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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.

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NASA NTRS1977

Rocket calibration of the Nimbus 6 solar constant measurements

A sounding rocket experiment was performed in June 1976, in which the solar constant was observed simultaneously outside the earth's atmosphere by three types of absolute cavity radiometers (the Primary Absolute Cavity Radiometer and two Active Cavity Radiometers, Type IV) and duplicates of Nimbus 6 ERB/ESP (Earth Radiation Budget/Eclectic Satellite Pyrheliometer) solar channels. The preliminary average solar constant result from the cavity radiometers is 1367 W/sq m with an uncertainty of less than plus or minus 0.5% in SI units. The duplicate ERB channel 3 on the rocket gave a value of 1389 W/sq m, which agreed exactly with the Nimbus 6 ERB channel 3 measurement made simultaneously with the rocket flight.

Duncan, C. H.↗

NASA NTRS1994

Global- to Micro-Scale Evolution of the Pinatubo Aerosol: Using Composite Data Sets to Build the Picture and Assess Consistency of Different Measurements

This paper brings together experimental. evidence required to build realistic models of the global evolution of physical, chemical, and optical properties of the aerosol resulting from the 1991 Pinatubo volcanic eruption. Such models are needed to compute the effects of the aerosol on atmospheric chemistry, dynamics, radiation, and temperature. Whereas there is now a large and growing body of post-Pinatubo measurements by a variety of techniques, some results are in conflict, and a self-consistent, unified picture is needed, along with an assessment of remaining uncertainties. This paper examines data from photometers, radiometers, impactors, optical counters/sizers, and lidars operated on the ground, aircraft, balloons, and spacecraft.

Russell, P. B.↗

NASA NTRS2011

The OLI Radiometric Scale Realization Round Robin Measurement Campaign

A round robin radiometric scale realization was performed at the Ball Aerospace Radiometric Calibration Laboratory in January/February 2011 in support of the Operational Land Imager (OLI) Program. Participants included Ball Aerospace, NIST, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, and the University of Arizona. The eight day campaign included multiple observations of three integrating sphere sources by nine radiometers. The objective of the campaign was to validate the radiance calibration uncertainty ascribed to the integrating sphere used to calibrate the OLI instrument. The instrument level calibration source uncertainty was validated by quatnifying: (1) the long term stability of the NIST calibrated radiance artifact, (2) the responsivity scale of the Ball Aerospace transfer radiometer and (3) the operational characteristics of the large integrating sphere.

Cutlip, Hansford↗

DOE OSTI2024

Measured Long-Term Solar Irradiance for Climate Studies

Solar radiation is primarily measured using high-quality radiometers (e.g., pyranometers and pyrheliometers). These instruments need to be calibrated regularly (every two years at a minimum). They are also susceptible to various sources of uncertainties. Therefore, rigorous data quality assessment is required to obtain high-confidence data from these radiometers. This is especially true when the data is used to understand climatic trends and/or extreme weather events. In this study, we attempted to create a continuous and reliable dataset by correcting the underlying data which we believe contains bias due to reference pyranometers swap procedures. These biases can be significant which can be up to two percentage points thereby influencing the interpretation of climate changes and/or extreme events. This study elaborates on the biases and methods to correct those biases.

