Characterization of MODIS mirror side difference in the reflective solar spectral region

The MODIS instruments onboard the Terra and Aqua spacecraft, launched in December 1999 and May 2002, respectively, have successfully operated through the present time. MODIS collects the Earth view (EV) data via a twosided paddle wheel scan mirror at angles of incidence (AOI) from 10.5 to 65.5 degrees. Reflective properties between the two mirror sides are not identical with large differences seen in Terra MODIS reflective solar bands (RSB). This paper describes a methodology to calculate and monitor MODIS RSB mirror side differences using EV observations. The longterm trends of response differences between two mirror sides are evaluated using different EV targets. Results show that the on-orbit changes in the properties of the scan mirror are wavelength and AOI dependent with large mirror side differences observed at shorter wavelengths in larger AOI. Starting from 2005, the mirror side difference has gradually exhibited a seasonally dependent feature in Terra MODIS visible spectral bands, which is mainly due to the changes in the scan mirror polarization property. In addition to fully characterizing on-orbit changes of the MODIS scan mirror properties, results and discussions provided in this paper will help clarify their impacts on the Level 1B data products and support future efforts to maintain MODIS data quality.

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