An automatic method for synthetically preprocessing multi‐source NOAA‐AVHRR series and FY‐1D 1A.5 data

Abstract

Polar orbiting meteorological satellites have been used successfully in many fields in which applications, such as dynamic monitoring, need multi‐temporal remote sensing data imaged in the same region but at different times and with different sensors. The basis of these quantitative applications is automatic and synthetic preprocessing of different satellite data. In order to ensure the direct comparability of multi‐source satellite National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration‐Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (NOAA‐AVHRR) series and FY‐1D 1A.5 data, based on its imaging mechanisms, the paper discusses radiant and geometric preprocessing methods used for visual and near‐infrared and thermal infrared channels. This is performed by analysing the technical parameters of the satellites and the sensors, theoretical numerical simulation and image data comparison. For synthetic radiance preprocessing, radiance calibration, spectral calibration for different sensors and calibration of the Sun elevation angles or the satellite zenith angles at the imaging time are included. Based on normalization of spatial resolution in scan‐line directions, rough geometric correction and precise registration are sequentially processed for geometric preprocessing with a higher precision. Combining the detailed steps introduced in the paper, automatic preprocessing of polar orbiting meteorological satellites can be realized.