William H. Atkins

Deployment test of the NIST EOS Thermal-infrared Transfer Radiometer

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Thermal-infrared Transfer Radiometer (TXR), developed for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS), was deployed at the remote sensing radiometric calibration facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The purpose of the deployment was to test the ability of the TXR to operate off-site of NIST in a host cryogenic vacuum chamber, and to provide an end-to-end verification of the radiance scale in the LANL facility. The TXR was calibrated pre-trip and post-trip at NIST against a water bath black body in ambient conditions. At LANL, the TXR was operated in a liquid nitrogen cooled vacuum chamber, mounted in the same position that remote sensing instruments occupy during their pre-flight calibrations. The results from the TXR 5 µm channel show that the LANL radiance scale agrees with that of the NIST water bath black body to within a radiance uncertainty of - 0.16% ( k = 2). This corresponds to a brightness temperature uncertainty of 50 mK ( k = 2) at 300 K. Thus, the TXR has demonstrated its ability to provide an economical end-to-end system-level verification of the component-level radiometric scale assigned to a calibration facility. Such verifications provide an extra level of confidence in the radiometric accuracy of flight instrument calibration facilities that has hitherto not been possible.

Modeling the MTI electro-optic system sensitivity and resolution

We present an analysis methodology that offers efficient characterization of the Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) electro-optic system response to a wide range of user-specified system parameters and spectral scenarios. This methodology combines physics-based modeling of the MTI hardware with MTI prelaunch characterization data. The resulting models enable the user to generate application-specific sensitivity and resolution studies of the MTI image capture process, and aid in the development of calibration procedures and retrieval algorithms for MTI. In addition to quantifying the MTI response, the methodology developed in this paper is sufficiently general to permit the prototyping and evaluation of a variety of multispectral electro-optic systems. Finally, an example utilizing nominal orbital parameters and targeted MODTRAN scenarios that exercise the various spectral band functions is provided.

MTI science, data products and ground data processing overview

The mission of the Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) satellite is to demonstrate the efficacy of highly accurate multispectral imaging for passive characterization of urban and industrial areas, as well as sites of environmental interest. The satellite makes top-of-atmosphere radiance measurements that are subsequently processed into estimates of surface properties such as vegetation health, temperatures, material composition and others. The MTI satellite also provides simultaneous data for atmospheric characterization at high spatial resolution. To utilize these data the MTI science program has several coordinated components, including modeling, comprehensive ground-truth measurements, image acquisition planning, data processing and data interpretation and analysis. Algorithms have been developed to retrieve a multitude of physical quantities and these algorithms are integrated in a processing pipeline architecture that emphasizes automation, flexibility and programmability. In addition, the MTI science team has produced detailed site, system and atmospheric models to aid in system design and data analysis. This paper provides an overview of the MTI research objectives, data products and ground data processing.

MTI on-orbit calibration

The Multi-spectral Thermal Imager (MTI) will be a satellite- based imaging system that will provide images in fifteen spectral bands covering large portions of the spectrum from 0.45 through 10.7 microns. An important goal of the mission is to provide data with state-of-the-art radiometric calibration. The on-orbit calibration will rely on the pre-launch ground calibration and will be maintained by vicarious calibration campaigns. System drifts before and between the vicarious calibration campaigns will be monitored by several on-board sources that serve as transfer sources in the calibration of external images. These sources can be divided into two groups: a set of sources at an internal aperture, primarily intended to monitor short term drifts in the detectors and associated electronics; and two sources at the external aperture, intended to monitor longer term drifts in the optical train before the internal aperture. The steps needed to transfer calibrations to image products, additional radiometric data quality estimates performed as part of this transfer, and the data products associated with this transfer will all be examined.

Design, manufacture, and calibration of infrared radiometric blackbody sources

A radiometric calibration station (RCS) is being assembled at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) which will allow for calibration of sensors with detector arrays having spectral capability from about 0.4-15 micrometers. The configuration of the LANL RCS is shown. Two blackbody sources have been designed to cover the spectral range from about 3-15 micrometers, operating at temperatures ranging from about 180-350 K within a vacuum environment. The sources are designed to present a uniform spectral radiance over a large area to the sensor unit under test. THe thermal uniformity requirement of the blackbody cavities has been one of the key factors of the design, requiring less than 50 mK variation over the entire blackbody surface to attain effective emissivity values of about 0.999. Once the two units are built and verified to the level of about 100 mK at LANL, they will be sent to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where at least a factor of two improvements will be calibrated into the blackbody control system. The physical size of these assemblies will require modifications of the existing NIST Low Background Infrared (LBIR) Facility. LANL has constructed a bolt-on addition to the LBIR facility that will allow calibration of our large aperture sources. Methodology for attaining the two blackbody sources at calibration levels of performance equivalent to present state of the art will be explained in the paper.

