and analysis methods. Unlike most space missions, the CLARREO ::: requirements are driven not by the instantaneous accuracy of the measurements, but by accuracy in the large time/space ::: scale averages that are necessary to understand global, decadal climate changes.
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paper_title: Operational calibration of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) visible and near-infrared channels

paper_content:

The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) visible and near-infrared channels must be calibrated after launch to maintain the accuracy of data derived from these channels for quantitative utilizations. The postlaunch calibration of these channels can only be carried out vicariously. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) – National Environmental Satellite, Data, an Information Service (NESDIS) has been using the Libyan Desert as reference for operational calibration of AVHRR visible and near-infrared channels since 1995. A previous algorithm was successful correcting for the long-term instrument degradation in recalibration but had difficulty updating instrument calibration in near-real-time operation. This paper describes the operational calibration algorithm implemented since 2003, which overcomes the existing shortcomings by reducing target contamination and accounting for the effects of target bidirectional reflectance distribution function. Application of the algorithm s...
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paper_title: Effects of Ice Decontamination on GOES-12 Imager Calibration

paper_content:

More precise and accurate geostationary measurements are highly needed for satellite applications. It was well known that the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-12 imager was susceptible to water-ice contamination, and thus, several decontamination efforts were carried out to remove built-up ice on the instrument during operation. The intercalibration results of GOES-12 with the Atmospheric Infrared (IR) Sounder (AIRS) and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) indicate that the calibration accuracy of GOES-12 was impacted by the decontamination procedures. Relative to the AIRS and the IASI, the GOES-12 imager radiances or brightness temperatures increased in the CO2 sounding channel (channel 6, 13.3 μm) and decreased in the water-vapor absorption channel (channel 3, 6.5 μm) but was less changed in the window channel (channel 4, 10.7 μm). A simple conceptual model is then proposed to give a physical explanation on the different behaviors of three IR channels in response to the ice-removal procedures.
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paper_title: Correction for GOES Imager Spectral Response Function Using GSICS. Part II: Applications

paper_content:

During the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-14 and -15 post-launch test (PLT) for science periods, an up to ~ 2 K mean brightness temperature (Tb) bias with respect to collocated Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) observations was observed in the absorptive IR channels of the GOES-14/15 Imagers. These large scene-dependent biases were believed to be caused mainly by spectral characterization errors. In this paper, we refined the spectral response function (SRF) shift algorithm which was developed during the GOES-13 PLT period to improve the GOES-14/15 Imager IR radiometric calibration accuracy by accurately calculating the impact of blackbody on the calibrated scene radiance. The uncertainty of the SRF shift algorithm was estimated and used to guide the final selection of the total amount of central wave-number shift. This refined algorithm was first verified with GOES-13 Imager Ch6 data and then used to evaluate and further revise the audited GOES-14/15 SRFs provided by the instrument vendor. Based on this algorithm, the optimal SRF shifts were -1.98 cm-1 for GOES-13 Ch6, -8.25 cm-1 for GOES-14 Ch3, -0.25 cm-1 for GOES-14 Ch6, -6.25 cm-1 for GOES-15 Ch3 and +0.50 cm-1 for GOES-15 Ch6. The newly shifted SRFs were operationally implemented into the GOES-14/15 Imager IR calibrations in the August of 2011 and successfully reduced the mean all-sky Tb bias with respect to the reference instrument to less than 0.15 K. The scene-dependent bias, which can be nonlinear at large erroneous SRF, was also greatly reduced. The same method was applied to correct the GOES-12 Imager Ch6 SRF which has a changing SRF error during its mission life. A strong linear relationship between the optimal SRF shifts and the mean Tb bias with respect to the AIRS data was observed at this channel. This strong linear relationship can be used to revise the GOES-12 Ch6 SRF for a better radiance simulation. The method described in this paper is particularly important to evaluate and revise the erroneous SRF, if it exists, after satellite launch yet before it becomes fully operational.
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paper_title: Selection and characterization of Saharan and Arabian desert sites for the calibration of optical satellite sensors

paper_content:

Desert areas are good candidates for the assessment of multitemporal, multiband, or multiangular calibration of optical satellite sensors. This article describes a selection procedure of desert sites in North Africa and Saudi Arabia, of size 100 × 100 km2, using a criterion of spatial uniformity in a series of Meteosat-4 visible data. Twenty such sites are selected with a spatial uniformity better than 3% in relative value in a multitemporal series of cloud free images. These sites are among the driest sites in the world. Their meteorological properties are here described in terms of cloud cover with ISCCP data and precipitation using data from a network of meteorological stations. Most of the selected sites are large sand seas, the geomorphology of which can be characterized with Spot data. The temporal stability of the spatially averaged reflectance of each selected site is investigated at seasonal and hourly time scales with multitemporal series of Meteosat-4 data. It is found that the temporal variations, of typical peak-to-peak amplitude 8–15% in relative value, are mostly controlled by directional effects. Once the directional effects are removed, the residual rms variations, representative of random temporal variability, are on the order of 1–2% in relative value. The suitability of use of these selected sites in routine operational calibration procedures is briefly discussed.
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paper_title: Cross Calibration Over Desert Sites: Description, Methodology, and Operational Implementation

paper_content:

Radiometric cross calibration of Earth observation sensors is a crucial need to guarantee or quantify the consistency of measurements from different sensors. Twenty desert sites, historically selected, are revisited, and their radiometric profiles are described for the visible to the near-infrared spectral domain. Therefore, acquisitions by various sensors over these desert sites are collected into a dedicated database, Structure d'Accueil des Donnees d'Etalonnage, defined to manage operational calibrations and the required SI traceability. The cross-calibration method over desert sites is detailed. Surface reflectances are derived from measurements by a reference sensor and spectrally interpolated to derive the surface and then top-of-atmosphere reflectances for spectral bands of the sensor to calibrate. The comparison with reflectances really measured provides an estimation of the cross calibration between the two sensors. Results illustrate the efficiency of the method for various pairs of sensors among AQUA-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Environmental Satellite-Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectance for Atmospheric Sciences Couples With Observations From a Lidar (PARASOL)-Polarization and Directionality of the Earth Reflectances (POLDER), and Satellite pour l'Observation de la Terre 5 (SPOT5)-VEGETATION. MERIS and MODIS calibrations are found to be very consistent, with a discrepancy of 1%, which is close to the accuracy of the method. A larger bias of 3% was identified between VEGETATION-PARASOL on one hand and MERIS-MODIS on the other hand. A good consistency was found between sites, with a standard deviation of 2% for red to near-infrared bands, increasing to 4% and 6% for green and blue bands, respectively. The accuracy of the method, which is close to 1%, may also depend on the spectral bands of both sensor to calibrate and reference sensor (up to 5% in the worst case) and their corresponding geometrical matching.
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paper_title: Photometric Stability of the Lunar Surface

paper_content:

Abstract The rate at which cratering events currently occur on the Moon is considered in light of their influence on the use of the Moon as a radiometric standard. The radiometric effect of small impact events is determined empirically from the study of Clementine images. Events that would change the integral brightness of the moon by 1% are expected once per 1.4 Gyr. Events that cause a 1% shift in one pixel for low Earth-orbiting instruments with a 1-km nadir field of view are expected approximately once each 43 Myr. Events discernible at 1% radiometric resolution with a 5 arc-sec telescope resolution correspond to crater diameters of approximately 210 m and are expected once every 200 years. These rates are uncertain by a factor of two. For a fixed illumination and observation geometry, the Moon can be considered photometrically stable to 1 × 10 −8 per annum for irradiance, and 1 × 10 −7 per annum for radiance at a resolution common for spacecraft imaging instruments, exceeding reasonable instrument goals by six orders of magnitude.
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paper_title: Applications of Spectral Band Adjustment Factors (SBAF) for Cross-Calibration

paper_content:

To monitor land surface processes over a wide range of temporal and spatial scales, it is critical to have coordinated observations of the Earth's surface acquired from multiple spaceborne imaging sensors. However, an integrated global observation framework requires an understanding of how land surface processes are seen differently by various sensors. This is particularly true for sensors acquiring data in spectral bands whose relative spectral responses (RSRs) are not similar and thus may produce different results while observing the same target. The intrinsic offsets between two sensors caused by RSR mismatches can be compensated by using a spectral band adjustment factor (SBAF), which takes into account the spectral profile of the target and the RSR of the two sensors. The motivation of this work comes from the need to compensate the spectral response differences of multispectral sensors in order to provide a more accurate cross-calibration between the sensors. In this paper, radiometric cross-calibration of the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and the Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensors was performed using near-simultaneous observations over the Libya 4 pseudoinvariant calibration site in the visible and near-infrared spectral range. The RSR differences of the analogous ETM+ and MODIS spectral bands provide the opportunity to explore, understand, quantify, and compensate for the measurement differences between these two sensors. The cross-calibration was initially performed by comparing the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectances between the two sensors over their lifetimes. The average percent differences in the long-term trends ranged from -5% to +6%. The RSR compensated ETM+ TOA reflectance (ETM+*) measurements were then found to agree with MODIS TOA reflectance to within 5% for all bands when Earth Observing-1 Hyperion hyperspectral data were used to produce the SBAFs. These differences were later reduced to within 1% for all bands (except band 2) by using Environmental Satellite Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography hyperspectral data to produce the SBAFs.
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paper_title: Ice contamination of Meteosat/SEVIRI IR13.4 channel implied by Inter-Calibration against Metop/IASI

paper_content:

The inter-calibration of the infrared channels of the geostationary Meteosat/SEVIRI satellite instruments shows most channels are radiometrically consistent with Metop-A/IASI, which is used as a reference instrument. However, the 13.4 µm channel shows a cold bias of ∼1 K in warm scenes, which changes with time. This is shown to be consistent with the contamination of SEVIRI by a layer of ice ∼1 µm thick building up on the optics, which is believed to have condensed from water outgassed from the spacecraft. This modifies the spectral response functions and hence the weighting functions of channels in stronger atmospheric absorption bands, thus introducing an apparent calibration error. Analysis of the radiometer's gain using views of the on board black body source and cold space confirm a loss consistent with transmission through a layer of comparable thickness, which also increases the radiometric noise — especially for channels near the 12 µm libration band of water ice. Inter-calibration, such as the Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) Correction, offers an empirical method to correct this bias.
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paper_title: Spectral Reflectance Corrections for Satellite Intercalibrations Using SCIAMACHY Data

paper_content:

