Search

Silicon nitride thin films play an important role in the realization of sensors, filters, and high-performance circuits. Estimates of the dielectric function in the far- and mid-infrared regime are derived from the observed transmittance spectra for a commonly employed low-stress silicon nitride formulation. The experimental, modeling, and numerical methods used to extract the dielectric parameters with an accuracy of approximately 4% are presented.

Tunable laser based illumination sources have been adopted by a number of recent hyperspectral instruments for pre-launch spectral radiometric calibration. Some of these sources use mode-locked cavity configurations, which produce a pulse train and create an undesirable fluctuation in the radiometric source at the mode locking frequency. Although typically this frequency is several orders of magnitude higher than the instrument response, care must be taken to ensure the resultant calibration is not biased due to detector or electronic saturation effects. The temporal averaging properties of an integrating sphere can be used to reduce high frequency fluctuations to an acceptable level. In this work, the time resolved output of an integrating sphere coupled with a mode-locked source was measured. A 76 cm diameter sphere with 30 cm output aperture was illuminated using a mode-locked pulse train at 76 MHz, with single pulse durations of 12 ps. The time constant of the sphere was found to be 36 ns, and the resultant temporal averaging of pulses produced a maximum time varying irradiance at the output of 20% of the mean. The form of this time variance is a sawtooth pattern, with a sharp rise during the introduction of each pulse into the sphere followed by a slower decay between pulses. A comparison of instrument calibration data generated with this integrating sphere using both a mode locked source and a continuous wave source is also given. .

Landsat 9 will continue the Landsat data record into its fifth decade with launch scheduled for December 2020. The two instruments on Landsat 9 are Thermal Infrared Sensor-2 (TIRS-2) and Operational Land Imager-2 (OLI-2). OLI-2 is a nine-channel pushbroom imager with a 15-degree field of view that will have a 16-day measurement cadence from its nominal 705-km orbit altitude. A key aspect of the data that will be produced by OLI-2 is its spectral fidelity which enables countless science applications. The prelaunch test campaign for spectral characterization of OLI-2 was substantially improved relative to the methodology used for OLI: the full spectral response of every detector was characterized with greater accuracy, sampling, and precision. This paper will describe how this was accomplished with a tunable laser-based light source called Goddard Laser for Absolute Measurement of Radiance (GLAMR).

High accuracy achieved with temperature stabilized unfiltered trap detectors illuminated by monochromatic light. Tunable lasers and optical parametric oscillators provide orders of magnitude higher spectral radiance than blackbody or other broadband sources; calibrate at high signal levels.

A description of the Goddard Laser for Absolute Calibration of Radiance, a tunable, narrow linewidth spectroradiometric calibration tool, and results from calibration of an earth science satellite instrument from ultraviolet to short wave infrared wavelengths.

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission addresses the need to observe highaccuracy, long-term climate change trends and to use decadal change observations as a method to determine the accuracy of climate change. A CLARREO objective is to improve the accuracy of SI-traceable, absolute calibration at infrared and reflected solar wavelengths to reach on-orbit accuracies required to allow climate change observations to survive data gaps and observe climate change at the limit of natural variability. Such an effort will also demonstrate National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) approaches for use in future spaceborne instruments. The current work describes the results of laboratory and field measurements with the Solar, Lunar for Absolute Reflectance Imaging Spectroradiometer (SOLARIS) which is the calibration demonstration system (CDS) for the reflected solar portion of CLARREO. SOLARIS allows testing and evaluation of calibration approaches, alternate design and/or implementation approaches and components for the CLARREO mission. SOLARIS also provides a test-bed for detector technologies, non-linearity determination and uncertainties, and application of future technology developments and suggested spacecraft instrument design modifications. Results of laboratory calibration measurements are provided to demonstrate key assumptions about instrument behavior that are needed to achieve CLARREO's climate measurement requirements. Absolute radiometric response is determined using laser-based calibration sources and applied to direct solar views for comparison with accepted solar irradiance models to demonstrate accuracy values giving confidence in the error budget for the CLARREO reflectance retrieval.

The VIS/NIR bands polarization sensitivity of Joint Polar Satellite Sensor 1 (JPSS1) Visible/Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) instrument was measured using a broadband source. While polarization sensitivity for bands M5-M7, I1, and I2 was less than 2.5%, the maximum polarization sensitivity for bands M1, M2, M3, and M4 was measured to be 6.4%, 4.4%, 3.1%, and 4.3%, respectively with a polarization characterization uncertainty of less than 0.3%. A detailed polarization model indicated that the large polarization sensitivity observed in the M1 to M4 bands was mainly due to the large polarization sensitivity introduced at the leading and trailing edges of the newly manufactured VISNIR bandpass focal plane filters installed in front of the VISNIR detectors. This was confirmed by polarization measurements of bands M1 and M4 bands using monochromatic light. Discussed are the activities leading up to and including the instruments two polarization tests, some discussion of the polarization model and the model results, the role of the focal plane filters, the polarization testing of the Aft-Optics-Assembly, the testing of the polarizers at Goddard and NIST and the use of NIST's T-SIRCUS for polarization testing and associated analyses and results.

