Updates to the absolute radiometric accuracy of the AIRS on Aqua

Thomas S. Pagano; Hartmut H. Aumann; Steve Broberg; Evan Manning; Kenneth Overoye; Margaret Weiler

doi:10.1117/12.2324605

23 October 2018 Updates to the absolute radiometric accuracy of the AIRS on Aqua

Thomas S. Pagano, Hartmut H. Aumann, Steve Broberg, Evan Manning, Kenneth Overoye, Margaret Weiler

Proceedings Volume 10781, Earth Observing Missions and Sensors: Development, Implementation, and Characterization V; 107810P (2018) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2324605
Event: SPIE Asia-Pacific Remote Sensing, 2018, Honolulu, Hawaii, United States

Abstract

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) on the EOS Aqua Spacecraft was launched on May 4, 2002. The AIRS was designed to measure atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles and has demonstrated exceptional radiometric and spectral accuracy and stability in-orbit. The accuracy is achieved by transferring the calibration from a Large Area Blackbody (LABB) to the On-Board Calibrator (OBC) blackbody during preflight testing and frequent on-board calibration. The LABB theoretical emissivity is in excess of 0.9999 and temperature uncertainty is less than ±60 mK. The LABB emitted radiance is NIST traceable through thermistors located on the internal surfaces. The AIRS also provides a full aperture space view every scan for offset calibration. AIRS nonlinearity and polarization calibration coefficients were based on pre-flight testing and have been among the highest uncertainty sources in the calibration. A recent method using on-board space view data has reduced the uncertainty of the polarization coefficients and use of separate A side and B side data from pre-flight testing has reduced the uncertainty of the nonlinearity estimates. An update to the system radiometric uncertainty is made based on the new data and includes other refinements and is presented in this paper. This paper does not address the stability of the AIRS radiances in orbit that is usually determined by comparison with surface observations.

Citation Download Citation

Thomas S. Pagano, Hartmut H. Aumann, Steve Broberg, Evan Manning, Kenneth Overoye, and Margaret Weiler "Updates to the absolute radiometric accuracy of the AIRS on Aqua", Proc. SPIE 10781, Earth Observing Missions and Sensors: Development, Implementation, and Characterization V, 107810P (23 October 2018); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2324605

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available