McCorkel, J; Thome, K; Lockwood, RB (2013). Absolute Radiometric Calibration of Narrow-Swath Imaging Sensors With Reference to Non-Coincident Wide-Swath Sensors. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, 51(3), 1309-1318.

Abstract
An inter-calibration method is developed to provide absolute radiometric calibration of narrow-swath imaging sensors with reference to non-coincident wide-swath sensors. The method predicts at-sensor radiance using non-coincident imagery from the reference sensor and knowledge of spectral reflectance of the test site. The imagery of the reference sensor is restricted to acquisitions that provide similar view and solar illumination geometries to reduce uncertainties due to directional reflectance effects. Spectral reflectance of the test site is found with a simple iterative radiative transfer method using radiance values of a well-understood wide-swath sensor and spectral shape information based on historical ground-based measurements. At-sensor radiance is calculated for the narrow-swath sensor using this spectral reflectance and atmospheric parameters that are also based on historical in-situ measurements. Results of the inter-calibration method show agreement on the 2-5% level inmost spectral regions with the vicarious calibration technique relying on coincident ground-based measurements referred to as the reflectance-based approach. While the variability of the inter-calibration method based on non-coincident image pairs is significantly larger, results are consistent with techniques relying on in-situ measurements. The method is also insensitive to spectral differences between the sensors by transferring to surface spectral reflectance prior to prediction of at-sensor radiance. The utility of this inter-calibration method is made clear by its flexibility to utilize image pairings with acquisition dates differing in excess of 30 days allowing frequent absolute calibration comparisons between wideand narrow-swath sensors.

DOI:

ISSN:
0196-2892