Evaluation of Terra and Aqua MODIS thermal emissive band calibration consistency

B. N. Wenny; X. Xiong; S. Madhavan

doi:10.1117/12.974230

19 November 2012 Evaluation of Terra and Aqua MODIS thermal emissive band calibration consistency

B. N. Wenny, X. Xiong, S. Madhavan

Proceedings Volume 8533, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XVI; 853317 (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.974230
Event: SPIE Remote Sensing, 2012, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Abstract

Terra and Aqua MODIS have operated continuously for more than 12 and 10 years respectively and are key instruments for NASA’s Earth Observing System missions. The 16 thermal emissive bands (TEB), covering wavelengths from 3.5 to 14.4 μm with a nadir spatial resolution of 1 km are used to regularly generate a variety of atmosphere, ocean and land science products. As the sensors age well past their prime design life of 6 years, understanding the instrument on-orbit performance is necessary to maintain consistency between sensors in the long-term data records. Recurrent observations of Dome C, Antarctica by both Terra and Aqua MODIS over mission lifetime are used to track the calibration consistency and stability of the two sensors. A ground temperature sensor provides a proxy reference measurement useful for determining the relative bias between the two instruments. This technique is most useful for the land surface sensing bands, such as bands 29, 31 and 32, but can be applied to all other TEB to provide a metric to assess long-term trends. A change in the TEB calibration approach for the MODIS Collection 6 reprocessing mitigate a cold scene bias previously observed for retrievals of brightness temperatures well below the on-board blackbody calibrator temperature range (270-315 K). The impact of the Collection 6 calibration changes are illustrated using the Dome C observations.

Citation Download Citation

B. N. Wenny, X. Xiong, and S. Madhavan "Evaluation of Terra and Aqua MODIS thermal emissive band calibration consistency", Proc. SPIE 8533, Sensors, Systems, and Next-Generation Satellites XVI, 853317 (19 November 2012); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.974230

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