Within the NASA GSFC Code 618 Calibration Laboratory, the Radiometric Calibration Lab (RCL) is focused on maintaining National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable calibrated sources and detectors to calibrate, characterize, and monitor remote sensing instrumentation throughout NASA and the larger scientific community.
Among these RCL sources, the Grande broadband source, a 9-lamp 1m diameter integrating sphere with a 25.4cm aperture and PTFE coating housed in a Class 10,000 cleanroom environment, is the workhorse for providing regular NIST traceable calibration services to ground, flight, and remote sensing missions on a consistent basis.
As part of an initiative to improve the Grande calibration uncertainty budget, monitoring spectrometers were recently installed on Grande to provide continuous spectral radiance measurements of the integrating sphere source whenever Grande is in use. This monitoring data is used to characterize Grande’s ramp up stabilization and nominal operation process. Over multiple calibration sessions with Grande, we can observe long term source behavioral changes as the lamps age.
Having continuous monitoring allows us to validate Grande’s stability during remote sensing calibration sessions. As stability data is accumulated and analyzed it results in updated and improved uncertainty budget for calibrations using Grande.
Labsphere, Inc. in conjunction with NASA GSFC and Genesis Engineering Solutions Inc., has developed an innovative, vacuum compatible, calibration spectro-radiometric illumination source with a highly uniform large-area rectangular flat panel active area. This device features a uniquely shaped diffuse integration geometry to achieve high uniformity over a large active output area while maintaining a smaller and more robust overall form-factor when compared to previous designs or integrating spheres. A new liquid-cooled hybrid quartz-tungsten (QT) and light emitting diode (LED) source module has been engineered to provide direct-in-vacuum reference illumination over the full dynamic range and spectrum of the VIIRS instrument’s optical bands during pre-launch testing. The first unit has been demonstrated to meet its requirements using ambient technology and a fully-vacuum-compatible second unit is planned to allow testing in thermal vacuum (TVAC) campaigns. This technology is flexible and capable of meeting the needs of many other instruments/missions requiring this type of test/calibration capability.
The NASA GSFC Code 618 Calibration Laboratory maintains instruments and National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) traceable calibrated sources and detectors to calibrate, characterize, and monitor remote sensing instrumentation throughout NASA and the larger scientific community. Under the Calibration Laboratory umbrella, we operate the Radiometric Calibration Lab (RCL) focused on calibrating instrument radiometers, the Diffuser Calibration Lab (DCL) specializing in NIST traceable calibration of reflective and transmissive space diffusers. The RCL uses broadband sources as well as an array of options for monochromatic spectral calibration to provide regular NIST traceable calibration services to ground, flight, and remote sensing missions at NASA GSFC. The DCL uses scatterometers to measure the Bidirectional Reflectance and Transmittance Distribution Functions (BRDF & BTDF) of flight diffusers and witness samples. As we look to the future, the Calibration Laboratory will be automating routine processes throughout the facility and updating our online data collection and distribution capabilities. We are adding monitoring radiometers to our Grande calibration sphere to improve NIST traceability. Hardware updates to our scatterometers will keep us aligned with the diffuser calibration capabilities being developed at NIST.
The advanced baseline imagers (ABIs) on board the geostationary operational environmental satellite (GOES)-R series, GOES-16 and GOES-17 satellites, have accumulated long data series that have been updated throughout their missions to enhance their utility for imaging the Earth’s weather, oceans, and environment. In preparing for a reprocessing effort aimed at improving the consistency and image quality and reducing radiometric uncertainties necessary for some Earth science applications, we developed a vicarious validation technique for five of the six reflective solar bands. This technique uses Sonoran desert surface reflectance data derived from the moderate resolution imaging spectrometer bidirectional reflectance distribution function parameters product along with other atmospheric products to generate a predicted at-sensor radiance for both GOES-16 and GOES-17 for comparison with ABI observations and to enable ABI intercomparisons. This technique identified known instrument biases and demonstrated absolute validation over the course of a year, showing its capability to detect changes, monitor stability, and assess radiometric uncertainties for operational data applications and future reprocessed data sets.