High-resolution spectra measured by the ENVISAT SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CartograpHY (SCIAMACHY) are used to develop spectral correction factors for satellite imager solar channels to improve the transfer of calibrations from one imager to another. SCIAMACHY spectra averaged for various scene types demonstrate the dependence of reflectance on imager spectral response functions. Pseudo imager radiances were computed separately over land and water from SCIAMACHY pixel spectra taken over two tropical domains. Spectral correction factors were computed from these pseudo imager radiance pairs. Intercalibrations performed using matched 12th Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite and Terra MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) visible ( ~ 0.65 μm) channel data over the same domains yielded ocean and land calibration gain and offset differences of 4.5% and 41%, respectively. Applying the spectral correction factors reduces the gain and offset differences to 0.1% and 3.8%, respectively, for free linear regression. Forcing the regression to use the known offset count reduces the land-ocean radiance differences to 0.3% or less. Similar difference reductions were found for matched MODIS and Meteosat-8 Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager channel 2 ( ~ 0.86 μm ). The results demonstrate that SCIAMACHY-based spectral corrections can be used to significantly improve the transfer of calibration between any pair of imagers measuring reflected solar radiances under similar viewing and illumination conditions.
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paper_title: Impacts of spectral band difference effects on radiometric cross-calibration between satellite sensors in the solar-reflective spectral domain

paper_content:

Abstract In order for quantitative applications to make full use of the ever-increasing number of Earth observation satellite systems, data from the various imaging sensors involved must be on a consistent radiometric scale. This paper reports on an investigation of radiometric calibration errors due to differences in spectral response functions between satellite sensors when attempting cross-calibration based on near-simultaneous imaging of common ground targets in analogous spectral bands, a commonly used post-launch calibration methodology. Twenty Earth observation imaging sensors (including coarser and higher spatial resolution sensors) were considered, using the Landsat solar reflective spectral domain as a framework. Scene content was simulated using spectra for four ground target types (Railroad Valley Playa, snow, sand and rangeland), together with various combinations of atmospheric states and illumination geometries. Results were obtained as a function of ground target type, satellite sensor comparison, spectral region, and scene content. Overall, if spectral band difference effects (SBDEs) are not taken into account, the Railroad Valley Playa site is a “good” ground target for cross calibration between most but not all satellite sensors in most but not all spectral regions investigated. “Good” is defined as SBDEs within ± 3%. The other three ground target types considered (snow, sand and rangeland) proved to be more sensitive to uncorrected SBDEs than the RVPN site overall. The spectral characteristics of the scene content (solar irradiance, surface reflectance and atmosphere) are examined in detail to clarify why spectral difference effects arise and why they can be significant when comparing different imaging sensor systems. Atmospheric gas absorption features are identified as being the main source of spectral variability in most spectral regions. The paper concludes with recommendations on spectral data and tools that would facilitate cross-calibration between multiple satellite sensors.
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paper_title: Targets, methods, and sites for assessing the in-flight spatial resolution of electro-optical data products

paper_content:

The spatial resolution of a digital, electro-optical remote sensing imaging system or product is an important image quality characteristic that helps determine the utility of an imaging source. Although spatial resolution is often described by a single image quality parameter, the ground sample distance, there are several other parameters that affect image sharpness and need to be considered. These other parameters are associated with the point-spread function, signal-to-noise ratio, and dynamic range of the image product. This review paper covers the various approaches to in-flight measurement of spatial resolution parameters, including ground sample distance, point spread function, optical transfer function, modulation transfer function, far field response, and edge response and their significance, as well as target types and methods to determine these spatial resolution parameters. To this end, the paper lists and describes various targets found across the world, as well as astronomical ones. These tar...
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paper_title: Photometric Stability of the Lunar Surface

paper_content:

Abstract The rate at which cratering events currently occur on the Moon is considered in light of their influence on the use of the Moon as a radiometric standard. The radiometric effect of small impact events is determined empirically from the study of Clementine images. Events that would change the integral brightness of the moon by 1% are expected once per 1.4 Gyr. Events that cause a 1% shift in one pixel for low Earth-orbiting instruments with a 1-km nadir field of view are expected approximately once each 43 Myr. Events discernible at 1% radiometric resolution with a 5 arc-sec telescope resolution correspond to crater diameters of approximately 210 m and are expected once every 200 years. These rates are uncertain by a factor of two. For a fixed illumination and observation geometry, the Moon can be considered photometrically stable to 1 × 10 −8 per annum for irradiance, and 1 × 10 −7 per annum for radiance at a resolution common for spacecraft imaging instruments, exceeding reasonable instrument goals by six orders of magnitude.
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paper_title: Assessing the consistency of AVHRR and MODIS L1B reflectance for generating Fundamental Climate Data Records

paper_content:

[1] Satellite detection of the global climate change signals as small as a few percent per decade in albedo critically depends on consistent and accurately calibrated Level 1B (L1B) data or Fundamental Climate Data Records (FCDRs). Detecting small changes in signal over decades is a major challenge not only to the retrieval of geophysical parameters from satellite observations, but more importantly to the current state-of-the-art calibration, since such small changes can easily be obscured by erroneous variations in the calibration, especially for instruments with no onboard calibration, such as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). Without dependable FCDRs, its derivative Thematic Climate Data Records (TCDRs) are bound to produce false trends with questionable scientific value. This has been increasingly recognized by more and more remote sensing scientists. In this study we analyzed the consistency of calibrated reflectance from the operational L1B data between AVHRR on NOAA-16 and -17 and between NOAA-16/AVHRR and Aqua/MODIS, based on Simultaneous Nadir Overpass (SNO) observation time series. Analyses suggest that the NOAA-16 and -17/AVHRR operationally calibrated reflectance became consistent two years after the launch of NOAA-17, although they still differ by 9% from the MODIS reflectance for the 0.63 μm band. This study also suggests that the SNO method has reached a high level of relative accuracy (∼1.5%) for estimating the consistency for both the 0.63 and 0.84 μm bands between AVHRRs, and a 0.9% relative accuracy between AVHRR and MODIS for the 0.63 μm band. It is believed that the methodology is applicable to all historical AVHRR data for improving the calibration consistency, and work is in progress generating FCDRs from the nearly 30 years of AVHRR data using the SNO and other complimentary methods. A more consistent historical AVHRR L1B data set will be produced for a variety of geophysical products including aerosol, vegetation, cloud, and surface albedo to support global climate change detection studies.
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paper_title: An Evaluation of the Uncertainty of the GSICS SEVIRI-IASI Intercalibration Products

paper_content:

Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) products to correct the calibration of the infrared channels of the Meteosat/SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager) geostationary imagers are based on comparisons of collocated observations with Metop/IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) as a reference instrument. Each step of the cross-calibration algorithm is analyzed to produce a comprehensive error budget, following the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. This paper aims to validate the quality indicators provided as uncertainty estimates with the GSICS correction. The methodology presented provides a framework to allow quantitative tradeoffs between the collocation criteria and the number of collocations generated to recommend further algorithm improvements. It is shown that random errors dominate systematic ones and that combined standard uncertainties (with coverage factor k = 1) in the corrected brightness temperatures are ~ 0.01 K for typical clear sky conditions but increase rapidly for low radiances - by more than one order of magnitude for 210 K scenes, corresponding to cold cloud tops.
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paper_title: Microwave Radiometer Radio-Frequency Interference Detection Algorithms: A Comparative Study

paper_content:

Two algorithms used in microwave radiometry for radio-frequency interference (RFI) detection and mitigation are the pulse detection algorithm and the kurtosis detection algorithm. The relative performance of the algorithms is compared both analytically and empirically. Their probabilities of false alarm under RFI-free conditions and of detection when RFI is present are examined. The downlink data rate required to implement each algorithm in a spaceborne application is also considered. The kurtosis algorithm is compared to a pulse detection algorithm operating under optimal RFI detection conditions. The performance of both algorithms is also analyzed as a function of varying characteristics of the RFI. The RFI detection probabilities of both algorithms under varying subsampling conditions are compared and validated using data obtained from a field campaign. Implementation details, resource usage, and postprocessing requirements are also addressed for both algorithms.
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paper_title: An Evaluation of the Uncertainty of the GSICS SEVIRI-IASI Intercalibration Products

paper_content:

Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) products to correct the calibration of the infrared channels of the Meteosat/SEVIRI (Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager) geostationary imagers are based on comparisons of collocated observations with Metop/IASI (Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer) as a reference instrument. Each step of the cross-calibration algorithm is analyzed to produce a comprehensive error budget, following the Guide to the Expression of Uncertainty in Measurement. This paper aims to validate the quality indicators provided as uncertainty estimates with the GSICS correction. The methodology presented provides a framework to allow quantitative tradeoffs between the collocation criteria and the number of collocations generated to recommend further algorithm improvements. It is shown that random errors dominate systematic ones and that combined standard uncertainties (with coverage factor k = 1) in the corrected brightness temperatures are ~ 0.01 K for typical clear sky conditions but increase rapidly for low radiances - by more than one order of magnitude for 210 K scenes, corresponding to cold cloud tops.
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paper_title: Assessment of Spectral, Misregistration, and Spatial Uncertainties Inherent in the Cross-Calibration Study

paper_content:

Cross-calibration of satellite sensors permits the quantitative comparison of measurements obtained from different Earth Observing (EO) systems. Cross-calibration studies usually use simultaneous or near-simultaneous observations from several spaceborne sensors to develop band-by-band relationships through regression analysis. The investigation described in this paper focuses on evaluation of the uncertainties inherent in the cross-calibration process, including contributions due to different spectral responses, spectral resolution, spectral filter shift, geometric misregistrations, and spatial resolutions. The hyperspectral data from the Environmental Satellite SCanning Imaging Absorption SpectroMeter for Atmospheric CartograpHY and the EO-1 Hyperion, along with the relative spectral responses (RSRs) from the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper (TM) Plus and the Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer sensors, were used for the spectral uncertainty study. The data from Landsat 5 TM over five representative land cover types (desert, rangeland, grassland, deciduous forest, and coniferous forest) were used for the geometric misregistrations and spatial-resolution study. The spectral resolution uncertainty was found to be within 0.25%, spectral filter shift within 2.5%, geometric misregistrations within 0.35%, and spatial-resolution effects within 0.1% for the Libya 4 site. The one-sigma uncertainties presented in this paper are uncorrelated, and therefore, the uncertainties can be summed orthogonally. Furthermore, an overall total uncertainty was developed. In general, the results suggested that the spectral uncertainty is more dominant compared to other uncertainties presented in this paper. Therefore, the effect of the sensor RSR differences needs to be quantified and compensated to avoid large uncertainties in cross-calibration results.
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paper_title: Inversion algorithm for estimating radio frequency interference characteristics based on kurtosis measurements

paper_content:

