NASA Logo

NTRS

NTRS - NASA Technical Reports Server

Collections About News Help Login
Back to Results
Aqua MODIS Thermal Emissive Band On-Orbit Calibration, Characterization, and PerformanceThe NASA's Earth Observing System Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) has continued to operate with satisfactory performance since its launch in May 2002, exceeding its nominal six-year design lifetime. Its continuous Earth observations have been used to generate many science data products for studies of the Earth's, system. MODIS has 36 spectral bands; 20 reflective solar bands and 16 thermal emissive bands (TEBs). All TEB observations are made at 1-km nadir spatial resolution with spectral wavelengths from 3.7 to 14.4 pm. Primary applications of MODIS TEB 'include surface, cloud, and atmospheric temperatures, water vapor, and cloud top altitude. MODIS TEB on-orbit calibration uses a quadratic algorithm with its calibration coefficients derived using an onboard blackbody (BB). This paper will present Aqua MODIS TEB on-orbit calibration, characterization, and performance over its six-year mission. Examples of instrument thermal behavior, BB temperature stability, detector short-term stability, and changes in long-term response (or system gain) will be presented. Comparisons will also be made with Terra MODIS, launched in December 1999. On-orbit results show that Aqua MODIS and its focal plane temperatures have behaved normally. BB temperature has remained extremely stable with typical scan -to-scan variations of less than +/-0.15 mK. Most TEB detectors continue to exceed their specified signal-to-noise ratio requirements, exhibiting excellent short-term stability and calibration accuracy. Excluding a few noisy detectors, either identified prelaunch or occurring postlaunch, on-orbit changes in TEB responses have been less than 0.5% on an annual basis. By comparison; the overall Aqua TEB performance has been better than that of Terra MODIS,
Document ID
20110006430
Acquisition Source
Goddard Space Flight Center
Document Type
Abstract
Authors
Xiong, Xiaoxiong (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Wenny, Brian N. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Wu, Aisheng (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Barnes, William L. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Salomonson, Vincent V. (NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Greenbelt, MD, United States)
Date Acquired
August 25, 2013
Publication Date
March 1, 2009
Publication Information
Publication: IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing
Volume: 47
Issue: 3
Subject Category
Instrumentation And Photography
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Public Use Permitted.

Related Records

There are no records associated with this record.
No Preview Available