Electronic crosstalk characterization of Terra MODIS long wave infrared channels

Terra (T) MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), a heritage Earth observing sensor has completed 15 years of operation as of December 18 2014. T-MODIS has 36 spectral channels designed to monitor the land, ocean, and atmosphere. The long term climate data record from T-MODIS is an important dataset for global change monitoring. Sixteen of the spectral channels fall in the Mid (M) (3.7-4.5μm) to Long (L) (6.7-14.1μm)Wave InfraRed (M/LWIR) wavelengths, which are also referred to as the Thermal Emissive Bands (TEBs). To date the TEBs have very satisfactory performance which is attributed to the scan-by-scan calibration using an on-board BlackBody whose temperature is traceable to the NIST temperature standards. However, with an aging instrument, it was observed from 2010 onwards that the Photo Voltaic LWIR channels (Bands 27-30) have suffered significantly from electronic crosstalk. This is mainly due to the deterioration of the electronic circuits of the relevant bands in the LWIR Focal Plane Array (FPA). In this paper, we report the characterization of the electronic crosstalk in the above-mentioned bands using the well characterized test site such as Dome Concordia (C). Such characterization can be used to reduce the effects of crosstalk when implemented in the future Level 1B reprocessing and thereby increasing the radiometric fidelity of the concerned bands.