On-orbit characterization of the VIIRS solar diffuser and attenuation screens for NOAA-20 using yaw measurements.

The follow-up visible infrared imaging radiometer suite (VIIRS) housed in the NOAA-20 satellite and the first of four in the NOAA Joint Polar Satellite System satellite series, was launched on 18 November 2017. The on-orbit satellite yaw maneuver operation was carried out on 25-26 January 2018 over 15 scheduled orbits to obtain responses of the reflective solar bands (RSBs) and the solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM) over a specified angular range. This paper presents a comprehensive analysis of the yaw measurements that characterizes the three required input functions for the standard on-orbit RSB calibration pipeline. The characterization functions of the product of the bidirectional reflectance factors (BRFs) of the solar diffuser (SD) with the vignetting function (VF) of the SD screen (SDS), dubbed the BRF-VF-products (BVPs), are derived for the two required outgoing directions from the SD, one set for the RSB BVPs from the SD to the rotation telescope assembly that directs light to the RSBs, and another set for the SDSM BVPs for the outgoing direction from the SD to the SDSM. The VFs for the attenuation screen placed in front of the Sun-view port, the Sun-view screen (SVS), are analyzed as a set of standalone functions to characterize the direct solar illumination reaching the SDSM through the SVS, but the complexity of their non-smooth two-dimensional dependence requires an additional direct treatment in the derivation of the degradation of the SD, the H-factors. The results for the RSB BVPs, SDSM BVPs, and the SVS VFs are presented and discussed, and further applied to derive the early-mission performance of H-factors and the RSB calibration coefficients, or F-factors. The overall results of the H-factors and F-factors showing smooth trends with negligible residuals indicate that the derived BVP functions and the SVS VFs have been accurately characterized or treated, and are ready for use for the standard on-orbit RSB calibration of NOAA-20 VIIRS.

[1]  Jeff McIntire,et al.  Initial on-orbit radiometric calibration of the Suomi NPP VIIRS reflective solar bands , 2012, Optics & Photonics - Optical Engineering + Applications.

[2]  Irma Shamatava,et al.  Fast data-derived fundamental spheroidal excitation models with application to UXO discrimination , 2005, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[3]  Xiaoxiong Xiong,et al.  On-Orbit Characterization of S-NPP VIIRS Transmission Functions , 2015, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[4]  Xiaoxiong Xiong,et al.  Early On-Orbit Performance of the Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite Onboard the Suomi National Polar-Orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) Satellite , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[5]  X. Xiong,et al.  Solar and lunar observation planning for Earth-observing sensor , 2011, Remote Sensing.

[6]  Amit Angal,et al.  MODIS reflective solar bands calibration improvements in Collection 6 , 2012, Asia-Pacific Environmental Remote Sensing.

[7]  Junqiang Sun,et al.  Degradation nonuniformity in the solar diffuser bidirectional reflectance distribution function. , 2016, Applied optics.

[8]  Amit Angal,et al.  Time-Dependent Response Versus Scan Angle for MODIS Reflective Solar Bands , 2014, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing.

[9]  David I. Moyer,et al.  Operational calibration of VIIRS reflective solar band sensor data records , 2012, Optics & Photonics - Optical Engineering + Applications.

[10]  Junqiang Sun,et al.  VIIRS Reflective Solar Bands Calibration Progress and Its Impact on Ocean Color Products , 2016, Remote. Sens..

[11]  Qiang Ji,et al.  JPSS-1 VIIRS Radiometric Characterization and Calibration Based on Pre-Launch Testing , 2016, Remote. Sens..

[12]  J. Butler,et al.  VIIRS on‐orbit calibration methodology and performance , 2014 .

[13]  D. Moyer,et al.  VIIRS solar diffuser bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) degradation factor operational trending and update , 2012, Optics & Photonics - Optical Engineering + Applications.

[14]  Xiaoxiong Xiong,et al.  Characterization and performance of the Suomi-NPP/VIIRS solar diffuser stability monitor , 2012, Optics & Photonics - Optical Engineering + Applications.

[15]  Junqiang Sun,et al.  Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite solar diffuser calibration and its challenges using a solar diffuser stability monitor. , 2014, Applied optics.