An inversion algorithm is developed to recover power and duty-cycle of incoming Radio Frequency Interference (RFI) signals from kurtosis. The algorithm applies simulated annealing on multiple kurtosis values obtained from different radiometer integration periods. The paper evaluates the performance of the inversion algorithm by performing Monte-Carlo simulations to obtain error statistics. The inversion capability of the algorithm and its robustness against the 50% duty-cycle blind-spot (generally present for the kurtosis detection algorithm) is demonstrated using experimental data.
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paper_title: Intersatellite Differences of HIRS Longwave Channels Between NOAA-14 and NOAA-15 and Between NOAA-17 and METOP-A

paper_content:

Intersatellite differences of the High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) longwave channels (channels 1-12) between National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 14 (NOAA-14) and NOAA-15 and between NOAA-17 and METOP-A are examined. Two sets of colocated data are incorporated in the examination. One data set is obtained during periods when equator crossing times of two satellites are very close to each other, and the data set is referred to as global simultaneous nadir overpass observation (SNO). The other data set is based on multiyear polar SNOs. The examination shows that intersatellite differences (ISDs) of temperature-sounding channels from lower stratosphere to lower troposphere, i.e., channels 3-7, are correlated with their corresponding lapse rate factors. Many of the channels also vary with respect to channel brightness temperatures; however, for the upper tropospheric temperature channel (channel 4), the patterns of ISDs from low latitudes and high latitudes are very different due to the fact that the latitudinal variation of brightness temperature does not necessarily follow the latitudinal variation of the temperature lapse rate. The differences between observations in low latitudes and high latitudes form “fork” patterns in scatter plots of ISDs with respect to brightness temperatures. A comparison of ISDs derived from short-term global SNOs and those derived from multiyear polar SNOs reveals the advantage and the limitation of the two data sets. The multiyear polar SNO generally provides larger observation ranges of brightness temperatures in channels 1-4. The global SNO extends the brightness temperature observations to the warm sides for channels 5-12 and captures the occurrences of larger ISDs for most longwave channels.
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paper_title: GSICS Inter-Calibration of Infrared Channels of Geostationary Imagers Using Metop/IASI

paper_content:

The first products of the Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) include bias monitoring and calibration corrections for the thermal infrared (IR) channels of current meteorological sensors on geostationary satellites. These use the hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the low Earth orbit (LEO) Metop satellite as a common cross-calibration reference. This paper describes the algorithm, which uses a weighted linear regression, to compare collocated radiances observed from each pair of geostationary-LEO instruments. The regression coefficients define the GSICS Correction, and their uncertainties provide quality indicators, ensuring traceability to the selected community reference, IASI. Examples are given for the Meteosat, GOES, MTSAT, Fengyun-2, and COMS imagers. Some channels of these instruments show biases that vary with time due to variations in the thermal environment, stray light, and optical contamination. These results demonstrate how inter-calibration can be a powerful tool to monitor and correct biases, and help diagnose their root causes.
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paper_title: Accurate radiometry from space: an essential tool for climate studies

paper_content:

The Earth’s climate is undoubtedly changing; however, the time scale, consequences and causal attribution remain the subject of significant debate and uncertainty. Detection of subtle indicators from a background of natural variability requires measurements over a time base of decades. This places severe demands on the instrumentation used, requiring measurements of sufficient accuracy and sensitivity that can allow reliable judgements to be made decades apart. The International System of Units (SI) and the network of National Metrology Institutes were developed to address such requirements. However, ensuring and maintaining SI traceability of sufficient accuracy in instruments orbiting the Earth presents a significant new challenge to the metrology community. This paper highlights some key measurands and applications driving the uncertainty demand of the climate community in the solar reflective domain, e.g. solar irradiances and reflectances/radiances of the Earth. It discusses how meeting these uncertainties facilitate significant improvement in the forecasting abilities of climate models. After discussing the current state of the art, it describes a new satellite mission, called TRUTHS, which enables, for the first time, high-accuracy SI traceability to be established in orbit. The direct use of a ‘primary standard’ and replication of the terrestrial traceability chain extends the SI into space, in effect realizing a ‘metrology laboratory in space’.
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paper_title: Consistency assessment of Atmospheric Infrared Sounder and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer radiances: Double differences versus simultaneous nadir overpasses

paper_content:

[1] Quantifying the radiometric difference and creating a calibration link between Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on Aqua and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on MetOp are crucial for creating fundamental climate data records and intercalibrating other narrowband or broadband satellite instruments. This study employs two different methods to assess the AIRS and IASI radiance consistency within the four Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imager infrared channels (with central wavelengths at 6.7, 10.7, 12.0, and 13.3 μm) through a period of 2 years and 9 months. The first method employs the differences of AIRS and IASI relative to the GOES observations sampled in the tropics to indirectly track the AIRS and IASI radiance differences. The second approach directly compares AIRS and IASI in the polar regions through the simultaneous nadir overpass observations. Both methods reveal that AIRS and IASI radiances are in good agreement with each other both in the tropics and in the polar regions within GOES imager channels used in this study, while AIRS is found to be slightly warmer than IASI by less than 0.1 K.
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paper_title: On-Orbit Calibration and Performance of Aqua MODIS Reflective Solar Bands

paper_content:

Aqua MODIS has successfully operated on-orbit for more than six years since its launch in May 2002, continuously making global observations and improving studies of changes in the Earth's climate and environment. Twenty of the 36 MODIS spectral bands, covering wavelengths from 0.41 to 2.2 ?m, are the reflective solar bands (RSBs). They are calibrated on-orbit using an onboard solar diffuser (SD) and an SD stability monitor. In addition, regularly scheduled lunar observations are made to track the RSB calibration stability. This paper presents Aqua MODIS RSB on-orbit calibration and characterization activities, methodologies, and performance. Included in this paper are characterizations of detector signal-to-noise ratio, short-term stability, and long-term response change. Spectral-wavelength-dependent degradation of the SD bidirectional reflectance factor and scan mirror reflectance, which also varies with the angle of incidence, is examined. On-orbit results show that Aqua MODIS onboard calibrators have performed well, enabling accurate calibration coefficients to be derived and updated for the Level 1B production and assuring high-quality science data products to be continuously generated and distributed. Since launch, the short-term response, on a scan-by-scan basis, has remained extremely stable for most RSB detectors. With the exception of band 6, there have been no new RSB noisy or inoperable detectors. Like its predecessor, i.e., Terra MODIS, launched in December 1999, the Aqua MODIS visible spectral bands have experienced relatively large changes, with an annual response decrease (mirror side 1) of 3.6% for band 8 at 0.412 ?m, 2.3% for band 9 at 0.443 ?m, 1.6% for band 3 at 0.469 ?m, and 1.2% for band 10 at 0.488 ?m. For other RSB bands with wavelengths greater than 0.5 ?m, the annual response changes are typically less than 0.5%. In general, Aqua MODIS optics degradation is smaller than Terra MODIS, and the mirror-side differences are much smaller. Overall, Aqua MODIS RSB on-orbit performance is better than that of Terra MODIS.
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paper_title: Diurnal and Scan Angle Variations in the Calibration of GOES Imager Infrared Channels

paper_content:

The current Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) Imager infrared (IR) channels experience a midnight effect that can result in erroneous instrument responsivity around satellite midnight. An empirical method named the Midnight Blackbody Calibration Correction (MBCC) was developed and implemented in the GOES Imager IR operational calibration, aiming to correct the midnight calibration errors. The main objective of this study is to evaluate the MBCC performance for the GOES-11/-12 Imager IR channels by examining the diurnal variation of the mean brightness temperature (Tb) bias with respect to reference instruments. Two well-calibrated hyperspectral radiometers on low Earth orbits (LEOs), the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder on the Aqua satellite and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the Metop-A satellite, are used as the reference instruments in this study. However, as the timing of the collocated geostationary-LEO intercalibration data is related to the GOES scan angle, it is then necessary to assess the GOES scan angle calibration variations, which becomes the second objective of this study. Our results show that the applications and performance of the MBCC method varies greatly between the different channels and different times. While it is usually applied with high frequency for about 8 h around satellite midnight for the short-wave channels (Ch2), it may only be intensively used right after satellite midnight or even barely used for the other IR channels. The MBCC method, if applied with high frequency, can reduce the mean day/night calibration difference to less than 0.15 K in almost all the GOES IR channels studied in this paper except for Ch4 (10.7 μm). The uncertainty of the nighttime GOES and IASI Tb difference for different scan angles is less than 0.1 K in each IR channel, indicating that there is no apparent systematic variation with the scan angle, and therefore, the estimated diurnal cycles of GOES Imager calibration is not prone to the systematic effects due to scan angle.
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paper_title: Overview of NASA Earth Observing Systems Terra and Aqua moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer instrument calibration algorithms and on-orbit performance

paper_content:

Since launch, Terra and Aqua MODIS have successfully operated on-orbit for more than 9 and 6.5 years, respectively. MODIS, a key instrument for the NASA's EOS missions, was designed to make continuous observations for studies of Earth's land, ocean, and atmospheric properties and to extend existing data records from heritage earth-observing sensors. In addition to frequent global coverage, MODIS observations are made in 36 spectral bands, covering both solar reflective and thermal emissive spectral regions. Nearly 40 data products are routinely generated from MODIS observations and publicly distributed for a broad range of applications. Both instruments have produced an unprecedented amount of data in support of the science community. As a general reference for understanding sensor operation and calibration, and thus science data quality, this paper provides an overview of the MODIS instruments and their pre-launch calibration and characterization, and describes their on-orbit calibration algorithms and performance. On-orbit results from both Terra and Aqua MODIS radiometric, spectral, and spatial calibration are discussed. Currently, both instruments, including their on-board calibration devices, are healthy and are expected to continue operation for several years to come.
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paper_title: Terra and Aqua MODIS inter-comparison of three reflective solar bands using AVHRR onboard the NOAA-KLM satellites

paper_content:

Cross-sensor inter-comparison is important to assess calibration quality and consistency and ensure continuity of observational datasets. This study conducts an inter-comparison of Terra and Aqua MODIS (the MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) to examine the overall calibration consistency of the reflective solar bands. Observations obtained from AVHRR (the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer) onboard the NOAA-KLM series of satellites are used as a transfer radiometer to examine three MODIS bands at 0.65 (visible), 0.85 (near-IR) and 1.64 µm (far near-IR) that match spectrally with AVHRR channels. Coincident events are sampled at a frequency of about once per month with each containing at least 3000 pixel-by-pixel matched data points. Multiple AVHRR sensors on-board NOAA-15 to 18 satellites are used to check the repeatability of the Terra/Aqua MODIS inter-comparison results. The same approach applied in previous studies is used with defined criteria to generate coincident and co-located near nadir MODIS and AVHRR pixel pairs matched in footprint. Terra and Aqua MODIS to AVHRR reflectance ratios are derived from matched pixel pairs with the same AVHRR used as a transfer radiometer. The ratio differences between Terra and Aqua MODIS/AVHRR give an indication of the calibration biases between the two MODIS instruments. Effects due to pixel footprint mismatch, band spectral differences and surface and atmospheric bi-directional reflectance distributions (BRDFs) are discussed. Trending results from 2002 to 2006 show that Terra and Aqua MODIS reflectances agree with each other within 2% for the three reflective solar bands.
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paper_title: Assessing the consistency of AVHRR and MODIS L1B reflectance for generating Fundamental Climate Data Records

paper_content:

[1] Satellite detection of the global climate change signals as small as a few percent per decade in albedo critically depends on consistent and accurately calibrated Level 1B (L1B) data or Fundamental Climate Data Records (FCDRs). Detecting small changes in signal over decades is a major challenge not only to the retrieval of geophysical parameters from satellite observations, but more importantly to the current state-of-the-art calibration, since such small changes can easily be obscured by erroneous variations in the calibration, especially for instruments with no onboard calibration, such as the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR). Without dependable FCDRs, its derivative Thematic Climate Data Records (TCDRs) are bound to produce false trends with questionable scientific value. This has been increasingly recognized by more and more remote sensing scientists. In this study we analyzed the consistency of calibrated reflectance from the operational L1B data between AVHRR on NOAA-16 and -17 and between NOAA-16/AVHRR and Aqua/MODIS, based on Simultaneous Nadir Overpass (SNO) observation time series. Analyses suggest that the NOAA-16 and -17/AVHRR operationally calibrated reflectance became consistent two years after the launch of NOAA-17, although they still differ by 9% from the MODIS reflectance for the 0.63 μm band. This study also suggests that the SNO method has reached a high level of relative accuracy (∼1.5%) for estimating the consistency for both the 0.63 and 0.84 μm bands between AVHRRs, and a 0.9% relative accuracy between AVHRR and MODIS for the 0.63 μm band. It is believed that the methodology is applicable to all historical AVHRR data for improving the calibration consistency, and work is in progress generating FCDRs from the nearly 30 years of AVHRR data using the SNO and other complimentary methods. A more consistent historical AVHRR L1B data set will be produced for a variety of geophysical products including aerosol, vegetation, cloud, and surface albedo to support global climate change detection studies.
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paper_title: An Extended and Improved Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) Period of Record

paper_content:

Abstract The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Climatic Data Center has served as the archive of the Defense Meteorological Satellite Program Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) data from the F-8, F-10, F-11, F-13, F-14, and F-15 platforms covering the period from July 1987 to the present. Passive microwave satellite measurements from SSM/I have been used to generate climate products in support of national and international programs. The SSM/I temperature data record (TDR) and sensor data record (SDR) datasets have been reprocessed and stored as network Common Data Form (netCDF) 3-hourly files. In addition to reformatting the data, a normalized anomaly (z score) for each footprint temperature value was calculated by subtracting each radiance value with the corresponding monthly 1° grid climatological mean and dividing it by the associated climatological standard deviation. Threshold checks were also used to detect radiance, temporal, and geolocation values that were outside the ...
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paper_title: Three decades of intersatellite‐calibrated High‐Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder upper tropospheric water vapor

paper_content:

[1] To generate a climatologically homogenized time series of the upper tropospheric water vapor (UTWV), intersatellite calibration is carried out for 3 decades of High-Resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder (HIRS) channel 12 clear-sky measurements. Because of the independence of the individual satellite's instrument calibration, intersatellite biases exist from satellite to satellite. To minimize the expected intersatellite biases, measurement adjustments are derived from overlapping HIRS data from the equator to the poles to account for the large global temperature observation range. Examination of the intersatellite biases shows that the biases are scene temperature–dependent. Many overlapping satellites have bias variations of more than 0.5 K across the scene temperature ranges. An algorithm is developed to account for the varying biases with respect to brightness temperature. Analyses based on the intercalibrated data show that selected regions of UTWV are highly correlated with low-frequency indexes such as the Pacific Decadal Oscillation index and the Pacific and North America index, especially in the winter months. The derived upper tropospheric humidity in the central Pacific also corresponds well with the Nino 3.4 index. Thirty year trend analysis indicates an increase of upper tropospheric humidity in the equatorial tropics. The areal coverage of both high and low humidity values also increased over time. These features suggest the possibility of enhanced convective activity in the tropics.
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paper_title: Construction of the RSS V3.2 Lower-Tropospheric Temperature Dataset from the MSU and AMSU Microwave Sounders

paper_content:

Abstract Measurements made by microwave sounding instruments provide a multidecadal record of atmospheric temperature in several thick atmospheric layers. Satellite measurements began in late 1978 with the launch of the first Microwave Sounding Unit (MSU) and have continued to the present via the use of measurements from the follow-on series of instruments, the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU). The weighting function for MSU channel 2 is centered in the middle troposphere but contains significant weight in the lower stratosphere. To obtain an estimate of tropospheric temperature change that is free from stratospheric effects, a weighted average of MSU channel 2 measurements made at different local zenith angles is used to extrapolate the measurements toward the surface, which results in a measurement of changes in the lower troposphere. In this paper, a description is provided of methods that were used to extend the MSU method to the newer AMSU channel 5 measurements and to intercalibrate the resul...
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paper_title: Prime candidate Earth targets for the post-launch radiometric calibration of space-based optical imaging instruments

paper_content:

This paper provides a comprehensive list of prime candidate terrestrial targets for consideration as benchmark sites for the post-launch radiometric calibration of space-based instruments. The key characteristics of suitable sites are outlined primarily with respect to selection criteria, spatial uniformity, and temporal stability. The establishment and utilization of such benchmark sites is considered an important element of the radiometric traceability of satellite image data products for use in the accurate monitoring of environmental change.
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paper_title: IASI spectral radiance validation inter-comparisons : case study assessment from the JAIVEx field campaign

paper_content:

Advanced satellite sensors are tasked with improving global-scale measurements of the Earth's atmosphere, clouds, and surface to enable enhancements in weather prediction, climate monitoring, and environmental change detection. Measurement system validation is crucial to achieving this goal and maximizing research and operational utility of resultant data. Field campaigns employing satellite under-flights with well-calibrated Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) sensors aboard high-altitude aircraft are an essential part of this validation task. The National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) Airborne Sounder Testbed-Interferometer (NAST-I) has been a fundamental contributor in this area by providing coincident high spectral and spatial resolution observations of infrared spectral radiances along with independently-retrieved geophysical products for comparison with like products from satellite sensors being validated. This manuscript focuses on validating infrared spectral radiance from the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) through a case study analysis using data obtained during the recent Joint Airborne IASI Validation Experiment (JAIVEx) field campaign. Emphasis is placed upon the benefits achievable from employing airborne interferometers such as the NAST-I since, in addition to IASI radiance calibration performance assessments, cross-validation with other advanced sounders such as the AQUA Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS) is enabled.
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paper_title: Monitoring of IR Clear-Sky Radiances over Oceans for SST (MICROS)

paper_content:

Monitoring of IR Clear-sky Radiances over Oceans for SST (MICROS, www.star.nesdis.noaa.gov/sod/sst/micros/) is a web-based tool used to monitor the Model minus Observation (M-O) biases in clear-sky brightness temperatures (BT) over oceans, produced by the newly developed Advanced Clear-Sky Processor for Oceans (ACSPO). ACSPO version 1.0 became operational in May 2008 with AVHRR Global Area Coverage data from NOAA-18 and MetOp-A. Currently, it generates clear-sky radiances (CSR), sea surface temperature (SST), and aerosol products from four platforms including NOAA-16 and -17, which are also processed for cross-platform checks. The central part of ACSPO is the fast Community Radiative Transfer Model (CRTM), which is used in conjunction with Reynolds SST and Global Forecast System (GFS) upper-air data to simulate clear-sky BTs in AVHRR Ch3B (3.7 μm), 4 (11 μm), and 5 (12 μm). CRTM clear-sky BTs are reported on ACSPO product granules alongside with AVHRR measured clear-sky BTs. Currently, MICROS performs three functions in near-real time: it runs ACSPO processing for four platforms, performs statistical analyses of the M-O biases, and publishes summary results on the web. This paper documents the MICROS system and discusses effects of three ACSPO versions on the stability of the global M-O bias. The upgrades did not significantly affect mean M-O biases, but their standard deviations (STD) have significantly improved. Double-differencing technique is employed to check clear-sky radiances over ocean for cross-platform consistency. All analyses show that NOAA-16 radiances are highly unstable in all three bands. This satellite currently flies close to the terminator. Also, its AVHRR sensor has been unstable since September 2003. Radiances from the three other platforms are generally stable and cross-platform consistent to within 0.01-0.04 K, except for NOAA-18 Ch4 which shows a ~-0.11 K bias relative to NOAA-17 and ~-0.07 K bias relative to MetOp-A. Work is underway to extend MICROS functionality to include monitoring of clear-sky BTs from MSG/SEVIRI. NPOESS/VIIRS and GOES-R/ABI data will also be added to MICROS once these sensors are in orbit. For accurate physical (CRTM-based) SST retrievals, biases in AVHRR BTs should be fully understood and minimized. Improvements to daytime CRTM modeling are also underway.
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paper_title: Online catalog of world-wide test sites for the post-launch characterization and calibration of optical sensors

