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

Remote Sensing

Rajendra Bhatt⁴  David R. Doelling¹  Aisheng Wu²  Xiaoxiong (Jack) Xiong³  Benjamin R. Scarino⁴  Conor O. Haney⁴ 

[1] NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, VA 23666, USA; E-Mail:;Sigma Space Corp., 4801 Forbes Blvd, Lanham, MD 20706, USA; E-Mail:;NASA Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC), Greenbelt, MD 20771, USA; E-Mail:;Science Systems and Applications, Inc., 1 Enterprise Pkwy, Hampton, VA 23666, USA; E-Mails:

关键词: satellite calibration;    S-NPP VIIRS;    radiometric stability;    MODIS;    CERES;    invariant calibration targets;   

DOI  :  10.3390/rs6042809

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

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.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
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