Dr. Thomas C. Stone Profile

Dr. Thomas C. Stone

at US Geological Survey

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Author

Publications (14)

SPIE Journal Paper | 1 November 2023 Open Access

ARCSTONE: calibration of lunar spectral reflectance from space. Prototype instrument concept, analysis, and results

Hans Courrier, Rand Swanson, Constantine Lukashin, Christine Buleri, John Carvo, Michael Cooney, Warren Davis, Alexander Halterman, Alan Hoskins, Trevor Jackson, Mike Kehoe, Greg Kopp, Thuan Nguyen, Noah Ryan, Carlos Roithmayr, Paul Smith, Mike Stebbins, Thomas Stone, Cindy Young

JARS, Vol. 17, Issue 04, 044508, (November 2023) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.10.1117/1.JRS.17.044508

KEYWORDS: Equipment, Calibration, Reflectivity, Prototyping, Sensors, Staring arrays, Measurement uncertainty, Sun, Dark current, Instrument modeling

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Proceedings Article | 12 October 2015 Paper

A summary of the joint GSICS – CEOS/IVOS lunar calibration workshop: moving towards intercalibration using the Moon as a transfer target

S. Wagner, T. Hewison, T. Stone, S. Lachérade, B. Fougnie, X. Xiong

Proceedings Volume 9639, 96390Z (2015) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.2193161

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Imaging systems, Satellites, Data modeling, MODIS, Algorithm development, Instrument modeling, Atmospheric modeling, Aerospace engineering, Clouds

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Proceedings Article | 15 October 2012 Paper

VIIRS on-orbit calibration for ocean color data processing

Robert Eplee, Kevn Turpie, Gwyn Fireman, Gerhard Meister, Thomas Stone, Frederick Patt, Bryan Franz, Sean Bailey, Wayne Robinson, Charles McClain

Proceedings Volume 8510, 85101G (2012) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.930483

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Diffusers, Bidirectional reflectance transmission function, Sensors, Mirrors, Reflectivity, Space operations, MODIS, Short wave infrared radiation, Atmospheric corrections

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Proceedings Article | 27 August 2010 Paper

Stellar calibration of the ROLO lunar radiometric reference

Thomas Stone

Proceedings Volume 7807, 78070T (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.862141

KEYWORDS: Stars, Calibration, Point spread functions, Data modeling, Composites, Telescopes, Sensors, Space telescopes, Imaging systems, Atmospheric corrections

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Proceedings Article | 20 August 2008 Paper

Radiometric calibration stability and inter-calibration of solar-band instruments in orbit using the moon

Thomas Stone

Proceedings Volume 7081, 70810X (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.795227

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Instrument modeling, MODIS, Reflectivity, Sensors, Space operations, Data modeling, Sensor calibration, Remote sensing, Radiometry

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Proceedings Article | 20 August 2008 Paper

MODIS and SeaWIFS on-orbit lunar calibration

J. Sun, R. Eplee, X. Xiong, T. Stone, G. Meister, C. McClain

Proceedings Volume 7081, 70810Y (2008) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.795338

KEYWORDS: MODIS, Calibration, Sensors, Instrument modeling, Mirrors, Space operations, Reflectivity, Radiometric corrections, Diffusers, Data modeling

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The Moon plays an important role in the radiometric stability monitoring of the NASA Earth Observing System's (EOS) remote sensors. The MODIS and SeaWIFS are two of the key instruments for NASA's EOS missions. The MODIS Protoflight Model (PFM) on-board the Terra spacecraft and the MODIS Flight Model 1 (FM1) on-board the Aqua spacecraft were launched on December 18, 1999 and May 4, 2002, respectively. They view the Moon through the Space View (SV) port approximately once a month to monitor the long-term radiometric stability of their Reflective Solar Bands (RSB). SeaWIFS was launched on-board the OrbView-2 spacecraft on August 1, 1997. The SeaWiFS lunar calibrations are obtained once a month at a nominal phase angle of 7°. The lunar irradiance observed by these instruments depends on the viewing geometry. The USGS photometric model of the Moon (the ROLO model) has been developed to provide the geometric corrections for the lunar observations. For MODIS, the lunar view responses with corrections for the viewing geometry are used to track the gain change for its reflective solar bands (RSB). They trend the system response degradation at the Angle Of Incidence (AOI) of sensor's SV port. With both the lunar observation and the on-board Solar Diffuser (SD) calibration, it is shown that the MODIS system response degradation is wavelength, mirror side, and AOI dependent. Time-dependent Response Versus Scan angle (RVS) Look-Up Tables (LUT) are applied in MODIS RSB calibration and lunar observations play a key role in RVS derivation. The corrections provided by the RVS in the Terra and Aqua MODIS data from the 412 nm band are as large as 16% and 13%, respectively. For SeaWIFS lunar calibrations, the spacecraft is pitched across the Moon so that the instrument views the Moon near nadir through the same optical path as it views the Earth. The SeaWiFS system gain changes for its eight bands are calibrated using the geometrically-corrected lunar observations. The radiometric corrections to the SeaWiFS data, after more than ten years on orbit, are 19% at 865 nm, 8% at 765 nm, and 1-3% in the other bands. In this report, the lunar calibration algorithms are reviewed and the RSB gain changes observed by the lunar observations are shown for all three sensors. The lunar observations for the three instruments are compared using the USGS photometric model. The USGS lunar model facilitates the cross calibration of instruments with different spectra bandpasses whose measurements of the Moon differ in time and observing geometry.