Initial MTI on-orbit calibration performance

The Multispectral Thermal Imager (MTI) is a satellite-based imaging system that provides images in fifteen spectral bands covering large portions of the spectrum from 0.45 through 10.7 microns. This article describes the current MTI radiometric image calibration, and will provide contrast with pre-launch plans discussed in an earlier article. The MTI system is intended to provide data with state-of-the-art radiometric calibration. The on-orbit calibration relies on the pre-launch ground calibration and is maintained by vicarious calibration campaigns. System drifts before and between the vicarious calibration campaigns are monitored by several on-board sources that serve as transfer sources in the calibration of external images. The steps used to transfer calibrations to image products, additional radiometric data quality estimates performed as part of this transfer, and the data products associated with this transfer will all be examined.

Thermal-infrared scale verifications at 10 μm using the NIST EOS TXR

One element of a multi-year calibration program between the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the National Aeronautical and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observing System (EOS) Project Science Office has been the development and deployment of a portable transfer radiometer for verifying the thermal-infrared scales being used for flight-instrument pre-launch calibration. This instrument, the Thermal-infrared Transfer Radiometer (TXR), has been built and the first deployment test was completed successfully, as has been reported previously.1 The 5 µm channel, based on a photovoltaic Indium Antimonide (InSb) detector, so far has demonstrated a pre-deployment to post-deployment uncorrected repeatability of better than 30 mK to 60 mK, which is sufficient to enable intercomparisons at useful uncertainty levels for the EOS program. However, the 10 µm channel, based on a photovoltaic Mercury Cadmium Telluride (MCT) detector, shows uncorrected repeatability levels of about 0.5 K, the response changes being induced by cryocycling. This paper describes the technique that has been developed for correcting these changes. A portable black body check-source travels with the TXR that is used to verify the repeatability during the deployment trip. The check-source, in combination with the stability of the 5 µm channel, is used to restore a higher accuracy scale to the 10 µm channel than would otherwise be possible. This application is analogous to the use of an on-orbit calibration source to check for and correct for launch-induced or degradation-induced flight instrument detector response changes.

Sensitivity of near infrared total water vapour estimate to calibration errors

Analysis of satellite data to estimate the precipitable water (also called the columnar water vapour) amount often leads to systematic errors in deduced precipitable water (PW). The causes of systematic errors are likely to be instrumental calibration errors rather than variability of atmospheric parameters. We use the MODTRAN 4.0 radiative transfer code to model effects of various calibration errors on the Multi-spectral Thermal Imager (MTI) daytime total water vapour estimate. From the considered sources of calibration errors (spectral band centre error, spectral bandwidth error and radiometric calibration error) the radiometric calibration error has the largest influence on the accuracy of total water vapour estimate. When the radiometric calibration error between 1% and 5% is combined with the estimated spectral band centre error of 1 nm and the bandwidth error of 0.5 nm, the total systematic error of the columnar water vapour estimate is expected to be between 8% and 26%. The accuracy of the retrieved PW using the MTI imagery over the NASA Stennis site and Oklahoma DOE (Department of Energy) ARM (Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program) site is about 17%, well within the estimated range due to calibration errors. A similarity between the MTI and the MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectral-Radiometer) bands used for water vapour estimate suggests that a similar error analysis may be valid for the MODIS sensor. However, the narrow band instruments (with bandwidth around 10 nm) are much more sensitive to the band centre calibration error.

Vacuum-compatible standard diffuse source, manufacture and calibration

Los Alamos National Laboratories has completed the design, manufacture and calibration of a vacuum-compatible, tungsten lamp, integrating sphere. The light source has been calibrated at the National Institute of Standards and Technology and is intended for use as a calibration standard for remote sensing instrumentation. Calibration 2(sigma) uncertainty varied with wavelength from 1.21% at 400 nm and 0.73% at 900 nm, to 3.95% at 2400 nm. The inner radius of the Spectralon-coated sphere is 21.2 cm with a 7.4 cm square exit aperture. A small satellite sphere is attached to the main sphere and its output coupled through a stepper motor driven aperture. The variable aperture allows a constant radiance without effecting the color temperature output from the main sphere. The spheres output is transmitted into a vacuum test environment through a fused silica window that is an integral part of the outer housing of the vacuum shell assembly. The atmosphere within this outer housing is composed of 240 degree(s)K nitrogen gas, provided by a custom LN2 vaporizer unit. Use of the nitrogen gas maintains the internal temperature of the sphere at a nominal 300 degree(s)K +/- 10 degree(s). The calibrated spectral range of the source is 0.4 micrometers through 2.4 micrometers . Three, color temperature matched, 20 W bulbs together with a 10 W bulb are within the main integrating sphere. Two 20 W bulbs, also color temperature matched, reside in the satellite integrating sphere. A silicon and a germanium broadband detector are situated within the inner surface of the main sphere. Their purpose is for the measurement of the internal broadband irradiance. A fiber-optic-coupled spectrometer measures the internal color temperature that is maintained by current control on the lamps. Each lamp is independently operated allowing for radiances with common color temperatures ranging from near 0.026 W/cm2/sr to about 0.1 W/cm2/sr at a wavelength of 0.9 micrometers (the location of the peak spectral radiance).