A goal of the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission is to observe highaccuracy, long-term climate change trends over decadal time scales. The key to such a goal is to improving the accuracy of SI traceable absolute calibration across infrared and reflected solar wavelengths allowing climate change to be separated from the limit of natural variability. The advances required to reach on-orbit absolute accuracy to allow climate change observations to survive data gaps exist at NIST in the laboratory, but still need demonstration that the advances can move successfully from to NASA and/or instrument vendor capabilities for spaceborne instruments. The current work describes the radiometric calibration error budget for the Solar, Lunar for Absolute Reflectance Imaging Spectroradiometer (SOLARIS) which is the calibration demonstration system (CDS) for the reflected solar portion of CLARREO. The goal of the CDS is to allow the testing and evaluation of calibration approaches, alternate design and/or implementation approaches and components for the CLARREO mission. SOLARIS also provides a test-bed for detector technologies, non-linearity determination and uncertainties, and application of future technology developments and suggested spacecraft instrument design modifications. The resulting SI-traceable error budget for reflectance retrieval using solar irradiance as a reference and methods for laboratory-based, absolute calibration suitable for climatequality data collections is given. Key components in the error budget are geometry differences between the solar and earth views, knowledge of attenuator behavior when viewing the sun, and sensor behavior such as detector linearity and noise behavior. Methods for demonstrating this error budget are also presented.

Stable high radiance in visible and near-ultraviolet wavelengths is desirable for radiometric calibration sources. In this work, newly available electrodeless radio-frequency (RF) driven plasma light sources were combined with research grade, low-noise power supplies and coupled to an integrating sphere to produce a uniform radiance source. The stock light sources consist of a 28 VDC power supply, RF driver, and a resonant RF cavity. The RF cavity includes a small bulb with a fill gas that is ionized by the electric field and emits light. This assembly is known as the emitter. The RF driver supplies a source of RF energy to the emitter. In commercial form, embedded electronics within the RF driver perform a continual optimization routine to maximize energy transfer to the emitter. This optimization routine continually varies the light output sinusoidally by approximately 2% over a several-second period. Modifying to eliminate this optimization eliminates the sinusoidal variation but allows the output to slowly drift over time. This drift can be minimized by allowing sufficient warm-up time to achieve thermal equilibrium. It was also found that supplying the RF driver with a low-noise source of DC electrical power improves the stability of the lamp output. Finally, coupling the light into an integrating sphere reduces the effect of spatial fluctuations, and decreases noise at the output port of the sphere.

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission key goals include enabling observation of high accuracy long-term climate change trends, use of these observations to test and improve climate forecasts, and calibration of operational and research sensors. The spaceborne instrument suites include a reflected solar spectroradiometer, emitted infrared spectroradiometer, and radio occultation receivers. The requirement for the RS instrument is that derived reflectance must be traceable to Sl standards with an absolute uncertainty of <0.3% and the error budget that achieves this requirement is described in previo1L5 work. This work describes the Solar/Lunar Absolute Reflectance Imaging Spectroradiometer (SOLARIS), a calibration demonstration system for RS instrument, and presents initial calibration and characterization methods and results. SOLARIS is an Offner spectrometer with two separate focal planes each with its own entrance aperture and grating covering spectral ranges of 320-640, 600-2300 nm over a full field-of-view of 10 degrees with 0.27 milliradian sampling. Results from laboratory measurements including use of integrating spheres, transfer radiometers and spectral standards combined with field-based solar and lunar acquisitions are presented. These results will be used to assess the accuracy and repeatability of the radiometric and spectral characteristics of SOLARIS, which will be presented against the sensor-level requirements addressed in the CLARREO RS instrument error budget.

The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission addresses the need to observe high-accuracy, long-term climate change trends and to use decadal change observations as the most critical method to determine the accuracy of climate change. One of the major objectives of CLARREO is to advance the accuracy of SI traceable absolute calibration at infrared and reflected solar wavelengths. This advance is required to reach the on-orbit absolute accuracy required to allow climate change observations to survive data gaps while remaining sufficiently accurate to observe climate change to within the uncertainty of the limit of natural variability. While these capabilities exist at NIST in the laboratory, there is a need to demonstrate that it can move successfully from NIST to NASA and/or instrument vendor capabilities for future spaceborne instruments. The current work describes the test plan for the Solar, Lunar for Absolute Reflectance Imaging Spectroradiometer (SOLARIS) which is the calibration demonstration system (CDS) for the reflected solar portion of CLARREO. The goal of the CDS is to allow the testing and evaluation of calibration approaches , alternate design and/or implementation approaches and components for the CLARREO mission. SOLARIS also provides a test-bed for detector technologies, non-linearity determination and uncertainties, and application of future technology developments and suggested spacecraft instrument design modifications. The end result of efforts with the SOLARIS CDS will be an SI-traceable error budget for reflectance retrieval using solar irradiance as a reference and methods for laboratory-based, absolute calibration suitable for climate-quality data collections. The CLARREO mission addresses the need to observe high-accuracy, long-term climate change trends and advance the accuracy of SI traceable absolute calibration. The current work describes the test plan for the SOLARIS which is the calibration demonstration system for the reflected solar portion of CLARREO. SOLARIS provides a test-bed for detector technologies, non-linearity determination and uncertainties, and application of future technology developments and suggested spacecraft instrument design modifications. The end result will be an SI-traceable error budget for reflectance retrieval using solar irradiance as a reference and methods for laboratory-based, absolute calibration suitable for climate-quality data collections.