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In an era when the number of Earth-observing satellites is rapidly growing and measurements from these sensors are used to answer increasingly urgent global issues, it is imperative that scientists and decision-makers can rely on the accuracy of Earth-observing data products. The characterization and calibration of these sensors are vital to achieve an integrated Global Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS) for coordinated and sustained observations of Earth. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), as a supporting member of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) and GEOSS, is working with partners around the world to establish an online catalog of prime candidate test sites for the post-launch characterization and calibration of space-based optical imaging sensors. The online catalog provides easy public Web site access to this vital information for the global community. This paper describes the catalog, the test sites, and the methodologies to use the test sites. It also provides information regarding access to the online catalog and plans for further development of the catalog in cooperation with calibration specialists from agencies and organizations around the world. Through greater access to and understanding of these vital test sites and their use, the validity and utility of information gained from Earth remote sensing will continue to improve.
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paper_title: Consistency assessment of Atmospheric Infrared Sounder and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer radiances: Double differences versus simultaneous nadir overpasses

paper_content:

[1] Quantifying the radiometric difference and creating a calibration link between Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on Aqua and Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on MetOp are crucial for creating fundamental climate data records and intercalibrating other narrowband or broadband satellite instruments. This study employs two different methods to assess the AIRS and IASI radiance consistency within the four Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imager infrared channels (with central wavelengths at 6.7, 10.7, 12.0, and 13.3 μm) through a period of 2 years and 9 months. The first method employs the differences of AIRS and IASI relative to the GOES observations sampled in the tropics to indirectly track the AIRS and IASI radiance differences. The second approach directly compares AIRS and IASI in the polar regions through the simultaneous nadir overpass observations. Both methods reveal that AIRS and IASI radiances are in good agreement with each other both in the tropics and in the polar regions within GOES imager channels used in this study, while AIRS is found to be slightly warmer than IASI by less than 0.1 K.
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paper_title: Monitoring Satellite Radiance Biases Using NWP Models

paper_content:

Radiances measured by satellite radiometers are often subject to biases due to limitations in their radiometric calibration. In support of the Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System project, to improve the quality of calibrated radiances from atmospheric sounders and imaging radiometers, an activity is underway to compare routinely measured radiances with those simulated from operational global numerical weather prediction (NWP) fields. This paper describes the results obtained from the first three years of these comparisons. Data from the High-resolution Infrared Radiation Sounder, Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager, Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer, Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit, and Microwave Humidity Sounder radiometers, together with the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder, a spectrometer, and the Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer, an interferometer, were included in the analysis. Changes in mean biases and their standard deviations were used to investigate the temporal stability of the bias and radiometric noise of the instruments. A double difference technique can be employed to remove the effect of changes or deficiencies in the NWP model which can contribute to the biases. The variation of the biases with other variables is also investigated, such as scene temperature, scan angle, location, and time of day. Many of the instruments were shown to be stable in time, with a few exceptions, but measurements from the same instrument on different platforms are often biased with respect to each other. The limitations of the polar simultaneous nadir overpasses often used to monitor biases between polar-orbiting sensors are shown with these results due to the apparent strong dependence of some radiance biases on scene temperature.
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paper_title: Radiometric Calibration of Landsat

paper_content:

The radiometric calibration of the sensors on the Landsat se- ries of satellites is a contributing factor to the success of the Landsat data set. The calibration of these sensors has relied on the preflight laboratory work as well as on inflight tech- niques using on-board calibrators and vicarious techniques. Descriptions of these methods and systems are presented. Results of the on-board calibrators and reflectance-based, ground reference calibrations of Landsat 5 Thematic Mapper are presented that indicate the absolute radiometric calibra- tion of bands 1 to 4 should have an uncertainty of less than 5.0 percent. Bands 5 and 7 have slightly higher uncertainties, but should be less than 10 percent. The results also show that the on-board calibrators are of higher precision than the vicarious calibration but that the vicarious calibration results should have higher accuracy. Introduction The Landsat series of satellites provides the longest running continuous data set of high spatial-resolution imagery dating back to the launch of Landsat 1 in 1972. Part of the success of the Landsat program has been the ability to understand the radiometric properties of the sensors. This understanding has been due to the combination of prelaunch and post- launch efforts using laboratory, on-board, and vicarious cali- bration methods. The radiometric calibration of these systems helps characterize the operation of the sensors, but more importantly, the calibration allows the full Landsat data set to be used in a quantitative sense. A brief overview of the Landsat systems is given here, but the reader is directed to Engel and Weinstein (1983), Lansing and Cline (1975), Markham and Barker (1987), and Slater (1980) for detailed descriptions. The Landsat series of satellites can be viewed in two distinct parts. The first in- cludes Landsats 1, 2, and 3 that carried two sensor systems: the return beam vidicon (RBV) and the Multispectral Scanner (MSS) system. The RBv camera systems on Landsats 1 and 2 were multispectral with three cameras, while the system on Landsat 3 used only two cameras in a panchromatic mode. Landsats 1, 2, and 3 operated in a glg-krn, sun-synchronous orbit with an 18-day repeat cycle. The second phase of Land- sat includes Landsats 4 and 5. These platforms omitted the RBV cameras but still carried the Mss. These two platforms also carried the Thematic Mapper (TM), and their orbits were lowered to 705 krn with a 16-day repeat cycle. The MSS is a 6-bit, whiskbroom sensor with six detectors for each of its four bands. These bands are centered roughly at 0.55, 0.65, 0.75, and 0.85 pm (the MSS on Landsat 3 also had a fifth band between 10.4 and 12.6 pm). Bands 1 to 3 use photomultiplier tubes, while band 4 uses photodiodes. The MSS only collects data in one scan direction, and there is no compensation in the scan for the forward motion of the platform. At the end of every other scan, a rotating shutter and mirror assembly allows light from a calibration lamp to reach the detectors. The TM is also a whiskbroom system but it scans in both the forward and backward cross-track directions, and it cor- rects for the forward motion of the platform. In addition, the TM has 8-bit radiometric resolution and seven bands. Bands 1 to 5 and 7 each have 16 detectors with center wavelengths of roughly 0.49, 0.56, 0.66, 0.83, 1.67, and 2.24 Fm. Band 6 has four detectors and is centered around 11.5 pm. Bands 1 to 4 use silicon-based detectors, bands 5 and 7 use indium antimonide detectors, and band 6 uses mercury-cadmium-tel- luride detectors. Bands 5, 6, and 7 are part of the cold-focal plane that is cooled to 85°K through the use of a radiative cooler. The TM has an on-board calibration system composed of a shutter that oscillates rather than rotates and allows cali- bration data to be collected at the end of each scan. A great deal of research was done during the early days
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paper_title: Determination of an Amazon Hot Reference Target for the On-Orbit Calibration of Microwave Radiometers

paper_content:

Abstract A physically based model is developed to determine hot calibration reference brightness temperatures (TBs) over depolarized regions in the Amazon rain forest. The model can be used to evaluate the end-to-end calibration of any satellite microwave radiometer operating at a frequency between 18 and 40 GHz and angle of incidence between nadir and 55°. The model is constrained by Special Sensor Microwave Imager (SSM/I) TBs measured at 19.35, 22.2, and 37.0 GHz at a 53° angle of incidence and extrapolates/interpolates those measurements to other frequencies and incidence angles. The rms uncertainty in the physically based model is estimated to be 0.57 K. For instances in which coincident SSM/I measurements are not available, an empirical formula has been fit to the physical model to provide hot reference brightness temperature as a function of frequency, incidence angle, time of day, and day of year. The empirical formula has a 0.1-K rms deviation from the physically based model for annual averaged me...
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paper_title: Detection of calibration drifts in spaceborne microwave radiometers using a vicarious cold reference

paper_content:

The coldest possible brightness temperatures observed by a downward-looking microwave radiometer from space are often produced by calm oceans under cloud-free skies and very low humidity. This set of conditions tends to occur with sufficient regularity that an orbiting radiometer will accumulate a useful number of observations within a period of a few days to weeks. Histograms of the radiometer's coldest measurements provide an anchor point against which very small drifts in absolute calibration can be detected. This technique is applied to the TOPEX microwave radiometer (TMR), and a statistically significant drift of several tenths of a Kelvin per year is clearly detected in one of the channels. TMR housekeeping calibration data indicates a likely cause for the drift, as small changes in the isolation of latching ferrite circulators that are used in the onboard calibration-switch assembly. This method can easily be adapted to other microwave radiometers, especially imagers operating at frequencies in the atmospheric windows. In addition to detecting long-term instrument drifts with high precision, the method also provides a means for cross-calibrating different instruments. The cold reference provides a common tie point, even between sensors operating at different polarizations and/or incidence angles.
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paper_title: In-flight calibration of large field of view sensors at short wavelengths using Rayleigh scattering

paper_content:

Abstract Satellite observations over the ocean in the backscatter direction are dominated by Rayleigh scattering. We use this predictable radiance for in-flight calibration of the visible SPOT channels. Two methods are evaluated. The first method directly relates the measured numerical signal in a short wavelength channel to the predicted reflectance. In the second method, we use a second channel centred at a longer wavelength, to correct the short wavelength channel for the effect of the atmospheric aerosol contribution. These two methods are examined for channel B0 , centred at 045 μm planned for launch on SPOT-4 VEGETATION, and for channel B1 centred at 0-55 mu;mm, currently on-board SPOT-1 HRV. In both cases, the channel B3 , centred at 0-85 mu;mm is used for aerosol correction. Error analysis shows that accuracies of 3 and 5 per cent respectively can be achieved for B0 and B1. The last section of the paper is devoted to a validation of the error analysis using SPOT-1 HRV data.
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paper_title: Monitoring of Radiometric Sensitivity Changes of Space Sensors Using Deep Convective Clouds: Operational Application to PARASOL

paper_content:

Deep convective clouds have been tested to be used as stable reference for calibration purposes: the monitoring of the radiometric changes of space sensors in the spectral range from blue to short-wave infrared. After an appropriate selection, the clouds have been characterized for their brightness, spectral aspects, bidirectional signature, stability, and homogeneity. For this, radiative transfer computations using a discrete ordinate code, as well as remote sensing measurements from the PARASOL satellite, were analyzed. The first main result is a confirmation that the monthly mean reflectance over deep convective clouds is quite stable as suggested in other papers. Moreover, the excellent spectral properties of deep convective clouds are really convenient for a temporal monitoring if it can be assumed that a reference band is stable or well characterized with time. If the reference band is perfectly known, the accuracy of the temporal monitoring is about 0.2%. Experimental results are provided with PARASOL data for which the temporal drift is known with an accuracy better than 0.5% for the three years in orbit (accuracy which includes the uncertainty of the reference band).
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paper_title: Comparison of SeaWiFS measurements of the Moon with the U.S. Geological Survey lunar model.

