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Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations

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A special issue of Remote Sensing (ISSN 2072-4292).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 November 2013) | Viewed by 113346

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Dr. Richard Müller

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German Weather Service, Frankfurter Street 135, 63067 Offenbach, Germany
Interests: remote sensing of surface radiation; clouds and aerosols; sensor calibration; methods for “merging” in situ data with remote sensing data
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Dear Colleagues,

Satellite instruments are usually well designed and calibrated prior to launch. Unfortunately, no matter how sophisticated the instruments are, they degrade with time e.g. due to thermal, mechanical or electrical effects or exposure to UV radiation. It may be possible to correct this degradation by “recalibration“.
Calibration requires a comparison between the measuring instrument and an “absolute” reference standard of known accuracy. On-board calibration units might be interpreted as reference standard, but they are subject to degradation processes as well. Moreover, many satellite sensors (especially in the VIS) are not adjusted by on-board calibration. Once in space the comparison with reference standards of known accuracy is hardly to manage in terms of metrology as a consequence. Many on-the-fly “calibration” methods rely on the analysis of “radiances” over targets. This on-the-fly satellite “calibration” might be better called satellite sensor verification or drift correction (correction of degradation).
For any application dealing with absolute values of atmospheric or surface variables the correction of degradation effects (drift correction) and pre-launch calibration is quite important, not to say a must. Even for the retrieval of relative quantities like the NDVI correction of degradation is an essential issue, because changes in the spectral response function affect the values of NDVI significantly. Further, inter-calibration plays an important role for the generation of homogeneous data sets e.g. across satellite instruments.
Sensor calibration and verification are thus the basis for reliable remote sensing and proper quality of the derived variables and products. However, the pre-launch calibration, on-board calibration and verification (“recalibration”) of satellite instruments are quite challenging tasks. Regular instrument maintenance is feasible for other remote sensing observations, but they are also subject to adverse conditions that induce sophisticated challenges for calibration and verification, as well. Because of the great importance of instrument calibration and verification we believe that a special issue will be very helpful for the remote sensing community.
We would like to invite you to contribute to the scientific discussion and progress in this field by submission of manuscripts, especially with respect to.
-Methods and instruments for pre-launch calibration.
-Methods and instruments for on-board calibration.
-Methods for on-the-fly verification (“recalibration”); the correction of instrument degradation.
-Methods and instruments for remote sensing under adverse environmental or technical conditions.
-Methods for inter-calibration

Dr. Richard Müller
Guest Editor

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Keywords

satellite instrument verification
satellite instrument calibration
calibration/verification of remote sensing observations
pre-launch calibration; on-board calibration
correction of degradation
spectral response function
GERB
CERES
IASI
SCIAMACHY

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Editorial

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88 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations

by Richard Müller

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(6), 5692-5695; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6065692 - 17 Jun 2014

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 6365

Abstract

Satellite instruments are nowadays a very important source of information. The physical quantities (essential variables) derived from satellites are utilized in a wide field of applications, in particular in atmospheric physics and geoscience. In contrast to ground measurements the physical quantities are not directly measured, but have to be retrieved from satellite observations. Satellites observe hereby the reflection or emission of radiation by the Earth's surface or atmosphere, which enables the retrieval of respective physical quantities (essential variables). The physical basis for the retrieval is the interaction of the radiation with the Earth’s atmosphere and surface. This interaction is defined by radiative transfer, which favors the use of radiances and their respective units within retrieval methods. [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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3416 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Improved NRL Tropical Cyclone Monitoring System with a Unified Microwave Brightness Temperature Calibration Scheme

by Song Yang, Jeffrey Hawkins and Kim Richardson

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(5), 4563-4581; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6054563 - 19 May 2014