The GOES-17 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) has an anomaly with its on-board cooling system that prevents it from maintaining its Focal Plane Modules (FPMs) at cold, optimal temperatures. Because of this, during certain times of the year the FPMs and their detectors warm and cool throughout the day. Changing the detectors’ temperature changes their response to incoming radiance, which leads to calibration errors over time and degrades the imagery. Numerous mitigation strategies have been implemented to reduce the solar insolation on the instrument and to mitigate image degradation, including semi-annual yaw flips and changing the integration time of the detectors twice daily. These and other mitigations all work with the baseline calibration algorithms currently in place on the GOES-R Ground System. In an attempt to reduce the image degradation even further, the ABI vendor designed a new calibration scheme that predicts key parameters forward in time to account for the drifting FPM temperatures. These parameters, the linear gain term and dark current scene, are nominally updated on orbit every 5 minutes and 30 seconds, respectively. However, even at these relatively short cadences the detectors can change temperature, thereby rendering the parameters invalid for accurate calibration. By projecting these parameters forward in time the radiometric bias is reduced and image quality improves. This Predictive Calibration modification was deployed to operations on July 25, 2019, following several months of extensive testing and optimization by the GOES-R science teams. During this time several parameters and thresholds were tuned to ensure Predictive Calibration was turning on and off at the optimal times. Since going into operations users have seen noticeable improvement to the imagery and its calibration. This paper will discuss the fundamental assumptions behind the baseline equations and highlight the changes introduced by Predictive Calibration. Results will show the improvements to the calibration of the operational L1b products and reduction in image degradation.
Validation results from a reflectance-based field campaign at the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia (September 2018) are presented for GOES-17 and GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imagers (ABI) reflective channels. The in situ measurements were used to characterize the surface reflectance and the atmosphere in order to constrain a radiative transfer model and predict the reflectance at the top of the atmosphere (TOA), which was then compared to the ABI measurements. The field campaign provides TOA reflectance estimates over several days, allowing assessment of the calibration accuracy and stability of channels 1, 2, 3, 5 and 6 for GOES-17 and GOES-16 ABI. Channel 1 of GOES-17 ABI shows -5.5% bias in comparison to the ground-based predicted TOA. Over 6% bias in GOES-17 B2 was confirmed. A comparison to NOAA-20 VIIRS was also carried on during a near nadir overpass.
The Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 (TIRS-2) aboard Landsat 9 will continue Landsat’s four decade-long legacy of providing moderate resolution thermal imagery from low earth orbit (at 705 km) for environmental applications. Like the Thermal Infrared Sensor aboard Landsat 8, it is a pushbroom sensor with a cross-track field of view of 15° and provides two spectral channels at 10.8 and 12 μm. To ensure radiometric, spatial, and spectral performance, a comprehensive pre-launch testing program is being conducted at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center at the component, subsystem, and instrument level. This paper will focus on the results from the subsystem level testing where the instrument is almost completely assembled. This phase of testing is specifically designed to assess imaging performance including focus and stray light rejection, but is also used to provide a preliminary assessments of spatial and spectral performance. The calibration ground support equipment provides a flexible blackbody illumination source and optics to conduct these tests. The spectral response test setup has its own illumination source outside the chamber that propagates through the calibration ground support equipment in an optical configuration designed for this purpose. This test configuration with the calibration ground support equipment and TIRS-2 subsystem in the thermal vacuum chamber enables a large range of illumination angles for stray light measurements. The results show that TIRS-2 performance is expected to meet all of its performance requirements with few waivers and deviations.
GOES-16, which was launched on 19 November 2017, is the first of the next generation of geostationary weather satellites of NOAA. The Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) is the primary instrument and mission critical payload onboard imaging the Earth with 16 different spectral bands covering 6 visible/near-infrared (VNIR) bands and 10 infrared (IR) bands. Although the GOES-16 ABI data are currently experimental and undergoing testing, in this study we focus on reporting some preliminary assessment results of the ABI radiometric calibration performance during the post-launch test (PLT) and post-launch product tests (PLPT) period. Our results show that the ABI IR full-disk (FD) images mean brightness temperature (Tb) bias with respect to S-NPP/CrIS and Metop-B/IASI of less than 0.3K. Diurnal variation is very small with a jump of less than 0.15K occurring twice a day around satellite local noon and midnight. The ABI VNIR radiometric calibration has a mean reflectance difference to SNPP/VIIRS of less than 5% for all the 6 VNIR bands except for B02 (0.64µm), which was about 8% brighter than corresponding VIIRS data during the PLT period. It may be noted that calibration of the VNIR bands experienced instabilities associated with ground system (GS) software patch testing and data receiving site failover testing, which can be reflected with the time-series monitoring from different earth and space-based invariant targets. Validations and investigations are still ongoing to improve the ABI imagery and data quality.