data integrity↗

NASA NTRS1995

Aerosol effects and corrections in the Halogen Occultation Experiment

The eruptions of Mt. Pinatubo in June 1991 increased stratospheric aerosol loading by a factor of 30, affecting chemistry, radiative transfer, and remote measurements of the stratosphere. The Halogen Occultation Experiment (HALOE) instrument on board Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) makes measurements globally for inferring profiles of NO2, H2O, O3, HF, HCl, CH4, NO, and temperature in addition to aerosol extinction at five wavelengths. Understanding and removing the aerosol extinction is essential for obtaining accurate retrievals from the radiometer channels of NO2, H2O and O3 in the lower stratosphere since these measurements are severely affected by contaminant aerosol absorption. If ignored, aerosol absorption in the radiometer measurements is interpreted as additional absorption by the target gas, resulting in anomalously large mixing ratios. To correct the radiometer measurements for aerosol effects, a retrieved aerosol extinction profile is extrapolated to the radiometer wavelengths and then included as continuum attenuation. The sensitivity of the extrapolation to size distribution and composition is small for certain wavelength combinations, reducing the correction uncertainty. The aerosol corrections extend the usable range of profiles retrieved from the radiometer channels to the tropopause with results that agree well with correlative measurements. In situations of heavy aerosol loading, errors due to aerosol in the retrieved mixing ratios are reduced to values of about 15, 25, and 60% in H2O, O3, and NO2, respectively, levels that are much less than the correction magnitude.

Hervig, Mark E.↗

NASA NTRS2003

NASA's Scientific Agenda for GPM Mission

The objectives of the Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) Mission are to: 1) Understand the horizontal and vertical structure of rainfall, its macro- and micro-physical nature, and its associated latent heating, 2) Train and calibrate retrieval algorithms for constellation radiometers, 3) Provide sufficient global sampling to significantly reduce uncertainties in short-term rainfall accumulations, and 4) Extend scientific and societal applications. The GPM mission design consists of a core satellite, constellation satellties, precipitation validation sites for error characterization, and a precipitation processing center. This viewgraph presentation profiles the science goals of the mission, and its capability for producing climate data and weather predictions.

Smith, Eric A.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Calibration analysis for a multi-channel infrared scanning radiometer

A procedure for calibrating an infrared scanning spectroradiometer by a computerized parametric error analysis technique was developed. The uncertainties in the radiometric measurements of scene radiance and (for the case of a blackbody scene) temperature due to possible uncertainties in the calibration target temperature, calibration target emissivity, and instrument temperature were calculated for a range of uncertainty levels in the parameters, as well as for a gamut of scent temperatures corresponding to a given spectral channel. This technique is applicable to the radiometric calibration of any infrared radiometer. It was applied specifically to the Cloud-Top Scanning (C.T.S) Radiometer, a three-channel instrument designed for aircraftborne cloud radiance measurements in the 6.75 and 11.5 micron thermal emission spectral regions.

Walden, H.↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Submm polarimetric radiometers for investigations of distribution and size of ice in clouds' top layers

The sources of uncertainty in climate models are many and varied. Over the years, experiment and theory have reduced their importance and extent, but the effect of clouds, and ice clouds in particular, remains poorly understood. The effects of ice clouds are often used as tuning parameters, to balance the budget of incoming and outgoing radiation at the top of the atmosphere and achieve energy equilibrium. NASA's Aerosol, Cloud and Ecosystems (ACE), an Earth Science Decadal Survey (DS) mission, recommends that a science payload with submillimeter wave (sub-mm) and longwave infrared(LWIR) radiometers be developed for such cloud ice measurement. This paper reports on the calibration and characterization of the sub-millimeter channels of one such instrument.

G De Amici↗

NASA NTRS2011

Reconciling Satellite-Derived Atmospheric Properties with Fine-Resolution Land Imagery: Insights for Atmospheric Correction