paper_content:

The Sea-Viewing Wide-Field-of-View Sensor (SeaWiFS) has made monthly observations of the Moon since 1997. Using 66 monthly measurements, the SeaWiFS calibration team has developed a correction for the instrument's on-orbit response changes. Concurrently, a lunar irradiance model has been developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from extensive Earth-based observations of the Moon. The lunar irradiances measured by SeaWiFS are compared with the USGS model. The comparison shows essentially identical response histories for SeaWiFS, with differences from the model of less than 0.05% per thousand days in the long-term trends. From the SeaWiFS experience we have learned that it is important to view the entire lunar image at a constant phase angle from measurement to measurement and to understand, as best as possible, the size of each lunar image. However, a constant phase angle is not required for using the USGS model. With a long-term satellite lunar data set it is possible to determine instrument changes at a quality level approximating that from the USGS lunar model. However, early in a mission, when the dependence on factors such as phase and libration cannot be adequately determined from satellite measurements alone, the USGS model is critical to an understanding of trends in instruments that use the Moon for calibration. This is the case for SeaWiFS.
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paper_title: Possibility of the Visible-Channel Calibration Using Deep Convective Clouds Overshooting the TTL

paper_content:

Abstract The authors examined the possible use of deep convective clouds (DCCs), defined as clouds that overshoot the tropical tropopause layer (TTL), for the calibration of satellite measurements at solar channels. DCCs are identified in terms of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) 10.8-μm brightness temperature (TB11) on the basis of a criterion specified by TB11 ≤ 190 K. To determine the characteristics of these clouds, the MODIS-based cloud optical thickness (COT) and effective radius (re) for a number of identified DCCs are analyzed. It is found that COT values for most of the 4249 DCC pixels observed in January 2006 are close to 100. Based on the MODIS quality-assurance information, 90% and 70.2% of the 4249 pixels have COT larger than 100 and 150, respectively. On the other hand, the re values distributed between 15 and 25 μm show a sharp peak centered approximately at 20 μm. Radiances are simulated at the MODIS 0.646-μm channel by using a radiative transfer model under homoge...
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paper_title: Selection and characterization of Saharan and Arabian desert sites for the calibration of optical satellite sensors

paper_content:

Desert areas are good candidates for the assessment of multitemporal, multiband, or multiangular calibration of optical satellite sensors. This article describes a selection procedure of desert sites in North Africa and Saudi Arabia, of size 100 × 100 km2, using a criterion of spatial uniformity in a series of Meteosat-4 visible data. Twenty such sites are selected with a spatial uniformity better than 3% in relative value in a multitemporal series of cloud free images. These sites are among the driest sites in the world. Their meteorological properties are here described in terms of cloud cover with ISCCP data and precipitation using data from a network of meteorological stations. Most of the selected sites are large sand seas, the geomorphology of which can be characterized with Spot data. The temporal stability of the spatially averaged reflectance of each selected site is investigated at seasonal and hourly time scales with multitemporal series of Meteosat-4 data. It is found that the temporal variations, of typical peak-to-peak amplitude 8–15% in relative value, are mostly controlled by directional effects. Once the directional effects are removed, the residual rms variations, representative of random temporal variability, are on the order of 1–2% in relative value. The suitability of use of these selected sites in routine operational calibration procedures is briefly discussed.
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paper_title: Photometric Stability of the Lunar Surface

paper_content:

Abstract The rate at which cratering events currently occur on the Moon is considered in light of their influence on the use of the Moon as a radiometric standard. The radiometric effect of small impact events is determined empirically from the study of Clementine images. Events that would change the integral brightness of the moon by 1% are expected once per 1.4 Gyr. Events that cause a 1% shift in one pixel for low Earth-orbiting instruments with a 1-km nadir field of view are expected approximately once each 43 Myr. Events discernible at 1% radiometric resolution with a 5 arc-sec telescope resolution correspond to crater diameters of approximately 210 m and are expected once every 200 years. These rates are uncertain by a factor of two. For a fixed illumination and observation geometry, the Moon can be considered photometrically stable to 1 × 10 −8 per annum for irradiance, and 1 × 10 −7 per annum for radiance at a resolution common for spacecraft imaging instruments, exceeding reasonable instrument goals by six orders of magnitude.
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paper_title: THE SPECTRAL IRRADIANCE OF THE MOON

paper_content:

Images of the Moon at 32 wavelengths from 350 to 2450 nm have been obtained from a dedicated observatory during the bright half of each month over a period of several years. The ultimate goal is to develop a spectral radiance model of the Moon with an angular resolution and radiometric accuracy appropriate for calibration of Earth-orbiting spacecraft. An empirical model of irradiance has been developed that treats phase and libration explicitly, with absolute scale founded on the spectra of the star Vega and returned Apollo samples. A selected set of 190 standard stars are observed regularly to provide nightly extinction correction and long-term calibration of the observations. The extinction model is wavelength-coupled and based on the absorption coefficients of a number of gases and aerosols. The empirical irradiance model has the same form at each wavelength, with 18 coefficients, eight of which are constant across wavelength, for a total of 328 coefficients. Over 1000 lunar observations are fitted at each wavelength; the average residual is less than 1%. The irradiance model is actively being used in lunar calibration of several spacecraft instruments and can track sensor response changes at the 0.1% level.
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paper_title: In-flight calibration of the POLDER polarized channels using the Sun's glitter

paper_content:

The spaceborne sensor Polarization and Directionality of the Earth Reflectances (POLDER), launched on the Japanese platform Advanced Earth Observation Satellite (ADEOS) on August 17, 1996, is a new instrument devoted to multispectral observations of the directionality and polarization of the solar radiation reflected by the Earth-atmosphere system. Polarization measurements are performed in three channels, centered at 443, 670, and 865 nm. As POLDER has no onboard calibration system, in-flight calibration methods have been developed. The authors address in this paper the calibration of the polarization measurements. The method uses the sunlight reflected within the Sun's glitter. While the radiance of the Sun's glitter depends strongly on the sea surface roughness, its intrinsic degree of polarization depends only on the observation geometry, which is specially convenient for calibration purposes. However, the degree of polarization measured at the satellite level is affected by the atmosphere. The proposed calibration scheme allows the authors to take into account the influence of the atmosphere on the degree of polarization measured in some viewing direction within the glitter pattern by using the radiance measured in the same viewing direction and in another direction far from the glitter. The expected accuracy is about 0.5% in the near-infrared channel 865 nm and about 2% in the visible channels, in terms of percent polarization. The method has been applied successfully to measurements achieved over ocean areas with the airborne version of the POLDER instrument.
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paper_title: Evaluation of radiative transfer simulations over bright desert calibration sites

paper_content:

The Spinning Enhanced Visible and Infrared Imager (SEVIRI), the Meteosat Second Generation main radiometer, measures the reflected solar radiation within three spectral bands centered at 0.6, 0.8, and 1.6 /spl mu/m, and within a broadband. This broadband is similar to the solar channel of the radiometer onboard the first generation of METEOSAT satellites. The operational absolute calibration of these channels relies on modeled radiances over bright desert sites, as no in-flight calibration device is available. These simulated radiances represent, therefore, the "reference" against which SEVIRI is calibrated. The present study describes the radiative properties of these targets and evaluates the uncertainties associated with the characterization of this "reference", i.e. the modeled radiances. To this end, top-of-atmosphere simulated radiances are compared with several thousands of calibrated observations acquired by the European Remote Sensing 2/Along-Track Scanning Radiometer 2 (ERS2/ATSR-2), SeaStar/Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), Syste/spl grave/me Pour l'Observation de la Terre 4 (SPOT-4/VEGETATION), and the Environmental Research Satellite/Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (ENVISAT/MERIS) instruments over the SEVIRI desert calibration sites. Results show that the mean relative bias between observation and simulation does not exceed 3% in the red and near-infrared spectral bands with respect to the first two instruments.
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paper_title: Evaluation of ISCCP Multisatellite Radiance Calibration for Geostationary Imager Visible Channels Using the Moon

paper_content:

Since 1983, the International Satellite Cloud Climatology Project (ISCCP) has collected Earth radiance data from the succession of geostationary and polar-orbiting meteorological satellites operated by weather agencies worldwide. Meeting the ISCCP goals of global coverage and decade-length time scales requires consistent and stable calibration of the participating satellites. For the geostationary imager visible channels, ISCCP calibration provides regular periodic updates from regressions of radiances measured from coincident and collocated observations taken by Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer instruments. As an independent check of the temporal stability and intersatellite consistency of ISCCP calibrations, we have applied lunar calibration techniques to geostationary imager visible channels using images of the Moon found in the ISCCP data archive. Lunar calibration enables using the reflected light from the Moon as a stable and consistent radiometric reference. Although the technique has general applicability, limitations of the archived image data have restricted the current study to Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite and Geostationary Meteorological Satellite series. The results of this lunar analysis confirm that ISCCP calibration exhibits negligible temporal trends in sensor response but have revealed apparent relative biases between the satellites at various levels. However, these biases amount to differences of only a few percent in measured absolute reflectances. Since the lunar analysis examines only the lower end of the radiance range, the results suggest that the ISCCP calibration regression approach does not precisely determine the intercept or the zero-radiance response level. We discuss the impact of these findings on the development of consistent calibration for multisatellite global data sets.
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paper_title: Improvements in the star-based monitoring of GOES Imager visible-channel responsivities

