Performance of the Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) in the radiation environment of low-earth orbit

Margaret H. Weiler; Kenneth R. Overoye; James A. Stobie; Paul B. O'Sullivan; Steven L. Gaiser; Steven E. Broberg; Denis A. Elliott

doi:10.1117/12.615244

22 August 2005 Performance of the atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) in the radiation environment of low-earth orbit

Margaret H. Weiler, Kenneth R. Overoye, James A. Stobie, Paul B. O'Sullivan, Steven L. Gaiser, Steven E. Broberg, Denis A. Elliott

Author Affiliations +

Proceedings Volume 5882, Earth Observing Systems X; 588210 (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.615244
Event: Optics and Photonics 2005, 2005, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS), a hyperspectral infrared sounder, was launched onboard NASA's Aqua spacecraft on May 4, 2002 into sun-synchronous polar Earth orbit for a mission expected to last 7 years. By monitoring calibration data from views of deep space and two on-board calibrators, we have identified a number of effects attributed to in-orbit radiation. Transient effects include 1. steps in the output level of individual channels, attributed to injection of charge into a large capacitor in the read-out electronics integrated circuit (ROIC); and 2. spikes in the calibration data and, by inference, in the scene data, attributed to the passage of ionizing radiation through the active region of the HgCdTe detectors. On-board signal processing corrects for most of the spike effects, and ground processing smoothes the hot and cold calibration data and provides a system of flags to alert the user in cases where the calculated radiances are still suspect. Persistent effects include 1. extremely rare degradations of channels due to large charge injection events; and 2. slow increases in noise levels for a small number of channels, attributed to bias shifts due to the slow accumulation of radiation dose in the ROIC input cells for some channels. In addition to these detector effects, two operational anomalies have been attributed to the high radiation levels in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), one an unplanned cooler shut-down, the second an unplanned stopping of the scan mirror. This paper presents statistics on the frequency and location of these radiation events, and provides a description of the mechanisms by which such events are identified and accounted for. It should be emphasized that the vast majority of the 2378 AIRS infrared channels, and the instrument as a whole, have shown excellent stability and operability throughout the mission.

Citation Download Citation

Margaret H. Weiler, Kenneth R. Overoye, James A. Stobie, Paul B. O'Sullivan, Steven L. Gaiser, Steven E. Broberg, and Denis A. Elliott "Performance of the atmospheric infrared sounder (AIRS) in the radiation environment of low-earth orbit", Proc. SPIE 5882, Earth Observing Systems X, 588210 (22 August 2005); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.615244

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