MODIS Reflective Solar Bands On-Orbit Lunar Calibration

Abstract

The moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer (MODIS) protoflight model on-board the Terra spacecraft and the MODIS flight model 1 on-board the Aqua spacecraft were launched on December 18, 1999 and May 4, 2002, respectively. They view the moon through the space view (SV) port approximately once a month to monitor the long-term radiometric stability of their reflective solar bands (RSBs). The lunar irradiance observed by MODIS depends on the viewing geometry. Algorithms were developed to select lunar views such that these geometric effects are minimized. In each MODIS lunar observation, the moon can be viewed in multiple scans. The lunar irradiance of a MODIS RSB can be derived from the response of all detectors of a spectral band in one scan which fully covers the moon, from that of one detector in multiple scans or from the response of all detectors in multiple scans. Based on lunar observations, a set of coefficients is defined and derived to trend MODIS system response degradation at the angle of incidence (AOI) of its SV port. It is shown that the degradation is both wavelength and mirror side dependent. Since launch, Terra and Aqua MODIS band 8 (412 nm) mirror side one have degraded 36% and 17%, respectively, at the AOI of the SV. A comparison between the lunar coefficients and those derived from the MODIS on-board solar diffuser (SD) calibrations shows that the response change of the MODIS RSB is both AOI and time dependent. Time-dependent response versus scan angle (RVS) lookup tables derived from lunar views, SD calibration, and Earth-view observations have been used to maintain the quality of the L1B data for both the Terra and Aqua MODIS RSB. The corrections provided by the RVS in the Terra and Aqua MODIS data from the 412-nm band are as large as 14% and 6.2%, respectively.