Suomi-NPP VIIRS Solar Diffuser Stability Monitor Performance

Abstract

When illuminated by the Sun, the onboard solar diffuser (SD) panel provides a known spectral radiance source to calibrate the reflective solar bands of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite on the Suomi-NPP satellite. The SD bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) degrades over time due to solar exposure, and this degradation is measured using the SD stability monitor (SDSM). The SDSM acts as a ratioing radiometer, comparing solar irradiance measurements off the SD panel to those from a direct Sun view. We discuss the design and operations of the SDSM, the SDSM data analysis, including improvements incorporated since launch, and present the results through 1000 days after launch. After 1000 days, the band-dependent H-factors, a quantity describing the relative degradation of the BRDF of the SD panel since launch, range from 0.716 at 412 nm to 0.989 at 926 nm. The random uncertainty of these H-factors is about 0.1%, which is confirmed by the similar standard deviation values computed from the residuals of quadratic exponential fits to the H-factor time trends. The SDSM detector gains have temperature sensitivity of up to about 0.36% per kelvin, but this does not affect the derived H-factors. An initial error in the solar vector caused a seasonal bias to the H-factors of up to 0.5%. The total exposure of the SD panel to UV light after 1000 orbits is equivalent to about 100 h of direct sunlight illumination perpendicular to the SD panel surface.