Thermal-Infrared Transfer Radiometer validates radiance scales used on land, at sea, and in space - News Briefs - Brief Article

Journal of Research of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, May-June, 2002

The Thermal-Infrared Transfer Radiometer (TXR) was designed at NIST to permit NIST staff to perform field calibrations of critical instruments used for environmental remote sensing. As word spread through the remote-sensing calibration community about this unique and valuable measurement capability, the TXR was deployed on three critical missions during the summer of 2001.

In May, NIST in collaboration with NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center deployed the TXR at an infrared radiometry workshop at the University of Miami (Florida) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. The TXR checked the radiance scales of blackbody sources used by the sea-surface remote sensing community to calibrate ship-based radiometers that validate satellite measurements of sea-surface temperature.

In July, the TXR was deployed to the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) Imager calibration chamber at a private company in Ft. Wayne, IN. NIST staff, in collaboration with this company, performed measurements of the radiance of two calibration targets used for GOES Imagers during pre-flight calibration. These data will enable radiometric calibration models used by the GOES program to be checked against the NIST infrared radiance scale.

Finally, in August, the TXR was deployed to Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). NIST and LANL collaborated to measure in a cryogenic vacuum chamber, the radiance of blackbody sources which were used previously to calibrate a DOE satellite-based infrared sensor. These data will enable a comparison between the scale used for calibration of the DOE sensor and the NIST infrared radiance scale.

Presently, the TXR is back at NIST undergoing post-deployment recalibration and even more thorough characterization. Reports will soon be issued on the results of the 2001 measurement campaigns.

CONTACT: Joe Rice, (301) 975-2133; joseph.rice@nist.gov.