Assessment of MODIS on-orbit spatial performance

The Terra and Aqua satellites are part of NASA’s Earth Observing System and both satellites host a nearly-identical Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). Of the 36 MODIS spectral bands mounted among four Focal Plane Assemblies (FPAs) two have a 250 meter spatial resolution at nadir. Five bands have a spatial resolution of 500 meters, while the remaining bands make observations at 1 kilometer resolution. MODIS is equipped with a suite of onboard calibrators to track on-orbit changes in key sensor performance parameters. The Spectro-Radiometric Calibration Assembly (SRCA) contains a calibration source that allows on-orbit assessment of MODIS spatial performance, providing information on current band-to-band registration (BBR), FPA-to-FPA registration (FFR), detector-to-detector registration (DDR), modulation transfer function (MTF), and instantaneous field-of-view (IFOV). In this paper, we present the methodology of the on-orbit spatial calibrations using SRCA and the results of these key spatial parameters. The MODIS spatial characteristics, measured on-orbit, are compared against design specifications and pre-launch measurements.