NIST traceable measurements of radiance and luminance levels of night-vision-goggle test-instruments

Abstract

In order to perform radiance and luminance level measurements of night-vision-goggle (NVG) test instruments, NIST developed new-generation transfer-standard radiometers (TR). The new TRs can perform low-level radiance and luminance measurements with SI traceability and low uncertainty. The TRs were calibrated against NIST detector/radiometer standards holding the NIST photometric and radiometric scales. An 815 nm diode laser was used at NIST for the radiance responsivity calibrations. A spectrally flat (constant) filter correction was made for the TRs to correct the spectral responsivity change of the built-in Si photodiode for LEDs peaking at different wavelengths in the different test sets. The radiance responsivity transfer to the test instruments (test-sets) is discussed. The radiance values of the test instruments were measured with the TRs. The TRs propagate the traceablity to the NIST detector-based reference scales. The radiance uncertainty obtained from three TR measurements was 4.6 % ( 𝑘 =2) at a luminance of 3.43 x 10 -4 cd/m 2 . The output radiance of the previously used IR sphere source and the radiance responsivity of a previously used secondary standard detector unit, which was originally calibrated against an IR sphere source, were also measured with the TRs. The performances of the NVG test instruments were evaluated and the manufacturer produced radiance and luminance levels were calibrated with SI/NIST traceability.