A new generation of imaging instruments Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) is to be launched aboard the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites - R Series (GOES-R). Four ABI flight modules (FM) are planned to be launched on GOES-R,S,T,U, the first one in the fall of 2016. Pre-launch testing is on-going for FM3 and FM4. ABI has 16 spectral channels, six in the visible/near infrared (VNIR 0.47 − 2.25 μm), and ten in the thermal infrared (TIR 3.9 − 13.3 μm) spectral regions, to be calibrated on-orbit by observing respectively a solar diffuser and a blackbody. Each channel has hundreds of detectors arranged in columns. Operationally one Analytic Generation of Spectral Response (ANGEN) function will be used to represent the spectral response function (SRF) of all detectors in a band. The Vendor conducted prelaunch end-to-end SRF testing to compare to ANGEN; detector specific SRF data was taken for: i) best detector selected (BDS) mode - for FM 2,3, and 4; and ii) all detectors (column mode) - for four spectral bands in FM3 and FM4. The GOES-R calibration working group (CWG) has independently used the SRF test data for FM2 and FM3 to study the potential impact of detector-to-detector SRF differences on the ABI detected Earth view radiances. In this paper we expand the CWG analysis to include the FM4 SRF test data - the results are in agreement with the Vendor analysis, and show excellent instrument performance and compare the detector-to-detector SRF differences and their potential impact on the detected Earth view radiances for all of the tested ABI modules.
The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on-board the first Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) completed its sensor level testing on December 2014. The JPSS-1 (J1) mission is scheduled to launch in December 2016, and will be very similar to the Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership (SNPP) mission. VIIRS instrument was designed to provide measurements of the globe twice daily. It is a wide-swath (3,040 km) cross-track scanning radiometer with spatial resolutions of 370 and 740 m at nadir for imaging and moderate bands, respectively. It covers the wavelength spectrum from reflective to long-wave infrared through 22 spectral bands [0.412 μm to 12.01 μm]. VIIRS observations are used to generate 22 environmental data products (EDRs). This paper will briefly describe J1 VIIRS characterization and calibration performance and methodologies executed during the pre-launch testing phases by the independent government team, to generate the at-launch baseline radiometric performance, and the metrics needed to populate the sensor data record (SDR) Look-Up-Tables (LUTs). This paper will also provide an assessment of the sensor pre-launch radiometric performance, such as the sensor signal to noise ratios (SNRs), dynamic range, reflective and emissive bands calibration performance, polarization sensitivity, bands spectral performance, response-vs-scan (RVS), near field and stray light responses. A set of performance metrics generated during the pre-launch testing program will be compared to the SNPP VIIRS pre-launch performance.
This paper presents a robust method for determining the calibration coefficients in polynomial calibration equations, and discusses the corresponding calibration uncertainties. An attenuator method that takes into account all measurements with and without an attenuator screen was used to restrict the impact of the absolute calibration of the light source. The originally proposed procedure attempts to simultaneously determine all unknowns nonlinearly using polynomial curve fitting. The newly proposed method divides the task into two simpler parts. For example, in the case of a quadratic calibration equation, the first part becomes a quadratic equation solely for the transmittance of attenuator, which has an analytical solution using three or four sets of measurements. Additionally, it is straightforward to determine the median value and the standard deviation of the transmittance from the solutions using all combinations of measured data points. In conjunction, the second part becomes a linear fit, with the ratio of the zeroth-order to first-order calibration coefficients as the intercept and the ratio of the second-order to first-order calibration coefficients as the slope. These ratios are unaffected by the absolute calibration of the light source and are then used in the calibration equation to calculate the first-order calibration coefficient. How the new method works is straightforward to visualize, which makes its results easier to verify. This is demonstrated using measurements from the Joint Polar Satellite System (JPSS) J1 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) reflective solar bands (RSB) pre-launch testing.
Due to a software error, the solar and lunar vectors reported in the on-board calibrator intermediate product (OBC-IP) files for SNPP VIIRS are incorrect. The magnitude of the error is about 0.2 degree, and the magnitude is increasing by about 0.01 degree per year. This error, although small, has an effect on the radiometric calibration of the reflective solar bands (RSB) because accurate solar angles are required for calculating the screen transmission functions and for calculating the illumination of the Solar Diffuser panel. In this paper, we describe the error in the Common GEO code, and how it may be fixed. We present evidence for the error from within the OBC-IP data. We also describe the effects of the solar vector error on the RSB calibration and the Sensor Data Record (SDR). In order to perform this evaluation, we have reanalyzed the yaw-maneuver data to compute the vignetting functions required for the on-orbit SD RSB radiometric calibration. After the reanalysis, we find effect of up to 0.5% on the shortwave infrared (SWIR) RSB calibration.