Cited by 17 | Viewed by 7771

Abstract

The near real-time NRL global tropical cyclone (TC) monitoring system based on multiple satellite passive microwave (PMW) sensors is improved with a new inter-sensor calibration scheme to correct the biases caused by differences in these sensor’s high frequency channels. Since the PMW sensor 89 GHz channel is used in multiple current and near future operational and research satellites, a unified scheme to calibrate all satellite PMW sensor’s ice scattering channels to a common 89 GHz is created so that their brightness temperatures (T_Bs) will be consistent and permit more accurate manual and automated analyses. In order to develop a physically consistent calibration scheme, cloud resolving model simulations of a squall line system over the west Pacific coast and hurricane Bonnie in the Atlantic Ocean are applied to simulate the views from different PMW sensors. To clarify the complicated T_B biases due to the competing nature of scattering and emission effects, a four-cloud based calibration scheme is developed (rain, non-rain, light rain, and cloudy). This new physically consistent inter-sensor calibration scheme is then evaluated with the synthetic T_Bs of hurricane Bonnie and a squall line as well as observed TCs. Results demonstrate the large T_B biases up to 13 K for heavy rain situations before calibration between TMI and AMSR-E are reduced to less than 3 K after calibration. The comparison stats show that the overall bias and RMSE are reduced by 74% and 66% for hurricane Bonnie, and 98% and 85% for squall lines, respectively. For the observed hurricane Igor, the bias and RMSE decrease 41% and 25% respectively. This study demonstrates the importance of T_B calibrations between PMW sensors in order to systematically monitor the global TC life cycles in terms of intensity, inner core structure and convective organization. A physics-based calibration scheme on TC’s T_B corrections developed in this study is able to significantly reduce the biases between different PMW sensors. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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1783 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Assessment and Correction of on-Orbit Radiometric Calibration for FY-3 VIRR Thermal Infrared Channels

by Na Xu, Lin Chen, Xiuqing Hu, Liyang Zhang and Peng Zhang

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(4), 2884-2897; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6042884 - 28 Mar 2014

Cited by 41 | Viewed by 8527

Abstract

FengYun-3 (FY-3) Visible Infrared Radiometer (VIRR), along with its predecessor, Multispectral Visible Infrared Scanning Radiometer (MVISR), onboard FY-1C&D have had continuous global observation more than 14 years. This data record is valuable for weather prediction, climate monitoring, and environment research. Data quality is vital for satellite data assimilations in Numerical Weather Prediction (NWP) and quantitative remote sensing applications. In this paper, the accuracies of radiometric calibration for VIRR onboard FY-3A and FY-3B, in thermal infrared (TIR) channels, are evaluated using the Low Earth Orbit (LEO)-LEO simultaneous nadir overpass intercalibration method. Hyperspectral and high-quality observations from Infrared Atmosphere Sounding Instrument (IASI) onboard METOP-A are used as reference. The biases of VIRR measurements with respect to IASI over one-and-a-half years indicate that the TIR calibration accuracy of FY-3B VIRR is better than that of FY-3A VIRR. The brightness temperature (BT) measured by FY-3A/VIRR is cooler than that measured by IASI with monthly mean biases ranging from −2 K to −1 K for channel 4 and −1 K to 0.2 K for channel 5. Measurements from FY-3B/VIRR are more consistent with that from IASI, and the annual mean biases are 0.84 ± 0.16 K and −0.66 ± 0.18 K for channels 4 and 5, respectively. The BT biases of FY-3A/VIRR show scene temperature-dependence and seasonal variation, which are not found from FY-3B/VIRR BT biases. The temperature-dependent biases are shown to be attributed to the nonlinearity of detectors. New nonlinear correction coefficients of FY-3A/VIRR TIR channels are reevaluated using various collocation samples. Verification results indicate that the use of the new nonlinear correction can greatly correct the scene temperature-dependent and systematic biases. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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1242 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Initial Stability Assessment of S-NPP VIIRS Reflective Solar Band Calibration Using Invariant Desert and Deep Convective Cloud Targets

by Rajendra Bhatt, David R. Doelling, Aisheng Wu, Xiaoxiong Xiong, Benjamin R. Scarino, Conor O. Haney and Arun Gopalan

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(4), 2809-2826; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6042809 - 27 Mar 2014

Cited by 79 | Viewed by 7665

Abstract

The latest CERES FM-5 instrument launched onboard the S-NPP spacecraft will use the VIIRS visible radiances from the NASA Land Product Evaluation and Analysis Tool Elements (PEATE) product for retrieving the cloud properties associated with its TOA flux measurement. In order for CERES to provide climate quality TOA flux datasets, the retrieved cloud properties must be consistent throughout the record, which is dependent on the calibration stability of the VIIRS imager. This paper assesses the NASA calibration stability of the VIIRS reflective solar bands using the Libya-4 desert and deep convective clouds (DCC). The invariant targets are first evaluated for temporal natural variability. It is found for visible (VIS) bands that DCC targets have half of the variability of Libya-4. For the shortwave infrared (SWIR) bands, the desert has less variability. The brief VIIRS record and target variability inhibits high confidence in identifying any trends that are less than ±0.6%/yr for most VIS bands, and ±2.5%/yr for SWIR bands. None of the observed invariant target reflective solar band trends exceeded these trend thresholds. Initial assessment results show that the VIIRS data have been consistently calibrated and that the VIIRS instrument stability is similar to or better than the MODIS instrument. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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9147 KiB

