Radiometric calibration of 100-cm sphere integrating source for Visible/Infrared Imager/Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)

VIIRS sensor for National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System (NPOESS) is one of the nation's key civil space programs. The Flight Model 1 is planned to be launched in 2011. VIIRS is designed to measure the radiometric data of Earth's atmosphere, ocean, and land surfaces from visible to infrared wavelengths, and precision pre-flight radiometric calibration is required. A 100 cm Sphere Integrating Source (SIS(100)-1), which was used to calibrate NASA's MODIS sensor, is used to calibrate VIIRS. Cary 14, a spectrophotometer used to calibrate reflectance and transmittance of optical components since LANDSAT missions, is used to transfer the calibration of a NIST-traceable standard lamp to SIS(100)-1 for different lamp levels from visible to short wave infrared wavelengths. In this paper, the method and result of absolute radiometric calibration of SIS(100)-1 are discussed.