System-level approach to characterization and radiometric calibration of a space-based electro-optical sensor

摘要

State of the art electro-optical sensors being designed for today's space-based applications require more complete characterization and thorough calibration to permit increasingly smaller calibration uncertainties needed for many applications. This is especially true in the remote sensing community to assess global climate change. The Space Dynamics Laboratory (SDL) at Utah State University has been a pioneer in calibrating IR electro-optical sensors for over 30 years. Based on SDL's experiences, this paper describes a system-level calibration approach that addresses each phase of calibration, from planning to on-orbit operations. This approach leads to a thorough understanding of sensor performance, provides a complete calibration, and minimizes risk of not meeting measurement requirements. The overall calibration philosophy is presented along with example calibration parameters. Considerations for estimating uncertainty and lessons learned are also discussed.