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Spectral Aging Model Applied to Meteosat First Generation Visible Band

by Ilse Decoster, Nicolas Clerbaux, Edward Baudrez, Steven Dewitte, Alessandro Ipe, Stijn Nevens, Almudena Velazquez Blazquez and Jan Cornelis

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(3), 2534-2571; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6032534 - 20 Mar 2014

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 7078

Abstract

The Meteosat satellites have been operational since the early eighties, creating so far a continuous time period of observations of more than 30 years. In order to use this data for climate data records, a consistent calibration is necessary between the consecutive instruments. Studies have shown that the Meteosat First Generation (MFG) satellites (1982–2006) suffer from in-flight degradation which is spectral of nature and is not corrected by the official calibration of EUMETSAT. Continuing on previous published work by the same authors, this paper applies the spectral aging model to a set of clear-sky and cloudy targets, and derives the model parameters for all six MFG satellites (Meteosat-2 to -7). Several problems have been encountered, both due to the instrument and due to geophysical occurrences, and these are discussed and illustrated here in detail. The paper shows how the spectral aging model is an improvement compared to the EUMETSAT calibration method with a stability of 1%–2% for Meteosat-4 to -7, which increases up to 6% for ocean sites using the full MFG time period. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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Spatio-Temporal Assessment of Tuz Gölü, Turkey as a Potential Radiometric Vicarious Calibration Site

by Vincent O. Odongo, Nicholas A. S. Hamm and Edward J. Milton

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(3), 2494-2513; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6032494 - 20 Mar 2014

Cited by 24 | Viewed by 8004

Abstract

The paper provides an assessment of Tuz Gölü, a site in Turkey proposed for the radiometric vicarious calibration of satellite sensors, in terms of its spatial homogeneity as expressed in visible and near-infrared (VNIR) wavelengths over a 25-year period (1984–2009). By combining the coefficient of variation (CV) and Getis statistic (Gi*), a spatially homogenous and temporally stable area at least 720 m × 330 m in size was identified. Analysis of mid-summer Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) images acquired over the period 1984–2009 showed that the hemispherical-directional reflectance factor of this area had a spatial variability, as defined by the CV, in the range of 0.99% to 3.99% in Landsat TM bands 2–4. This is comparable with the reported variability of other test sites around the world, but this is the first time an area has been shown to have this degree of homogeneity over such a long period of time. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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Multi-Mission Cross-Calibration of Satellite Altimeters: Constructing a Long-Term Data Record for Global and Regional Sea Level Change Studies

by Wolfgang Bosch, Denise Dettmering and Christian Schwatke

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(3), 2255-2281; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6032255 - 12 Mar 2014

Cited by 99 | Viewed by 12733

Abstract

Climate studies require long data records extending the lifetime of a single remote sensing satellite mission. Precise satellite altimetry exploring global and regional evolution of the sea level has now completed a two decade data record. A consistent long-term data record has to be constructed from a sequence of different, partly overlapping altimeter systems which have to be carefully cross-calibrated. This cross-calibration is realized globally by adjusting an extremely large set of single- and dual-satellite crossover differences performed between all contemporaneous altimeter systems. The total set of crossover differences creates a highly redundant network and enables a robust estimate of radial errors with a dense and rather complete sampling for all altimeter systems analyzed. An iterative variance component estimation is applied to obtain an objective relative weighting between altimeter systems with different performance. The final time series of radial errors is taken to estimate (for each of the altimeter systems) an empirical auto-covariance function. Moreover, the radial errors capture relative range biases and indicate systematic variations in the geo-centering of altimeter satellite orbits. The procedure has the potential to estimate for all altimeter systems the geographically correlated mean errors which is not at all visible in single-satellite crossover differences but maps directly to estimates of the mean sea surface. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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1523 KiB

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Multi-Sensor Calibration Studies of AVHRR-Heritage Channel Radiances Using the Simultaneous Nadir Observation Approach

by Karl-Göran Karlsson and Erik Johansson

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(3), 1845-1862; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6031845 - 27 Feb 2014

