Radiometric Calibration Test Site Research Articles

The Ground-Based Absolute Radiometric Calibration of the Landsat 9 Operational Land Imager

This paper presents the initial vicarious radiometric calibration results for Landsat 9 OLI using a combination of ground-based techniques and test sites located in Nevada, California, and South Dakota, USA. The field data collection methods include the traditional reflectance-based approach and the automated Radiometric Calibration Test Site (RadCaTS). The results for top-of-atmosphere spectral radiance show an average ratio (OLI/ground measurements) of 1.03, 1.01, 1.00, 1.02, 1.02, 1.01, 0.98, and 1.01 for Landsat 9 OLI bands 1–8, which is within the design specification of ±5% for spectral radiance. The results for top-of-atmosphere reflectance show an average ratio (OLI/ground measurements) of 0.99, 0.99, 1.00, 1.02, 1.01, 1.02, 1.00, and 1.00 for Landsat 9 OLI bands 1–8, which is within the design specification of ±3% for top-of-atmosphere reflectance.

Validation and analysis of Terra and Aqua MODIS, and SNPP VIIRS vegetation indices under zero vegetation conditions: A case study using Railroad Valley Playa

Spectral vegetation index (VI) time series data from coarse resolution satellite sensors, such as the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), have been utilized in studying vegetation dynamics. Numerous studies have evaluated how well VI products capture variations in vegetation biophysical or physiological conditions. Equally important is to evaluate VI products over “zero vegetation” surfaces consisting of soils, litters, and/or rocks, as they define the lower bound for vegetation detection. VIs, however, vary over zero vegetation surfaces as a function of soil moisture content and surface roughness. In this study, we evaluated the behavior of VIs from Terra MODIS (T-MODIS), Aqua MODIS (A-MODIS), and Suomi-National Polar-orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (S-VIIRS) at Railroad Valley Playa, Nevada for a period from April 2013 to September 2019. The playa is a dried lakebed devoid of vegetation throughout the year. Long-term in situ reflectance measurements acquired over the 1 km-by−1 km Radiometric Calibration Test Site (RadCaTS) located on the playa were obtained from the Radiometric Calibration Network (RadCalNet) portal and used as a reference. Three VIs were analyzed, including the normalized difference VI (NDVI), enhanced VI (EVI), and two-band EVI (EVI2). RadCaTS NDVI, EVI, and EVI2 of the playa surface increased and decreased occasionally for the time period examined in this study, and the satellite NDVIs, EVIs, and EVI2s had comparable temporal signatures to the RadCaTS counterparts. T-MODIS and A-MODIS NDVI and EVI2 values were comparable to the RadCaTS counterparts, whereas T-MODIS and A-MODIS EVI values were lower than the RadCaTS counterparts by ~0.006 and ~ 0.01 EVI units, respectively. All the three VIs of S-VIIRS were consistently higher than their RadCaTS counterparts by ~0.008 VI units, due to the higher near-infrared (NIR) reflectances of S-VIIRS than the RadCaTS NIR reflectance. The red and NIR, and red and blue reflectances each formed linear relationships (i.e., soil lines) for each of the three sensors. Variations in reflectance due to surface conditions and observation geometries all appeared as variations along these soil lines. The satellite red-NIR soil lines were comparable to the RadCaTS counterparts, whereas the satellite red-blue soil lines had steeper slopes than the RadCaTS counterparts due to a negative bias in the satellite blue reflectances. This translated into the T-MODIS and A-MODIS EVI behaviors different from those depicted by RadCaTS EVI, and the satellite NDVI and EVI2 behaving more comparably with the RadCaTS counterparts and across the three sensors than the satellite EVI.

Earth-observing satellite intercomparison using the Radiometric Calibration Test Site at Railroad Valley

This paper describes the current ground-based calibration results of Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+), Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager (OLI), Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Suomi National Polar orbiting Partnership Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS), and Sentinel-2A Multispectral Instrument (MSI), using an automated suite of instruments located at Railroad Valley, Nevada, USA. The period of this study is 2012 to 2016 for MODIS, VIIRS, and ETM+, 2013 to 2016 for OLI, and 2015 to 2016 for MSI. The current results show that all sensors agree with the Radiometric Calibration Test Site (RadCaTS) to within ±5% in the solar-reflective regime, except for one band on VIIRS that is within ±6%. In the case of ETM+ and OLI, the agreement is within ±3%, and, in the case of MODIS, the agreement is within ±3.5%. MSI agrees with RadCaTS to within ±4.5% in all applicable bands.

Validation of EO-1 Hyperion and Advanced Land Imager Using the Radiometric Calibration Test Site at Railroad Valley, Nevada

The Earth-Observing One (EO-1) satellite was launched in 2000. Radiometric calibration of Hyperion and the Advanced Land Imager (ALI) has been performed throughout the mission lifetime using various techniques that include ground-based vicarious calibration, pseudo-invariant calibration sites, and also the moon. The EO-1 mission is nearing its useful lifetime, and this work seeks to validate the radiometric calibration of Hyperion and ALI from 2013 until the satellite is decommissioned. Hyperion and ALI have been routinely collecting data at the automated Radiometric Calibration Test Site [RadCaTS/Railroad Valley (RRV)] since launch. In support of this study, the frequency of the acquisitions at RadCaTS has been significantly increased since 2013, which provides an opportunity to analyze the radiometric stability and accuracy during the final stages of the EO-1 mission. The analysis of Hyperion and ALI is performed using a suite of ground instrumentation that measures the atmosphere and surface throughout the day. The final product is an estimate of the top-of-atmosphere (TOA) spectral radiance, which is compared to Hyperion and ALI radiances. The results show that Hyperion agrees with the RadCaTS predictions to within 5% in the visible and near-infrared (VNIR) and to within 10% in the shortwave infrared (SWIR). The 2013–2014 ALI results show agreement to within 6% in the VNIR and 7.5% in the SWIR bands. A cross-comparison between ALI and the Operational Land Imager (OLI) using RadCaTS as a transfer source shows agreement of 3%–6% during the period of 2013–2014.

