The absolute radiometric calibration of the NS001 Thematic Mapper Simulator reflective channels was examined based on laboratory tests and in-flight comparisons to ground measurements. The NS001 data are calibrated in-flight by reference to the NS001 internal integrating sphere source. This source's power supply or monitoring circuitry exhibited greater instability in-flight during 1988-1989 than in the laboratory. Extrapolating laboratory behavior to in-flight data resulted in 7-20 percent radiance errors relative to ground measurements and atmospheric modeling. Assuming constancy in the source's output between laboraotry and in-flight resulted in generally smaller errors. Upgrades to the source's power supply and monitoring circuitry in 1990 improved its in-flight stability, though in-flight ground reflectance based calibration tests have not yet been performed.

Date Published: 1 August 1991
PDF: 8 pages
Proc. SPIE 1493, Calibration of Passive Remote Observing Optical and Microwave Instrumentation, (1 August 1991); doi: 10.1117/12.46698

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 1493:
Calibration of Passive Remote Observing Optical and Microwave Instrumentation
Bruce W. Guenther, Editor(s)