Calibration of AVHRR sensors using the reflectance-based method

摘要

The Remote Sensing Group at the University of Arizona has been active in the vicarious calibration of numerous sensors through the use of ground-based test sites. Recent efforts have included work to develop cross-calibration information between these sensors using the results from the reflectance-based approach. The current work extends the cross-calibration to the AVHRR series of sensors, specifically NOAA-17, and NOAA-18. The results include work done based on data collected by ground-based personnel nearly coincident with the sensor overpasses. The available number of calibrations for the AVHRR series is increased through a set of ground-based radiometers that are deployed without the need for on-site personnel and have been operating for more than three years at Railroad Valley Playa. The spectral, spatial, and temporal characteristics of the 1-km~2 large-footprint site at Railroad Valley are well understood. It is therefore well suited for the radiometric calibration of AVHRR, which has a nadir-viewing footprint of 1.1 x 1.1 km. The at-sensor radiance is predicted via a radiative transfer code using atmospheric data from a fully-automated solar radiometer. The results for AVHRR show that errors are currently larger for the automated data sets, but results indicate that the AVHRR sensors studied in this work are consistent with the Aqua and Terra MODIS sensors to within the uncertainties of each sensor.