Calibration strategy for the Earth Observing System (EOS)-AM1 platform

The Earth Observing System (EOS) is an international, 18-year program in global remote sensing of the Earth comprising multiple instruments flown on several satellite platforms. The first EOS platform, AM1, scheduled for launch in 1998, includes five instruments designed to make radiometric and reflectance measurements of the Earth over a wavelength range extending from the visible to the thermal infrared. The goal of the EOS-AM1 platform and instruments is to advance the scientific understanding of the Earth in the areas of clouds, aerosols, radiative balance, terrestrial and oceanic characterization, and the carbon cycle. In order to achieve this goal, the EOS-AM1 instruments must produce state-of-the-art accurate, precise, and consistent radiance and reflectance measurements over their five-year lifetimes. In addition, the production of continuous remote-sensing data from multiple instruments on several platforms requires that the remote-sensing measurements of the AM1 platform be radiometrically tied to the measurements made by instruments on successive platforms. This is achieved through careful prelaunch and postlaunch instrument calibration, cross-calibration, and level 1B data validation (i.e. vicarious calibration). This paper presents an overview of the calibration, cross-calibration, and level 1B data validation strategy for the AM1 platform