The Suomi-NPP VIIRS thermal emissive bands (TEB) are radiometrically calibrated on-orbit with reference to a blackbody (BB) operated at a nominal temperature of approximately 292.5 K. The quality of the calibration can be evaluated at other temperature ranges using independent thermal sources. The thermal properties of the lunar surface are extremely stable over time, making it a feasible target for the TEB calibration stability assessment for the space-borne sensors with regular lunar observations. VIIRS is scheduled to view the Moon on a nearly monthly basis at approximately the same phase angle since January 2012, before the cryo-cooler door was open and TEB started to collect data. In this paper, the brightness temperatures (BT) of the lunar surface retrieved using the calibration coefficients derived from the BB calibration are trended for VIIRS TEB to examine the calibration stability. The lunar surface temperature varies greatly with location and also oscillates seasonally with the solar illumination geometry. Radiance from many lunar locations saturates TEB detectors. Therefore, the trending must base on the regions of the Moon that do not saturate the detectors at any lunar observation event and thus their BT can be consistently retrieved. To achieve that, a temporally dynamic spatial mask is built for each detector to clip the locations of the Moon that may saturate the detector at any lunar event. Results show the radiometric calibration of all TEB detectors has been stable within 1 K range since being functional.
The S-NPP Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument is built with strong heritage from EOS MODIS, and has very similar thermal emissive bands (TEB) calibration algorithm and on-board calibrating source - a V-grooved blackbody. The calibration of the two instruments can be assessed by comparing the brightness temperatures retrieved from VIIRS and Aqua MODIS simultaneous nadir observations (SNO) from their spectrally matched TEB. However, even though the VIIRS and MODIS bands are similar there are still relative spectral response (RSR) differences and thus some differences in the retrieved brightness temperatures are expected. The differences depend on both the type and the temperature of the observed scene, and contribute to the bias and the scatter of the comparison. In this paper we use S-NPP Cross-track Infrared Sounder (CrIS) data taken simultaneously with the VIIRS data to derive a correction for the slightly different spectral coverage of VIIRS and MODIS TEB bands. An attempt to correct for RSR differences is also made using MODTRAN models, computed with physical parameters appropriate for each scene, and compared to the value derived from actual CrIS spectra. After applying the CrIS-based correction for RSR differences we see an excellent agreement between the VIIRS and Aqua MODIS measurements in the studied band pairs M13-B23, M15-B31, and M16- B32. The agreement is better than the VIIRS uncertainty at cold scenes, and improves with increasing scene temperature up to about 290K.
The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission is designed to make SItraceable measurements and provide a long-term benchmarking data record for the detection, projection, and attribution of changes in the Earths climate system. The CLARREO mission will include instruments operating in the reflected solar (RS) wavelength region from 320 nm to 2300 nm and the thermal infrared wavelength region from 5 μm to 50 μm. A major objective of CLARREO is to improve the accuracy of SI-traceable absolute calibration in the infrared and reflected solar wavelengths. In this paper we describe a tool developed to assess the uncertainty of the top of the atmosphere (TOA) Earth reflectance, to be measured by the CLARREO reflected solar (RS) instrument. The tool provides an error estimate based on the preliminary prototype instrument design. The on-orbit calibration approach currently implemented in the tool uses a direct view of the Sun through an attenuator. Several attenuation approaches are considered and incorporated as options of viewing the Sun through: a pinhole; a perforated plate; a combination between a pinhole and reduced exposure time and/or a neutral density (ND) filter. Additional approaches can readily be implemented. The tool is realized in Excel and is intended to facilitate error budget assessments specifically of the CLARREO RS instrument. Towards deriving a realistic estimate we started compiling a database of values for the various uncertainty contributors using results from testing prototypes or from other missions utilizing similar design.