This paper investigates to what extent satellite measurements of atmospheric properties can be reconciled with fine-resolution land imagery, in order to improve the estimates of surface reflectance through physically based atmospheric correction. The analysis deals with mountainous area (Landsat scene of Peruvian Amazon/Andes, 72 E and 13 S), where the atmosphere is highly variable. Data from satellite sensors were used for characterization of the key atmospheric constituents: total water vapor (TWV), aerosol optical depth (AOD), and total ozone. Constituent time series revealed the season-dependent mean state of the atmosphere and its variability. Discrepancies between AOD from the Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR) and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) highlighted substantial uncertainty of atmospheric aerosol properties. The distribution of TWV and AOD over a Landsat scene was found to be exponentially related to ground elevation (mean R(sup 2) of 0.82 and 0.29, respectively). In consequence, the atmosphere-induced and seasonally varying bias of the top-of-atmosphere signal was also elevation dependent (e.g., mean Normalized Difference Vegetation Index bias at 500 m was 0.06 and at 4000 m was 0.01). We demonstrate that satellite measurements of key atmospheric constituents can be downscaled and gap filled with the proposed "background + anomalies" approach, to allow for a better compatibility with fine-resolution land surface imagery. Older images (i.e., predating the MODIS/ATSR era), without coincident atmospheric data, can be corrected using climatologies derived from time series of satellite retrievals. Averaging such climatologies over space compromises the quality of correction result to a much greater degree than averaging them over time. We conclude that the quality of both recent and older fine-resolution land surface imagery can be improved with satellite-based atmospheric data acquired to date.

Zelazowski, Przemyslaw↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

CLARREO Pathfinder Mission Overview and its Intercalibration Capabilities

NASA's Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder (CPF) mission will deploy an Earth-observing reflected solar (RS) spectrometer, designed to measure Earth-reflected solar radiation from the International Space Station with a remarkable SI-traceable radiometric uncertainty of 0.3% (k=1). This spectrometer, known as the Hyperspectral Imager for Climate Science (HySICS), will provide measurements within a spectral range of 350-2300 nm with 3-nm spectral intervals. Covering a nadir swath of 70 km, HySICS captures 480 discrete measurement pixels that provide spectrally-resolved Earth-reflected radiances. The CPF mission encompasses two principal objectives. The first objective is to demonstrate on-orbit calibration methodologies that achieve and uphold an unprecedented level of accuracy while maintaining traceability to SI standards. The second objective is to showcase an innovative on-orbit intercalibration approach, which involves the intercalibration of two other RS sensors—namely, the shortwave (SW) channel of the Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) and the Reflective Solar (RS) bands of the Visible Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)—against CPF benchmark measurements. The targeted intercalibration methodology uncertainty for these target instruments is 0.3% (k=1). Empowered by the CPF payload's two-axis pointing capability, moderate spatial sampling of 0.5 km, and wide spectral coverage, the CPF instrument will capture near-simultaneous temporal, spatial, angular, and spectrally matched observations with intercalibration targets. The CPF intercalibration science development team has devised novel methods to address spatial, spectral, polarization, and angular differences between CPF and the target instruments' intercalibration footprints to achieve the stringent 0.3% intercalibration methodology uncertainty. Comprehensive details of these methods and their validation will be elaborated upon during the conference presentation.

Hyperspectral↗

NASA NTRS2010

Recent Improvements in Retrieving Near-Surface Air Temperature and Humidity Using Microwave Remote Sensing

Detailed studies of the energy and water cycles require accurate estimation of the turbulent fluxes of moisture and heat across the atmosphere-ocean interface at regional to basin scale. Providing estimates of these latent and sensible heat fluxes over the global ocean necessitates the use of satellite or reanalysis-based estimates of near surface variables. Recent studies have shown that errors in the surface (10 meter)estimates of humidity and temperature are currently the largest sources of uncertainty in the production of turbulent fluxes from satellite observations. Therefore, emphasis has been placed on reducing the systematic errors in the retrieval of these parameters from microwave radiometers. This study discusses recent improvements in the retrieval of air temperature and humidity through improvements in the choice of algorithms (linear vs. nonlinear) and the choice of microwave sensors. Particular focus is placed on improvements using a neural network approach with a single sensor (Special Sensor Microwave/Imager) and the use of combined sensors from the NASA AQUA satellite platform. The latter algorithm utilizes the unique sampling available on AQUA from the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer (AMSR-E) and the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A). Current estimates of uncertainty in the near-surface humidity and temperature from single and multi-sensor approaches are discussed and used to estimate errors in the turbulent fluxes.

