Calibration of the National Ecological Observatory Network´s airborne imaging spectrometers

The NEON Imaging Spectrometer (NIS) is a Visible and Shortwave Infrared (VSWIR) push-broom imaging instrument designed to collected spectroscopic imagery on the scale of individual vegetation species. The long-term accuracy and precision of the NIS calibration is important for the detection of changes across the NEON sites. To this end, NEON has developed a calibration facility to enable the consistent calibration of the NIS, through time, across multiple payloads. The NIS Design Verification Unit (NISDVU), NIS-1 and NIS-2 have gone through initial calibration in the NEON facility. Radiometric and spectral calibration methods and results derived in the NEON facility are verified through use of vicarious calibration techniques during flight operations. Early level-one datasets collected over a subset of the NEON sites have been produced using the determined radiometric and spectral calibration and verified through vicarious calibration methods.