The Ground-Based Absolute Radiometric Calibration of Landsat 8 OLI

This paper presents the vicarious calibration results of Landsat 8 OLI that were obtained using the reflectance-based approach at test sites in Nevada, California, Arizona, and South Dakota, USA. Additional data were obtained using the Radiometric Calibration Test Site, which is a suite of instruments located at Railroad Valley, Nevada, USA. The results for the top-of-atmosphere spectral radiance show an average difference of −2.7, −0.8, 1.5, 2.0, 0.0, 3.6, 5.8, and 0.7% in OLI bands 1–8 as compared to an average of all of the ground-based measurements. The top-of-atmosphere spectral reflectance shows an average difference of 1.6, 1.3, 2.0, 1.9, 0.9, 2.1, 3.1, and 2.1% from the ground-based measurements. Except for OLI band 7, the spectral radiance results are generally within ±5% of the design specifications, and the reflectance results are generally within ±3% of the design specifications. The results from the data collected during the tandem Landsat 7 and 8 flight in March 2013 indicate that ETM+ and OLI agree to each other to within ±2% in similar bands in top-of-atmosphere spectral radiance, and to within ±4% in top-of-atmosphere spectral reflectance.

Design and calibration of field deployable ground-viewing radiometers

Three improved ground-viewing radiometers were built to support the Radiometric Calibration Test Site (RadCaTS) developed by the Remote Sensing Group (RSG) at the University of Arizona. Improved over previous light-emitting diode based versions, these filter-based radiometers employ seven silicon detectors and one InGaAs detector covering a wavelength range of 400-1550 nm. They are temperature controlled and designed for greater stability and lower noise. The radiometer systems show signal-to-noise ratios of greater than 1000 for all eight channels at typical field calibration signal levels. Predeployment laboratory radiance calibrations using a 1 m spherical integrating source compare well with in situ field calibrations using the solar radiation based calibration method; all bands are within ±2.7% for the case tested.

Radiometric calibration of earth-observing sensors using an automated test site at Railroad Valley, Nevada

The Remote Sensing Group (RSG) at the University of Arizona uses the reflectance-based approach to radiometrically calibrate airborne and spaceborne sensors in the solar-reflective regime. The Radiometric Calibration Test Site (RadCaTS) concept was developed in 2004 to increase the amount of ground-based data collected. RadCaTS provides a methodology to determine the surface reflectance for any arbitrary test site in the absence of ground personnel. It is founded on the reflectance-based approach and has successfully operated at Railroad Valley, Nevada, with a suite of instruments including nadir-viewing multispectral radiometers, a Cimel sun photometer, and a meteorological station. RadCaTS data are currently used by RSG to supplement those collected by on-site personnel. This work presents a description of the RadCaTS automated concept, including the process used to determine surface reflectance and top-of-atmosphere (TOA) spectral radiance. The instrumentation required to measure the surface and atmosphere is introduced, followed by discussions regarding their placement on the 1 km2 site at Railroad Valley and their calibration. Lastly, the RadCaTS results are compared with those obtained from the Landsat 7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) and Terra Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS). The average percent difference in TOA spectral radiance is 4.1% between the six bands of ETM+ and RadCaTS and 3.6% between the seven land bands of Terra MODIS and RadCaTS.

Absolute radiometric calibration of CBERS-02 IRMSS thermal band

Based on the laboratory calibration before launch of CBERS-02 IRMSS thermal infrared channel, the onboard blackbody calibration, the radiometric crosscalibration against TERRA MODIS corresponding channel and the in-flight field calibration at Lake Qinghai: water surface radiometric calibration test site of China on Aug. 17, 2004 are carried out in this research. When making onboard blackbody calibration of CBERS-02 IRMSS, it is necessary to understand inside structures and light path in IRMSS camera and receive and process calibration blackbody signals at normal and high temperatures. Onboard blackbody calibration results of each detector are very important to relative radiometric calibration of images processing and absolute radiometric calibration of each detector. In-flight field calibration mainly contains field experiments, obtaining synchronous images, spectrum marching and MODTRAN radiative transmission computation. Radiometric cross-calibration of CBERS-02 IRMSS thermal band against TERRA MODIS selected 6 times synchronous images of two sensors passing through Lake Qinghai and Lake Taihu from August to December, 2004 to compute the cross calibration data. Combining the in-flight field calibration and radiometric cross calibration data, the absolute radiometric calibration coefficients are calculated by the linear regression method. This new calibration model can obviously control the radiometric calibration uncertainties aroused by the single point method used in the in-flight calibration of CBERS-02 IRMSS, this kind of sensors cannot receive the cosmic background radiation. In this research, the radiometric calibration coefficients obtained through the linear regression model are 8.53 (gain, unit: DN/W m−2sr−1μm−1) and 44.92 (offset, unit: DN).