Search NASA⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search NASA

Results for “pseudo invariant calibration sites”

Search indexed NASA NTRS and DOE OSTI research on propulsion, heat transfer, battery materials and energy systems. Follow report and document links to the original sources.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

40 records · Page 3

Tracking On-Orbit Stability of the Response Versus Scan Angle for the S-NPP VIIRS Reflective Solar Bands

The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on the Suomi NPP (National Polar-orbiting Partnership) satellite (http:npp.gsfc.nasa.govviirs.html) has been in operation for nearly five years. The onboard calibration of the VIIRS reflective solar bands (RSB) relies on a solar diffuser (SD) located at a fixed scan angle and a solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM). The VIIRS response versus scan angle (RVS) was characterized prelaunch in ambient conditions and is currently used to determine the on-orbit response for all scan angles relative to the SD scan angle. Since the RVS is vitally important to the quality of calibrated level 1B products, it is important to monitor its on-orbit stability. In this study, the RVS stability is examined based on reflectance trends collected from 16-day repeatable orbits over pre-selected pseudo-invariant desert sites in Northern Africa. These trends nearly cover the entire Earth view scan range so that any systematic drifts in the scan angle direction would indicate a change in RVS. This study also compares VIIRS RVS on-orbit stability results with those from both Aqua and Terra MODIS over the first four years of mission for a few selected bands, which provides further information on potential VIIRS RVS on-orbit changes.

Wu, Aisheng↗

Updated MISR Dark Water Research Aerosol Retrieval Algorithm - Part 1: Coupled 1.1 km Ocean Surface Chlorophyll a Retrievals with Empirical Calibration Corrections

As aerosol amount and type are key factors in the 'atmospheric correction' required for remote-sensing chlorophyll alpha concentration (Chl) retrievals, the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) can contribute to ocean color analysis despite a lack of spectral channels optimized for this application. Conversely, an improved ocean surface constraint should also improve MISR aerosol-type products, especially spectral single-scattering albedo (SSA) retrievals. We introduce a coupled, self-consistent retrieval of Chl together with aerosol over dark water. There are time-varying MISR radiometric calibration errors that significantly affect key spectral reflectance ratios used in the retrievals. Therefore, we also develop and apply new calibration corrections to the MISR top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance data, based on comparisons with coincident MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) observations and trend analysis of the MISR TOA bidirectional reflectance factors (BRFs) over three pseudo-invariant desert sites. We run the MISR research retrieval algorithm (RA) with the corrected MISR reflectances to generate MISR-retrieved Chl and compare the MISR Chl values to a set of 49 coincident SeaBASS (SeaWiFS Bio-optical Archive and Storage System) in situ observations. Where Chl(sub in situ) less than 1.5 mg m(exp -3), the results from our Chl model are expected to be of highest quality, due to algorithmic assumption validity. Comparing MISR RA Chl to the 49 coincident SeaBASS observations, we report a correlation coefficient (r) of 0.86, a root-mean-square error (RMSE) of 0.25, and a median absolute error (MAE) of 0.10. Statistically, a two-sample Kolmogorov- Smirnov test indicates that it is not possible to distinguish between MISR Chl and available SeaBASS in situ Chl values (p greater than 0.1). We also compare MODIS-Terra and MISR RA Chl statistically, over much broader regions. With about 1.5 million MISR-MODIS collocations having MODIS Chl less than 1.5 mg m(exp -3), MISR and MODIS show very good agreement: r = 0.96, MAE = 0.09, and RMSE = 0.15. The new dark water aerosol/Chl RA can retrieve Chl in low-Chl, case I waters, independent of other imagers such as MODIS, via a largely physical algorithm, compared to the commonly applied statistical ones. At a minimum, MISR's multi-angle data should help reduce uncertainties in the MODIS-Terra ocean color retrieval where coincident measurements are made, while also allowing for a more robust retrieval of particle properties such as spectral single-scattering albedo.

Limbacher, James A.↗

Estimating Terra MODIS Polarization Effect Using Ocean Data

Terra MODIS has been known since pre-launch to have polarization sensitivity, particularly in shortest-wavelength bands 8 and 9. On-orbit reflectance trending of pseudo-invariant sites show a variation in reflectance as a function of band and scan mirror angle of incidence consistent with time-dependent polarization effects from the rotating double-sided scan mirror. The MODIS Characterization Support Team [MCST] estimates the Mueller matrix trending from this variation as observed from a single desert site, but this effect is not included in Collection 6 [C6] calibration. Here we extend the MCSTs current polarization sensitivity monitoring to two ocean sites distributed over latitude to helpestimate the uncertainties in the derived Mueller matrix. The Mueller matrix elements derived for polarization-sensitive Band 8 for a given site are found to be fairly insensitive to surface brdf modeling. The site-to-site variation is a measure of the uncertainty in the Mueller estimation.Results for band 8 show that the polarization correction reduces mirror-side striping by up to 50% and reduces the instrument polarization effect on reflectance time series of an ocean target.

Wald, Andrew E.↗

Assessment of MODIS On-orbit Polarization Impact on Detector Relative Calibration

The Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has been maintained its nominal operations since it was launched in December 1999 on Terra and May 2002 on Aqua spacecraft, respectively. MODIS is a scanning radiometer with a two-sided mirror that scans the Earth over an angular range from -55° to +55° off nadir and covers a wavelength range from 0.4 to 14.4 μm in 36 spectral bands. The sensitivity to polarization was fully characterized during prelaunch characterization for each reflective solar band (RSB), detector and mirror side as a function of scan angle. It was observed that while on-orbit polarization sensitivity for Aqua MODIS has been stable over the course of mission, the Terra MODIS polarization sensitivity at a few short wavelengths showed a significant increase near the end of scan angle after a few years in the mission. Our previous study examined the impact of polarization on the measured top-of-atmosphere reflectances obtained over the pseudo-invariant desert sites. There are up to 25% change in gain and 30% seasonal variation in select Terra RSBs due to the increase in polarization sensitivity. In this study, we examine relative changes in the polarization sensitivity of detectors within a band. Results from prelaunch tests indicate that there is a noticeable detector dependent polarization sensitivity and it is expected that such a dependency could change on orbit, particularly for Terra MODIS. Results of this study provide useful information on polarization impact and implementation of the correction algorithm.

MODIS↗