Envisat is ESA's environmental research satellite launched on 1 March 2002. It carries a suit of sensors offering opportunities for a broad range of scientific research and applications. The spectral calibration results from the first 2 years of operation of the MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) will be presented. Four different methods, Making use of the spectral programmability of the instrument, were used to characterize the five MERIS spectrometers at eight wavelengths covering most of the useful spectral range of the instrument. The onboard spectral calibration uses an Erbium doped SpectralonTM diffuser panel providing useful absorption features at 408 & 522 nm. Configuring the instrument band settings to cover a designated spectral ranges with narrow bands, and acquiring data over natural targets for a limited number of orbits, as well as using the on-board radiometric (white) SpectralonTM diffuser; the instrument's response to a number of Fraunhofer absorption features {395, 486, 656, 854 & 866 nm}, and atmospheric oxygen absorption {760nm} where analysed. The methods and results of this analysis will be presented as well as the final MERIS spectral model derived from these.

Date Published: 4 November 2004
PDF: 10 pages
Proc. SPIE 5570, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites VIII, (4 November 2004); doi: 10.1117/12.567991

Published in SPIE Proceedings Vol. 5570:
Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites VIII
Roland Meynart; Steven P. Neeck; Haruhisa Shimoda, Editor(s)