Roberts, J. Brent↗

NASA NTRS2016

Imager-to-Radiometer In-flight Cross Calibration: RSP Radiometric Comparison with Airborne and Satellite Sensors

This work develops a method to compare the radiometric calibration between a radiometer and imagers hosted on aircraft and satellites. The radiometer is the airborne Research Scanning Polarimeter (RSP), which takes multi-angle, photo-polarimetric measurements in several spectral channels. The RSP measurements used in this work were coincident with measurements made by the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), which was on the same aircraft. These airborne measurements were also coincident with an overpass of the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI). First we compare the RSP and OLI radiance measurements to AVIRIS since the spectral response of the multispectral instruments can be used to synthesize a spectrally equivalent signal from the imaging spectrometer data. We then explore a method that uses AVIRIS as a transfer between RSP and OLI to show that radiometric traceability of a satellite-based imager can be used to calibrate a radiometer despite differences in spectral channel sensitivities. This calibration transfer shows agreement within the uncertainty of both the various instruments for most spectral channels.

calibrating↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

CPF-VIIRS Intercalibration Methodology

NASA’s Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder (CPF) mission will carry a high-accuracy reflected solar (RS) spectrometer to measure the Earth-reflected solar radiation from International Space Station with an SI-traceable radiometric uncertainty of 0.3% (1-sigma). The CPF measurements will serve as an on-orbit reference for intercalibrating other spaceflight RS instruments. The CPF intercalibration team has developed a state-of-the-art approach to calibrate the reflective solar bands (RSB) of the NOAA-20 Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) sensor against the CPF benchmark measurements with an aimed intercalibration methodology uncertainty of 0.3%. This presentation will highlight the CPF mission overview and CPF-VIIRS intercalibration approach, as well as other potential outcomes of the CPF-VIIRS intercalibration study that may benefit the broader remote sensing community.

Raj Bhatt↗

NASA NTRS2020

Robust Algorithm for Estimating Total Suspended Solids (TSS) in Inland and Nearshore Coastal Waters

One of the challenging tasks in modern aquatic remote sensing is the retrieval of near-surface concentrations of Total Suspended Solids (TSS). This study aims to present a Statistical, inherent Optical property (IOP) -based, and muLti-conditional Inversion proceDure (SOLID) for enhanced retrievals of satellite-derived TSS under a wide range of in-water bio-optical conditions in rivers, lakes, estuaries, and coastal waters. In this study, using a large in situ database (N > 3500), the SOLID model is devised using a three-step procedure: (a) water-type classification of the input remote sensing reflectance (R(sub rs)), (b) retrieval of particulate backscattering (b(sub bp)) in the red or near-infrared (NIR) regions using semi-analytical, machine-learning, and empirical models, and (c) estimation of TSS from b(sub bp) via water-type-specific empirical models. Using an independent subset of our in situ data (N = 2729) with TSS ranging from 0.1 to 2626.8 [g/m (exp 3)], the SOLID model is thoroughly examined and compared against several state-of-the-art algorithms (Miller and McKee, 2004; Nechad et al., 2010; Novoa et al., 2017; Ondrusek et al., 2012; Petus et al., 2010). We show that SOLID outperforms all the other models to varying degrees, i.e., from 10 to > 100%, depending on the statistical attributes (e.g., global versus water-type-specific metrics). For demonstration purposes, the model is implemented for images acquired by the MultiSpectral Imager aboard Sentinel-2A/B over the Chesapeake Bay, San-Francisco-Bay-Delta Estuary, Lake Okeechobee, and Lake Taihu. To enable generating consistent, multimission TSS products, its performance is further extended to, and evaluated for, other missions, such as the Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI), Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), and Operational Land Imager (OLI). Sensitivity analyses on uncertainties induced by the atmospheric correction indicate that 10% uncertainty in Rrs leads to < 20% uncertainty in TSS retrievals from SOLID. While this study suggests that SOLID has a potential for producing TSS products in global coastal and inland waters, our statistical analysis certainly verifies that there is still a need for improving retrievals across a wide spectrum of particle loads.

