The ability to conduct in-flight, absolute radiometric calibrations of ocean color sensors will determine their usefulness in the decade to come. On-board calibration systems are often integrated into the overall design of such sensors and have claimed uncertainty levels below 5%. Independent means of system calibration are needed to confirm that the sensor is accurately calibrated. Vicarious (i.e. ground-referencing) methods are an attractive way to conduct this verification. This research describes the development of in-flight, absolute radiometric calibration methods which reference dark (i.e. low-reflectance) sites. The high sensitivity of ocean color sensors results in saturation over bright surfaces. Low-reflectance targets, such as water bodies, are therefore required for their vicarious calibration. Sensitivity analyses of the reflectance-based and radiance-based techniques, when applied to a water target, are performed. Uncertainties in atmospheric parameters, surface reflectance measurements, and instrument characterization are evaluated for calibrations of a representative ocean color sensor. For a viewing geometry near the sun glint region, reflectance-based uncertainties range between 1.6% and 2.3% for visible and near-IR wavelengths; radiance-based uncertainties range between 6.8% and 20.5%. These studies indicate that better characterization of aerosol parameters is desired and that radiometer pointing accuracy must be improved to make the radiance-based method useful. The uncertainty estimates are evaluated using data from a field campaign at Lake Tahoe in June, 1995. This lake is located on the California-Nevada border and has optical characteristics similar to oceanic waters. Aircraft-based radiance data and surface measurements of water reflectance are used to calibrate visible and near infrared bands of the Airborne Visible/InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS). The vicariously-derived calibration coefficients are compared to those obtained from a preflight calibration of AVIRIS. The results agree at the 0.3-7.7% level for the reflectance-based technique, which is within the believed method uncertainties. Finally, as a consequence of this research, the testing and refinement of radiative transfer codes applicable to oceanic environments is accomplished. These modifications lead to an improvement in the prediction of top-of-atmosphere radiances over water targets.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/282297 |
| Date | January 1997 |
| Creators | Parada, Robert John, 1970- |
| Contributors | Slater, Philip N. |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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