Proceedings Article | 8 September 2006 Paper

Use of the Moon to support on-orbit sensor calibration for climate change measurements

Thomas Stone, Hugh Kieffer

Proceedings Volume 6296, 62960Y (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.678605

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Space operations, Sensors, Environmental sensing, Climatology, Instrument modeling, Climate change, Sensor calibration, Satellites, Reflectivity

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Proceedings Article | 7 September 2006 Paper

Vicarious calibration of GOES Imager visible channel using the Moon

Xiangqian Wu, Thomas Stone, Fangfang Yu, Dejiang Han

Proceedings Volume 6296, 62960Z (2006) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.681591

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Imaging systems, Sensors, Satellites, Data modeling, Aerospace engineering, Solids, Precision calibration, MODIS, Reflectivity

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Proceedings Article | 22 August 2005 Paper

Potential for calibration of geostationary meteorological imagers using the Moon

Thomas Stone, Hugh Kieffer, Ian Grant

Proceedings Volume 5882, 58820P (2005) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.620097

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Imaging systems, Space operations, Data modeling, Satellites, Instrument modeling, Atmospheric modeling, Satellite imaging, Sensors, Image processing

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Solar-band imagery from geostationary meteorological satellites has been utilized in a number of important applications in Earth Science that require radiometric calibration. Because these satellite systems typically lack on-board calibrators, various techniques have been employed to establish "ground truth", including observations of stable ground sites and oceans, and cross-calibrating with coincident observations made by instruments with on-board calibration systems. The Moon appears regularly in the margins and corners of full-disk operational images of the Earth acquired by meteorological instruments with a rectangular field of regard, typically several times each month, which provides an excellent opportunity for radiometric calibration. The USGS RObotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) project has developed the capability for on-orbit calibration using the Moon via a model for lunar spectral irradiance that accommodates the geometries of illumination and viewing by a spacecraft. The ROLO model has been used to determine on-orbit response characteristics for several NASA EOS instruments in low Earth orbit. Relative response trending with precision approaching 0.1% per year has been achieved for SeaWiFS as a result of the long time-series of lunar observations collected by that instrument. The method has a demonstrated capability for cross-calibration of different instruments that have viewed the Moon. The Moon appears skewed in high-resolution meteorological images, primarily due to satellite orbital motion during acquisition; however, the geometric correction for this is straightforward. By integrating the lunar disk image to an equivalent irradiance, and using knowledge of the sensor's spectral response, a calibration can be developed through comparison against the ROLO lunar model. The inherent stability of the lunar surface means that lunar calibration can be applied to observations made at any time, including retroactively. Archived geostationary imager data that contains the Moon can be used to develop response histories for these instruments, regardless of their current operational status.

Proceedings Article | 26 October 2004 Paper

Assessment of uncertainty in ROLO lunar irradiance for on-orbit calibration

Thomas Stone, Hugh Kieffer

Proceedings Volume 5542, (2004) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.560236

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Data modeling, Reflectivity, Error analysis, Space operations, Stars, Atmospheric corrections, Telescopes, Instrument modeling, Short wave infrared radiation

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Proceedings Article | 10 November 2003 Paper

Modeling the radiance of the moon for on-orbit calibration

Thomas Stone, Hugh Kieffer, Kris Becker

Proceedings Volume 5151, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.506117

KEYWORDS: Space operations, Data modeling, Calibration, Reflectivity, Instrument modeling, Image processing, Stars, Telescopes, Space telescopes, Sun

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Proceedings Article | 8 April 2003 Paper

On-orbit radiometric calibration over time and between spacecraft using the Moon

Hugh Kieffer, Thomas Stone, Robert Barnes, Steven Bender, Robert Eplee, Jeffrey Mendenhall, Lawrence Ong

Proceedings Volume 4881, (2003) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.462611

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Space operations, Instrument modeling, Reflectivity, Sun, Solar radiation models, Spectral models, Sensors, Image processing, Short wave infrared radiation

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Proceedings Article | 24 September 2002 Paper

Absolute irradiance scale of the Moon for on-orbit calibration

Thomas Stone, Hugh Kieffer

Proceedings Volume 4814, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.451694

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Space operations, Atmospheric modeling, Reflectivity, Stars, Data modeling, Image processing, Alternate lighting of surfaces, Instrument modeling, Space telescopes

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Proceedings Article | 18 January 2002 Paper

Status of use of lunar irradiance for on-orbit calibration

Thomas Stone, Hugh Kieffer, James Anderson

Proceedings Volume 4483, (2002) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.453450

KEYWORDS: Calibration, Stars, Short wave infrared radiation, Image processing, Lamps, Space operations, Reflectivity, Atmospheric modeling, Sensors, Telescopes

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Showing 5 of 14 publications

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