Overview of Inter-Calibration of Satellite Instruments

Chander, G., et al. (2013), Overview of Inter-Calibration of Satellite Instruments, IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, 51, 1056-1080, doi:10.1109/TGRS.2012.2228654.
Abstract: 

Intercalibration of satellite instruments is critical for
detection and quantification of changes in the Earth’s environment,
weather forecasting, understanding climate processes, and
monitoring climate and land cover change. These applications
use data from many satellites; for the data to be interoperable,
the instruments must be cross-calibrated. To meet the stringent
needs of such applications, instruments must provide reliable,
accurate, and consistent measurements over time. Robust techniques
are required to ensure that observations from different
instruments can be normalized to a common scale that the community
agrees on. The long-term reliability of this process needs
to be sustained in accordance with established reference standards
and best practices. Furthermore, establishing physical meaning
to the information through robust Système International d’unités
traceable calibration and validation (Cal/Val) is essential to fully
understand the parameters under observation. The processes of
calibration, correction, stabilitymonitoring, and quality assurance
need to be underpinned and evidenced by comparison with “peer
instruments” and, ideally, highly calibrated in-orbit reference instruments.
Intercalibration between instruments is a central pillar
of the Cal/Val strategies of many national and international satellite
remote sensing organizations. Intercalibration techniques as
outlined in this paper not only provide a practical means of identifying
and correcting relative biases in radiometric calibration
between instruments but also enable potential data gaps between
measurement records in a critical time series to be bridged. Use of
a robust set of internationally agreed upon and coordinated intercalibration
techniques will lead to significant improvement in the
consistency between satellite instruments and facilitate accurate
monitoring of the Earth’s climate at uncertainty levels needed to
detect and attribute the mechanisms of change. This paper summarizes
the state-of-the-art of postlaunch radiometric calibration
of remote sensing satellite instruments through intercalibration.

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Research Program: 
Radiation Science Program (RSP)
Mission: 
CLARREO