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 6327

Abstract

The European Space Agency project for studies of cloud properties in the Climate Change Initiative programme (ESA-CLOUD-CCI) aims at compiling the longest possible time series of cloud products from one single multispectral sensor—The five-channel Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) instrument. A particular aspect here is to include corresponding products based on other existing (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR), MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS), Visible and Infrared Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)) and future Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer (SLSTR) sensors measuring in similar (AVHRR-heritage) spectral channels. Initial inter-comparisons of the involved AVHRR-heritage channel radiances over a short demonstration period (2007–2009) were performed. Using Aqua-MODIS as reference, AVHRR (NOAA-18), AATSR, and MERIS channel radiances were evaluated using the simultaneous nadir (SNO) approach. Results show generally agreeing radiances within approximately 3% for channels at 0.6 µm and 0.8 µm. Larger deviations (+5%) were found for the corresponding AATSR channel at 0.6 µm. Excessive deviations but with opposite sign were also indicated for AATSR 1.6 µm and MERIS 0.8 µm radiances. Observed differences may largely be attributed to residual temporal and spatial matching differences while excessive AATSR and MERIS deviations are likely partly attributed to incomplete compensation for spectrally varying surface and atmospheric conditions. However, very good agreement was found for all infrared channels among all the studied sensors. Here, deviations were generally less than 0.2% for the measured brightness temperatures with the exception of some remaining non-linear deviations at extreme low and high temperatures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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1090 KiB

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Vicarious Calibration of Beijing-1 Multispectral Imagers

by Zhengchao Chen, Bing Zhang, Hao Zhang and Wenjuan Zhang

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(2), 1432-1450; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6021432 - 18 Feb 2014

Cited by 18 | Viewed by 8584

Abstract

For on-orbit calibration of the Beijing-1 multispectral imagers (Beijing-1/MS), a field calibration campaign was performed at the Dunhuang calibration site during September and October of 2008. Based on the in situ data and images from Beijing-1 and Terra/Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), three vicarious calibration methods (i.e., reflectance-based, irradiance-based, and cross-calibration) were used to calculate the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance of Beijing-1. An analysis was then performed to determine or identify systematic and accidental errors, and the overall uncertainty was assessed for each individual method. The findings show that the reflectance-based method has an uncertainty of more than 10% if the aerosol optical depth (AOD) exceeds 0.2. The cross-calibration method is able to reach an error level within 7% if the images are selected carefully. The final calibration coefficients were derived from the irradiance-based data for 6 September 2008, with an uncertainty estimated to be less than 5%. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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1049 KiB

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Absolute Calibration of Optical Satellite Sensors Using Libya 4 Pseudo Invariant Calibration Site

by Nischal Mishra, Dennis Helder, Amit Angal, Jason Choi and Xiaoxiong Xiong

Remote Sens. 2014, 6(2), 1327-1346; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs6021327 - 12 Feb 2014

Cited by 84 | Viewed by 11315

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to report the improvements in an empirical absolute calibration model developed at South Dakota State University using Libya 4 (+28.55°, +23.39°) pseudo invariant calibration site (PICS). The approach was based on use of the Terra MODIS as the radiometer to develop an absolute calibration model for the spectral channels covered by this instrument from visible to shortwave infrared. Earth Observing One (EO-1) Hyperion, with a spectral resolution of 10 nm, was used to extend the model to cover visible and near-infrared regions. A simple Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution function (BRDF) model was generated using Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) observations over Libya 4 and the resulting model was validated with nadir data acquired from satellite sensors such as Aqua MODIS and Landsat 7 (L7) Enhanced Thematic Mapper (ETM+). The improvements in the absolute calibration model to account for the BRDF due to off-nadir measurements and annual variations in the atmosphere are summarized. BRDF models due to off-nadir viewing angles have been derived using the measurements from EO-1 Hyperion. In addition to L7 ETM+, measurements from other sensors such as Aqua MODIS, UK-2 Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC), ENVISAT Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) and Operational Land Imager (OLI) onboard Landsat 8 (L8), which was launched in February 2013, were employed to validate the model. These satellite sensors differ in terms of the width of their spectral bandpasses, overpass time, off-nadir-viewing capabilities, spatial resolution and temporal revisit time, etc. The results demonstrate that the proposed empirical calibration model has accuracy of the order of 3% with an uncertainty of about 2% for the sensors used in the study. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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637 KiB

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The Application of Deep Convective Clouds in the Calibration and Response Monitoring of the Reflective Solar Bands of FY-3A/MERSI (Medium Resolution Spectral Imager)

by Lin Chen, Xiuqing Hu, Na Xu and Peng Zhang

Remote Sens. 2013, 5(12), 6958-6975; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs5126958 - 12 Dec 2013

