Publications

Li, YH; Xiong, XX; McIntire, J; Wu, AS (2020). Comparison of the MODIS and VIIRS Thermal Emissive Band Radiometric Calibration. IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON GEOSCIENCE AND REMOTE SENSING, 58(7), 4852-4859.

Abstract
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) are major instruments for Earth science observations. Nearly 40 MODIS scientific products and a wide range of VIIRS environmental data records are produced using their global observations. The consistency of the MODIS and VIIRS calibrated data is important for the study of Earth science. This article assesses the calibration consistency of the Aqua MODIS and VIIRS thermal emissive band (TEB) data. To remove the impact of the mismatched relative spectral response (RSR) on the comparisons, the simultaneous nadir observation data from the cross-track infrared sounder (CrIS) and the infrared atmospheric sounding interferometer (IASI) are used as references in two different methods to independently verify the consistency. The comparisons of the MODIS and VIIRS TEB calibrated data show that the brightness temperature (BT) differences for comparable bands between MODIS and VIIRS are in general within 0.2 K for BT larger than 230 K. The differences of all comparable MODIS and VIIRS TEBs are consistent over time. MODIS measurements agree better with N20 VIIRS than with Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) VIIRS. The S-NPP VIIRS measurements are higher than N20 VIIRS, within 0.1 K for long-wave infrared (LWIR) bands and 0.3 K for band M13.

DOI:
10.1109/TGRS.2020.2968037

ISSN:
0196-2892