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Completed TRL 3 (started at 1, targeting 3)
Earth science remote sensing observations require the detection and measurement of light originating from bright targets, such as clouds, and darker targets, such as an open ocean. This requirement drives the need to design, develop, and characterize improved calibration targets in support of current and future NASA instruments as Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite (OMPS), Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) and others. We propose to fabricate and fully characterize the total and directional reflectance properties of fused silica based Mie calibration targets of various thicknesses with aluminum and Spectralon backing. We intend to acquire high accuracy reflectance data of the new radiometric calibration targets traceable to NIST by employing our precision scatterometer and other radiometric calibration equipment.
The proposed IRAD will help achieve science that is prioritized in a Decadal Survey Focus area Climate Variability and Change. The calibration targets are critically important to achieve the on-orbit absolute calibration requirement by the Earth remote sensing community addressing space instruments improvement of pre-flight and on-orbit radiometric performance. The Earth remote sensing observations require the detection of light from targets a bright as clouds and as dark as open ocean. We propose to develop calibration targets with variable Earth scene specific reflectance capable of covering the entire solar reflective wavelength region. They have great potential to be used as a spectral albedo radiometric standard for instruments such as OMPS, OCI, VIIRS, and other current and future space instruments. The return of the investment will be achieved by providing critical information to a wide range of GSFC Earth and Space remote sensing projects. The availability of the new calibration targets will help position Goddard strategically to win future instrument development proposals. NASA scientists and engineers will use the reported data on current and future remote sensing missions in their instrument design and science data interpretation.
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