Cited by 51 | Viewed by 7271

Abstract

Based on simulated reflectance, deep convective clouds (DCC) can be used as an invariant target to monitor the radiometric response degradation of the FY-3A/MERSI (Medium Resolution Spectral Imager) reflective solar bands (RSBs). The long-term response of the MERSI RSBs can easily be predicted using a quadratic fit of the monthly DCC mean reflectance, except for bands 6 and 7, which suffer from instrument anomalies. DCC-based degradations show that the blue bands (λ < 500 nm) and water-vapor bands have degraded significantly, whereas for near-infrared bands, the total degradations in four years are within 3% (excluding bands 3 and 20). For most bands, the degradation rates are greatest during the first year in orbit and decrease over time. The FY-3A/MERSI degradation results derived from DCC are consistent within 2.5%, except for bands, 11, 18 and 19, when compared with Aqua/MODIS(Moderate Resolution Imaging Sepetroradiometer) inter-calibration, multi-site invariant earth target calibration and the CRCS(Chinese Radiometric Calibration Site) Dunhuang desert vicarious calibration methods. Overall, the 2σ/mean degradation uncertainty for most MERSI bands was within 3%, validating the temporal stability of the DCC monthly mean reflectances. The DCC method has reduced the degradation uncertainties for MERSI water vapor bands over other methods. This is a significant advantage of the DCC calibration method. The saturation of some MERSI bands may hinder the effectiveness of the DCC calibration approach. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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3961 KiB

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Hierarchical Bayesian Data Analysis in Radiometric SAR System Calibration: A Case Study on Transponder Calibration with RADARSAT-2 Data

by Björn J. Döring, Kersten Schmidt, Matthias Jirousek, Daniel Rudolf, Jens Reimann, Sebastian Raab, John Walter Antony and Marco Schwerdt

Remote Sens. 2013, 5(12), 6667-6690; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs5126667 - 4 Dec 2013

Cited by 19 | Viewed by 9217

Abstract

A synthetic aperture radar (SAR) system requires external absolute calibration so that radiometric measurements can be exploited in numerous scientific and commercial applications. Besides estimating a calibration factor, metrological standards also demand the derivation of a respective calibration uncertainty. This uncertainty is currently not systematically determined. Here for the first time it is proposed to use hierarchical modeling and Bayesian statistics as a consistent method for handling and analyzing the hierarchical data typically acquired during external calibration campaigns. Through the use of Markov chain Monte Carlo simulations, a joint posterior probability can be conveniently derived from measurement data despite the necessary grouping of data samples. The applicability of the method is demonstrated through a case study: The radar reflectivity of DLR’s new C-band Kalibri transponder is derived through a series of RADARSAT-2 acquisitions and a comparison with reference point targets (corner reflectors). The systematic derivation of calibration uncertainties is seen as an important step toward traceable radiometric calibration of synthetic aperture radars. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations)

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Analysis and Inter-Calibration of Wet Path Delay Datasets to Compute the Wet Tropospheric Correction for CryoSat-2 over Ocean

by M. Joana Fernandes, Alexandra L. Nunes and Clara Lázaro

Remote Sens. 2013, 5(10), 4977-5005; https://doi.org/10.3390/rs5104977 - 14 Oct 2013

Cited by 27 | Viewed by 8616

Abstract

Unlike most altimetric missions, CryoSat-2 is not equipped with an onboard microwave radiometer (MWR) to provide wet tropospheric correction (WTC) to radar altimeter measurements, thus, relying on a model-based one provided by the European Center for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). In the ambit of ESA funded project CP4O, an improved WTC for CryoSat-2 data over ocean is under development, based on a data combination algorithm (DComb) through objective analysis of WTC values derived from all existing global-scale data types. The scope of this study is the analysis and inter-calibration of the large dataset of total column water vapor (TCWV) products from scanning MWR aboard Remote Sensing (RS) missions for use in the WTC computation for CryoSat-2. The main issues regarding the computation of the WTC from all TCWV products are discussed. The analysis of the orbital parameters of CryoSat-2 and all other considered RS missions, their sensor characteristics and inter-calibration is presented, providing an insight into the expected impact of these datasets on the WTC estimation. The most suitable approach for calculating the WTC from TCWV is investigated. For this type of application, after calibration with respect to an appropriate reference, two approaches were found to give very similar results, with root mean square differences of 2 mm. Full article

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