Total suspended solids↗

NASA NTRS2022

Technology Maturation for Cloud Ice Radiometers

Global measurements of ice in clouds, both the amount and particle size distribution, are critically needed to reduce uncertainties in global climate models. The retrieval of this information is best achieved with a range of receiver channels across the submillimeter wave range. Advancement of low noise Indium Phosphide (InP) MMIC amplifier technology to 25-nm gate length enabled us to develop miniature submillimeter-wave receivers for a CubeSat scale instrument that achieves 6 km spatial resolution. We developed the 25-nm InP MMICs and radiometer receivers for 240, 310, 380, 670 GHz. The 25-nm InP MMIC technology was thermal vacuum tested to reduce risk for future space mission.

Duffy, Maxwell↗

NASA NTRS2009

Absolute Calibration Accuracy for Hyperspectral Imagers in the Solar Reflective

The characterization and calibration of hyperspectral imagers is a challenging one that is expected to become even more challenging as needs increase for highly-accurate radiometric data from such systems. The preflight calibration of the Advanced Responsive Tactically Effective Military Imaging Spectrometer (ARTEMIS) is used as an example of the difficulties to calibrate hyperspectrally. Results from a preflight solar radiation-based calibration are presented with a discussion of the uncertainties in such a method including the NISI-traceable and SItraceable aspects. Expansion on the concept of solar-based calibration is given with descriptions of methods that view the solar disk directly, illuminate a solar diffuser that is part of the sensor's inflight calibration, and illuminate an external diffuser that is imaged by the sensor. The results of error analysis show that it is feasible to achieve preflight calibration using the sun as a source at the same level of uncertainty as those of lamp-based approaches. The error analysis is evaluated and verified through the solar-radiation-based calibration of several of laboratory grade radiometers. Application of these approaches to NASA's upcoming CLARREO mission are discussed including proposed methods for significantly reducing the uncertainties to allow CLARREO data to be used for climate data records.

Thome, Kurtis↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

CLARREO Pathfinder (Cpf) State-of-the-Art Intercalibration Capabilities

climate↗

NASA NTRS2024

Expanded Signal to Noise Ratio Estimates for Validating Next-Generation Satellite Sensors in Oceanic, Coastal, and Inland Waters

The launch of the NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) and the Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) satellite sensors will provide increased spectral resolution compared to existing platforms. These new sensors will require robust calibration and validation datasets, but existing field-based instrumentation is limited in its availability and potential for geographic coverage, particularly for coastal and inland waters, where optical complexity is substantially greater than in the open ocean. The minimum signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) is an important metric for assessing the reliability of derived biogeochemical products and their subsequent use as proxies, such as for biomass, in aquatic systems. The SNR can provide insight into whether legacy sensors can be used for algorithm development as well as calibration and validation activities for next-generation platforms. We extend our previous evaluation of SNR and associated uncertainties for representative coastal and inland targets to include the imaging sensors PRISM and AVIRIS-NG, the airborne-deployed C-AIR radiometers, and the shipboard HydroRad and HyperSAS radiometers, which were not included in the original analysis. Nearly all the assessed hyperspectral sensors fail to meet proposed criteria for SNR or uncertainty in remote sensing reflectance (R rs ) for some part of the spectrum, with the most common failures (>20% uncertainty) below 400 nm, but all the sensors were below the proposed 17.5% uncertainty for derived chlorophyll-a. Instrument suites for both in-water and airborne platforms that are capable of exceeding all the proposed thresholds for SNR and R rs uncertainty are commercially available. Thus, there is a straightforward path to obtaining calibration and validation data for current and next-generation sensors, but the availability of suitable high spectral resolution sensors is limited.

signal-to-noise ratio↗