Absolute Radiometric Calibration of an Imaging Spectroradiometer Using a Laboratory Detector-Based Approach

Abstract

The HyperSpectral Imager for Climate Science (HySICS) is the core instrument of the Climate Absolute Refractivity and Reflectance Observatory (CLARREO) Pathfinder (CPF) mission and is currently scheduled to be launched to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2023. HySICS is an Offner–Chrisp imaging spectrometer designed to meet an unprecedented radiometric uncertainty requirement of 0.3% (k = 1) over its entire spectral range of 350–2300 nm. The approach represents the need for significant improvement over the Radiometric Calibration (RadCal) of existing space-borne spectrometers. One strategy to demonstrate that HySICS achieves this level of accuracy is through an Independent Calibration (IndCal) effort that can provide an alternative referencing RadCal, which follows a traceability chain independent of the operational RadCal of ratioing approach. The IndCal relies on a pre-launch detector-based absolute RadCal of HySICS, using a tunable laser system as source, and the system planned for the HySICS absolute RadCal is the Goddard Laser for Absolute Measurement of Radiance (GLAMR). GLAMR was developed at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center and has been used to calibrate multiple operational remote sensing instruments, as well as the SOlar, Lunar Absolute Reflectance Imaging Spectroradiometer (SOLARIS), a calibration demonstration system developed for the CLARREO mission. In this work, the data of SOLARIS GLAMR RadCal conducted in 2019 are processed to derive the Absolute Spectral Response (ASR) functions and other key characterization parameters of SOLARIS detectors. The results are further analyzed with the goals to plan the HySICS GLAMR RadCal, in particular to optimize its configuration, to demonstrate the traceability route to the NIST standard, and to develop the error budget of the calibration approach. The SOLARIS calibration is also compared with other source- and detector-based calibrations to validate the absolute radiometric accuracy achieved.