The VIIRS instrument on Suomi-NPP performs its primary radiometric calibration using the Solar Diffuser, which degrades with exposure to UV light. The Solar Diffuser is monitored by the Solar Diffuser Stability Monitor. In this paper, we evaluate potential improvements to the algorithms that generate the resulting H-factors, including updates to the screen transmission functions and new methodologies to increase the amount of useful data. We also track the on-orbit degradation of the SDSM detectors and predict the long-term performance of the sensors.
The National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) includes a fire detection band at roughly 4 μm. This spectral band has two gain states; fire detection occurs in the low gain state above approximately 343 K. VIIRS thermal bands utilize an on-board blackbody to provide on-orbit calibration. However, as the maximum temperature of this blackbody is 315 K, the low gain state of the 4 μm band cannot be calibrated in the same manner. Regular observations of the Moon provide an alternative calibration source, as the maximum surface temperature is around 390 K. The periodic on-board high gain calibration along with a surface temperature map based on LRO DIVINER observations was used to determine the emissivity and reflected radiance of the lunar surface at 4 μm; these factors and the lunar data are then used to calibrate the low gain state of the fire band. Our analysis suggests that the responsivity of the low gain state is lower than the pre-launch value currently in use.
MODIS has 16 thermal emissive bands (TEB) with wavelengths ranging from 3.7 to 14.4 μm. MODIS TEB are calibrated on-orbit by a v-grooved blackbody (BB) on a scan-by-scan basis. The BB temperatures are measured by a set of 12 thermistors. As expected, the BB temperature uncertainty and stability have direct impact on TEB calibration quality and, therefore, the quality of the science products derived from TEB observations. Since launch, Terra and Aqua ODIS have successfully operated for more than 12 and 10 years, respectively. Overall performance of each on-board BB has been satisfactory, meeting the TEB on-orbit calibration requirements. The first VIIRS instrument was launched on-board the Suomi NPP spacecraft on October 28, 2011. It has successfully completed its initial Intensive Calibration and Validation (ICV) phase. As a followed-up instrument to MODIS, VIIRS has 7 TEB, covering wavelengths from 3.7 to 12.0 μm. Designed with strong MODIS heritage, VIIRS uses a similar BB for its TEB calibration. Like MODIS, VIIRS BB is nominally controlled at a constant temperature. Periodically, a BB Warm-Up and Cool-Down (WUCD) operation is performed, during which the BB temperatures vary from instrument ambient (temperature) to 315 K. Following a brief review of MODIS and VIIRS BB operation strategy, this paper examines and compares their on-orbit performance in terms of BB temperature scan-to-scan variations during sensor nominal operations as well as during periodic BB WUCD operations. In addition, this paper shows the noise characterization results for the closely matched MODIS and VIIRS spectral bands.
The Suomi – NPP Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) reflective bands are calibrated on-orbit
via reference to regular solar observations through a solar attenuation screen (SAS) and diffusely reflected off a
Spectralon ® panel. The degradation of the Spectralon panel BRDF due to UV exposure is tracked via a ratioing
radiometer (SDSM) which compares near simultaneous observations of the panel with direct observations of the
sun (through a separate attenuation screen). On-orbit, the vignetting functions of both attenuation screens are
most easily measured when the satellite performs a series of yaw maneuvers over a short period of time (thereby
covering the yearly angular variation of solar observations in a couple of days). Because the SAS is fixed, only the
product of the screen transmission and the panel BRDF was measured. Moreover, this product was measured
by both VIIRS detectors as well as the SDSM detectors (albeit at different reflectance angles off the Spectralon
panel). The SDSM screen is also fixed; in this case, the screen transmission was measured directly. Corrections
for instrument drift and degradation, solar geometry, and spectral effects were taken into consideration. The
resulting vignetting functions were then compared to the pre-launch measurements as well as models based on
screen geometry.
KEYWORDS: Calibration, Sensors, Temperature metrology, Black bodies, Reflectivity, Detection and tracking algorithms, Space operations, Atmospheric sensing, Sensor performance, Staring arrays
The Visible-Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) was launched October 28, 2011 on-board the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) spacecraft as a primary sensor. It has 22 bands: 14 reflective solar bands (RSBs), 7 thermal emissive bands (TEBs) and a Day Night Band (DNB). VIIRS TEB on-orbit calibration uses a quadratic algorithm with its calibration coefficients derived from pre-launch measurements and an on-board calibration blackbody (OBC BB) to provide scan-to-scan gain drift compensation. This paper will discuss the calibration methodology, OBC BB performance and stability, detector signal-to-noise and radiometric performance.
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