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Stars are regularly observed in the visible channels of the GOES Imagers for real-time navigation operations. However, we have been also using star observations off-line to deduce the rate of degradation of the responsivity of the visible channels. We estimate degradation rates from the time series of the intensities of the Imagers' output signals, available in the GOES Orbit and Attitude Tracking System (OATS). We begin by showing our latest results in monitoring the responsivities of the visible channels on GOES-8, GOES-10 and GOES-12. Unfortunately, the OATS computes the intensities of the star signals with approximations suitable for navigation, not for estimating accurate signal strengths, and thus we had to develop objective criteria for screening out unsuitable data. With several layers of screening, our most recent trending method yields smoother time series of star signals, but the time series are supported by a smaller pool of stars. With the goal of simplifying the task of data selection and to retrieve stars that have been rejected in the screening, we tested a technique that accessed the raw star measurements before they were processed by the OATS. We developed formulations that produced star signals in a manner more suitable for monitoring the conditions of the visible channels. We present specifics of this process together with sample results. We discuss improvements in the quality of the time series that allow for more reliable inferences on the characteristics of the visible channels.
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paper_title: Recent advances in calibration of the GOES Imager visible channel at NOAA

paper_content:

To track the degradation of the Imager visible channel on board NOAA’s Geostationary Operation ::: Environmental Satellite (GOES), a research program has been developed using the stellar observations ::: obtained for the purpose of instrument navigation. For monitoring the responsivity of the visible channel, we ::: use observations of approximately fifty stars for each Imager. The degradation of the responsivity is ::: estimated from a single time series based on 30-day averages of the normalized signals from all the stars. ::: Referencing the 30-day averages to the first averaged period of operation, we are able to compute a relative ::: calibration coefficient relative to the first period. Coupling this calibration coefficient with a GOES-MODIS ::: intercalibration technique allows a direct comparison of the star-based relative GOES calibration to a ::: MODIS-based absolute GOES calibration, thus translating the relative star-based calibration to an absolute ::: star-based calibration. We conclude with a discussion of the accuracy of the intercalibrated GOES Imager ::: visible channel radiance measurements.
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paper_title: GSICS Inter-Calibration of Infrared Channels of Geostationary Imagers Using Metop/IASI

paper_content:

The first products of the Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) include bias monitoring and calibration corrections for the thermal infrared (IR) channels of current meteorological sensors on geostationary satellites. These use the hyperspectral Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer (IASI) on the low Earth orbit (LEO) Metop satellite as a common cross-calibration reference. This paper describes the algorithm, which uses a weighted linear regression, to compare collocated radiances observed from each pair of geostationary-LEO instruments. The regression coefficients define the GSICS Correction, and their uncertainties provide quality indicators, ensuring traceability to the selected community reference, IASI. Examples are given for the Meteosat, GOES, MTSAT, Fengyun-2, and COMS imagers. Some channels of these instruments show biases that vary with time due to variations in the thermal environment, stray light, and optical contamination. These results demonstrate how inter-calibration can be a powerful tool to monitor and correct biases, and help diagnose their root causes.
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paper_title: The Global Space-Based Inter-Calibration System

paper_content:

The Global Space-based Inter-Calibration System (GSICS) is a new international program to assure the comparability of satellite measurements taken at different times and locations by different instruments operated by different satellite agencies. Sponsored by the World Meteorological Organization and the Coordination Group for Meteorological Satellites, GSICS will intercalibrate the instruments of the international constellation of operational low-earth-orbiting (LEO) and geostationary earth-orbiting (GEO) environmental satellites and tie these to common reference standards. The intercomparability of the observations will result in more accurate measurements for assimilation in numerical weather prediction models, construction of more reliable climate data records, and progress toward achieving the societal goals of the Global Earth Observation System of Systems. GSICS includes globally coordinated activities for prelaunch instrument characterization, onboard routine calibration, sensor intercomparison of...
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paper_title: Deriving an inter-sensor consistent calibration for the AVHRR solar reflectance data record

paper_content:

A new set of reflectance calibration coefficients has been derived for channel 1 (0.63 μm) and channel 2 (0.86 μm) of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) flown on the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT) polar orbiting meteorological satellites. This paper uses several approaches that are radiometrically tied to the observations from National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) imager to make the first consistent set of AVHRR reflectance calibration coefficients for every AVHRR that has ever flown. Our results indicate that the calibration coefficients presented here provide an accuracy of approximately 2% for channel 1 and 3% for channel 2 relative to that from the MODIS sensor.
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paper_title: Improved calibration coefficients for NOAA-14 AVHRR visible and near-infrared channels

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An analysis of the calibration coefficients used to describe sensor degradation in channels 1 and 2 of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) on the NOAA-14 spacecraft is presented. The radiometrically stable permanent ice sheet of central Antarctica is used as a calibration target to characterize sensor performance. Published calibration coefficients and the coefficients imbedded in the NOAA Level 1b data stream for the period January 1995 to November 1998 are shown to be deficient in correcting for the degradation of the sensor with time since launch. Calibration formulae constructed from NOAA-9 reflectances are used to derive improved calibration coefficients for the AVHRR visible and near-infrared channels for NOAA-14. Channel 1 reflectances for the Greenland ice sheet derived using the new coefficients are consistent with those derived previously using NOAA-9 AVHRR. In addition, improved reference AVHRR channel 2 reflectances for Greenland are derived from NOAA-14 observations. It is re...
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paper_title: Surface characterisation of the Dome Concordia area (Antarctica) as a potential satellite calibration site, using Spot 4/Vegetation instrument

paper_content:

A good calibration of satellite sensors is necessary to derive reliable quantitative measurements of the surface parameters or to compare data obtained from different sensors. In this study, the snow surface of the high plateau of the East Antarctic ice sheet, particularly the Dome C area (75jS, 123jE), is used first to test the quality of this site as a ground calibration target and then to determine the inter-annual drift in the sensitivity of the VEGETATION sensor, onboard the SPOT4 satellite. Dome C area has many good calibration site characteristics: The site is very flat and extremely homogeneous (only snow), there is little wind and a very small snow accumulation rate and therefore a small temporal variability, the elevation is 3200 m and the atmosphere is very clear most of the time. Finally, due to its location, it is frequently within view of many satellites. VEGETATION visible blue channel data (0.43–0.47 Am) of a 716716 km 2 area centred on the French– Italian Dome Concordia station, during the 1998–1999, 1999–2000, 2001–2001, and 2001–2002 austral summers were cloud masked and atmospherically corrected. The snow surface Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function is very high with little spatial and seasonal variability, which is a major advantage for sensor calibration. The inter-annual variation is found to be very small, proving that the stability of the site is very good.
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paper_title: Establishing the Antarctic Dome C community reference standard site towards consistent measurements from Earth observation satellites

paper_content:

Establishing satellite measurement consistency by using common desert sites has become increasingly more important not only for climate change detection but also for quantitative retrievals of geophysical variables in satellite applications. Using the Antarctic Dome C site (75°06′S, 123°21′E, elevation 3.2 km) for satellite radiometric calibration and validation (Cal/Val) is of great interest owing to its unique location and characteristics. The site surface is covered with uniformly distributed permanent snow, and the atmospheric effect is small and relatively constant. In this study, the long-term stability and spectral characteristics of this site are evaluated using well-calibrated satellite instruments such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS). Preliminary results show that despite a few limitations, the site in general is stable in the long term, the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model works well, an...
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paper_title: Spectral bidirectional reflectance of Antarctic snow: Measurements and parameterization

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The bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of snow was measured from a 32-m tower at Dome C, at latitude 75°S on the East Antarctic Plateau. These measurements were made at 96 solar zenith angles between 51° and 87° and cover wavelengths 350–2400 nm, with 3- to 30-nm resolution, over the full range of viewing geometry. The BRDF at 900 nm had previously been measured at the South Pole; the Dome C measurement at that wavelength is similar. At both locations the natural roughness of the snow surface causes the anisotropy of the BRDF to be less than that of flat snow. The inherent BRDF of the snow is nearly constant in the high-albedo part of the spectrum (350–900 nm), but the angular distribution of reflected radiance becomes more isotropic at the shorter wavelengths because of atmospheric Rayleigh scattering. Parameterizations were developed for the anisotropic reflectance factor using a small number of empirical orthogonal functions. Because the reflectance is more anisotropic at wavelengths at which ice is more absorptive, albedo rather than wavelength is used as a predictor in the near infrared. The parameterizations cover nearly all viewing angles and are applicable to the high parts of the Antarctic Plateau that have small surface roughness and, at viewing zenith angles less than 55°, elsewhere on the plateau, where larger surface roughness affects the BRDF at larger viewing angles. The root-mean-squared error of the parameterized reflectances is between 2% and 4% at wavelengths less than 1400 nm and between 5% and 8% at longer wavelengths.
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paper_title: Reflection of solar radiation by the Antarctic snow surface at ultraviolet, visible, and near-infrared wavelengths

paper_content:

The variation of snow albedo with wavelength across the solar spectrum from 0.3 μm in the ultraviolet (UV) to 2.5 μm in the near infrared (IR) was measured at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station during the Antarctic summers of 1985–1986 and 1990–1991. Similar results were obtained at Vostok Station in summer 1990–1991. The albedo has a uniformly high value of 0.96–0.98 across the UV and visible spectrum, nearly independent of snow grain size and solar zenith angle, and this value probably applies throughout the interior of Antarctica. The albedo in the near IR is lower, dropping below 0.15 in the strong absorption bands at 1.5 and 2.0 μm; and it is quite sensitive to grain size and somewhat sensitive to zenith angle. Near-IR albedos were slightly lower at Vostok than at South Pole, but day-to-day variations in the measured grain size due to precipitation, drifting, and metamorphism were found to cause temporal variations in near-IR albedo larger than those due to any systematic geographical change from South Pole to Vostok. The spectrally averaged albedos ranged from 0.80 to 0.85 for both overcast and clear skies, in agreement with measurements by others at South Pole and elsewhere in Antarctica. Using a two-layer radiative transfer model, the albedo can be explained over the full wavelength range. Tests were made to correct for systematic errors in determining spectral albedo. Under clear skies at about 3000-m elevation the diffuse fraction of downward irradiance varied from 0.4 in the near UV to less than 0.01 in the near IR; knowledge of this fraction is required to correct the measured irradiance for the instrument's deviation from a perfect cosine-response. Furthermore, the deviation from cosine response is itself a function of wavelength. Under clear skies a significant error in apparent albedo can result if the instrument's cosine collector is not parallel to the surface; e.g., if the instrument is leveled parallel to the horizon, but the local snow surface is not horizontal. The soot content of the snow upwind of South Pole Station was only 0.3 ng/g. It was somewhat greater at Vostok Station but was still too small to affect the albedo at any wavelength. Bidirectional reflectance at 0.9-μm wavelength, measured from a 23-m tower at the end of summer after the sastrugi (snow dunes) had diminished, showed a pattern remarkably similar to the spectrally averaged pattern obtained from the Nimbus 7 satellite.
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paper_title: Vicarious Radiometric Calibrations of EOS Sensors

paper_content:

Abstract Four methods for the in-flight radiometric calibration and cross calibration of multispectral imaging sensors are described. Three make use of ground-based reflectance, irradiance, and radiance measurements in conjunction with atmospheric measurements and one compares calibrations between sensors. Error budgets for these methods are presented and their validation is discussed by reference to SPOT and TM results and shown to meet the EOS requirements in the solar-reflective range.
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paper_title: The Miami2001 Infrared Radiometer Calibration and Intercomparison. Part I: Laboratory Characterization of Blackbody Targets

paper_content:

Abstract The second calibration and intercomparison of infrared radiometers (Miami2001) was held at the University of Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) during May–June 2001. The participants were from several groups involved with the validation of skin sea surface temperatures and land surface temperatures derived from the measurements of imaging radiometers on earth observation satellites. These satellite instruments include those currently on operational satellites and others that will be launched within two years following the workshop. There were two experimental campaigns carried out during the 1-week workshop: a set of measurements made by a variety of ship-based radiometers on board the Research Vessel F. G. Walton Smith in Gulf Stream waters off the eastern coast of Florida, and a set of laboratory measurements of typical external blackbodies used to calibrate these ship-based radiometers. This paper reports on the results obtained from the laboratory characteriza...
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paper_title: Reflectance quantities in optical remote sensing—definitions and case studies

paper_content:

Abstract The remote sensing community puts major efforts into calibration and validation of sensors, measurements, and derived products to quantify and reduce uncertainties. Given recent advances in instrument design, radiometric calibration, atmospheric correction, algorithm development, product development, validation, and delivery, the lack of standardization of reflectance terminology and products becomes a considerable source of error. This article provides full access to the basic concept and definitions of reflectance quantities, as given by Nicodemus et al. [Nicodemus, F.E., Richmond, J.C., Hsia, J.J., Ginsberg, I.W., and Limperis, T. (1977). Geometrical Considerations and Nomenclature for Reflectance. In: National Bureau of Standards, US Department of Commerce, Washington, D.C. URL: http://physics.nist.gov/Divisions/Div844/facilities/specphoto/pdf/geoConsid.pdf .] and Martonchik et al. [Martonchik, J.V., Bruegge, C.J., and Strahler, A. (2000). A review of reflectance nomenclature used in remote sensing. Remote Sensing Reviews, 19, 9–20.]. Reflectance terms such as BRDF, HDRF, BRF, BHR, DHR, black-sky albedo, white-sky albedo, and blue-sky albedo are defined, explained, and exemplified, while separating conceptual from measurable quantities. We use selected examples from the peer-reviewed literature to demonstrate that very often the current use of reflectance terminology does not fulfill physical standards and can lead to systematic errors. Secondly, the paper highlights the importance of a proper usage of definitions through quantitative comparison of different reflectance products with special emphasis on wavelength dependent effects. Reflectance quantities acquired under hemispherical illumination conditions (i.e., all outdoor measurements) depend not only on the scattering properties of the observed surface, but as well on atmospheric conditions, the object's surroundings, and the topography, with distinct expression of these effects in different wavelengths. We exemplify differences between the hemispherical and directional illumination quantities, based on observations (i.e., MISR), and on reflectance simulations of natural surfaces (i.e., vegetation canopy and snow cover). In order to improve the current situation of frequent ambiguous usage of reflectance terms and quantities, we suggest standardizing the terminology in reflectance product descriptions and that the community carefully utilizes the proposed reflectance terminology in scientific publications.
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paper_title: Spectral reflectance measurement methodologies for Tuz Golu field campaign

paper_content:

A field campaign had been organized in August 2010 on Tuz Golu salt lake, Turkey, with the aim of characterizing the site for satellite optical sensor vicarious calibration, and of comparing different methodologies of surface reflectance factor characterization. Several teams have made ground-based reflectance measurements with a field spectrometer on different areas of the salt lake of 100 m × 300 m and 1km × 1 km size. Different types of sampling strategies and measurements methods have been used by the participants, and are described in this paper. Preliminary results on one area are presented, that show a good agreement between the different measurements.
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paper_title: Reflectance- and radiance-based methods for the in-flight absolute calibration of multispectral sensors

paper_content:

Abstract Variations reported in the in-flight absolute radiometric calibration of the Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) and the Thematic Mapper (TM) on Landsat 4 are reviewed. At short wavelengths these sensors exhibited a gradual reduction in response, while in the midinfrared the TM showed oscillatory variations, according to the results of TM internal calibration. The methodology and results are presented for five reflectance-based calibrations of the Landsat 5 TM at White Sands, NM, in the period July 1984 to November 1985. These show a ±2.8% standard deviation (1 σ) for the six solar-reflective bands. Analysis and preliminary results of a second, independent calibration method based on radiance measurements from a helicopter at White Sands indicate that this is potentially an accurate method for corroborating the results from the reflectance-based method.
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paper_title: 2010 ceos field reflectance intercomparisons lessons learned

paper_content:

This paper summarizes lessons learned from the 2009 and 2010 joint field campaigns to Tuz Golu, Turkey. Emphasis is placed on the 2010 campaign related to understanding the equipment and measurement protocols, processing schemes, and traceability to SI quantities. Participants in both 2009 and 2010 used an array of measurement approaches to determine surface reflectance. One lesson learned is that even with all of the differences in collection between groups, the differences in reflectance are currently dominated by instrumental artifacts including knowledge of the white reference. Processing methodology plays a limited role once the bi-directional reflectance of the white reference is used rather than a hemispheric-directional value. The lack of a basic set of measurement protocols, or best practices, limits a group's ability to ensure SI traceability and the development of proper error budgets. Finally, rigorous attention to sampling methodology and its impact on instrument behavior is needed. The results of the 2009 and 2010 joint campaigns clearly demonstrate both the need and utility of such campaigns and such comparisons must continue in the future to ensure a coherent set of data that can span multiple sensor types and multiple decades.
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paper_title: The Miami2001 Infrared Radiometer Calibration and Intercomparison. Part II: Shipboard Results

paper_content:

The second calibration and intercomparison of infrared radiometers (Miami2001) was held at the University of Miami’s Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS) during a workshop held from May to June 2001. The radiometers targeted in these two campaigns (laboratory-based and at-sea measurements) are those used to validate the skin sea surface temperatures and land surface temperatures derived from the measurements of imaging radiometers on earth observation satellites. These satellite instruments include those on currently operational satellites and others that will be launched within two years following the workshop. The experimental campaigns were completed in one week and included laboratory measurements using blackbody calibration targets characterized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), and an intercomparison of the radiometers on a short cruise on board the R/V F. G. Walton Smith in Gulf Stream waters off the eastern coast of Florida. This paper reports on the results obtained from the shipborne measurements. Seven radiometers were mounted alongside each other on the R/V Walton Smith for an intercomparison under seagoing conditions. The ship results confirm that all radiometers are suitable for the validation of land surface temperature, and the majority are able to provide high quality data for the more difficult validation of satellitederived sea surface temperature, contributing less than 0.1 K to the error budget of the validation. The measurements provided by two prototype instruments developed for ship-of-opportunity use confirmed their potential to provide regular reliable data for satellite-derived SST validation. Four high quality radiometers showed agreements within 0.05 K confirming that these instruments are suitable for detailed studies of the dynamics of air‐sea interaction at the ocean surface as well as providing high quality validation data. The data analysis confirms the importance of including an accurate correction for reflected sky radiance when using infrared radiometers to measure SST. The results presented here also show the value of regular intercomparisons of ground-based instruments that are to be used for the validation of satellite-derived data products—products that will be an essential component of future assessments of climate change and variability.
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paper_title: Cross Calibration Over Desert Sites: Description, Methodology, and Operational Implementation

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Radiometric cross calibration of Earth observation sensors is a crucial need to guarantee or quantify the consistency of measurements from different sensors. Twenty desert sites, historically selected, are revisited, and their radiometric profiles are described for the visible to the near-infrared spectral domain. Therefore, acquisitions by various sensors over these desert sites are collected into a dedicated database, Structure d'Accueil des Donnees d'Etalonnage, defined to manage operational calibrations and the required SI traceability. The cross-calibration method over desert sites is detailed. Surface reflectances are derived from measurements by a reference sensor and spectrally interpolated to derive the surface and then top-of-atmosphere reflectances for spectral bands of the sensor to calibrate. The comparison with reflectances really measured provides an estimation of the cross calibration between the two sensors. Results illustrate the efficiency of the method for various pairs of sensors among AQUA-Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Environmental Satellite-Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectance for Atmospheric Sciences Couples With Observations From a Lidar (PARASOL)-Polarization and Directionality of the Earth Reflectances (POLDER), and Satellite pour l'Observation de la Terre 5 (SPOT5)-VEGETATION. MERIS and MODIS calibrations are found to be very consistent, with a discrepancy of 1%, which is close to the accuracy of the method. A larger bias of 3% was identified between VEGETATION-PARASOL on one hand and MERIS-MODIS on the other hand. A good consistency was found between sites, with a standard deviation of 2% for red to near-infrared bands, increasing to 4% and 6% for green and blue bands, respectively. The accuracy of the method, which is close to 1%, may also depend on the spectral bands of both sensor to calibrate and reference sensor (up to 5% in the worst case) and their corresponding geometrical matching.
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Title: Overview of Intercalibration of Satellite Instruments

Section 1: Introduction
Description 1: Provide an introduction and describe the general importance of intercalibration for satellite instruments.

Section 2: Need for Intercalibration
Description 2: Explain the necessity of intercalibrating satellite instruments, addressing issues of traceability and interoperability.

Section 3: General Intercalibration Problems
Description 3: Outline common problems encountered during the intercalibration process, including traceability, sampling differences, and scene variability.

Section 4: Intercalibration Methods
Description 4: Summarize various methods used for intercalibrating satellite instruments, such as SNO, statistical intercalibration, and double-differencing methods.

Section 5: Ongoing Joint Efforts
Description 5: Describe current collaborative efforts, such as GSICS and CEOS, aimed at standardizing and improving intercalibration practices.

Section 6: Summary
Description 6: Provide a summary of the key points discussed in the paper, emphasizing the importance of intercalibration for the consistency and accuracy of satellite observations.