Sensor calibration and characterization to meet climate monitoring requirements

The challenge of detecting small changes in the Earth´s climate system over decadal and longer time scales places stringent requirements on environmental monitoring systems. Sensors must be well calibrated and maintain their calibration in challenging environments: space, oceans, mountains, tropics, polar regions, and deserts. Additionally, the assembly of regional and global time series for environmental variables, such as sea-surface temperature, vegetation coverage, and soil moisture, requires the integration of measurements from a variety of sensors of different designs, operated by different organizations, and acquired at different times. Success requires sensors that are calibrated and recalibrated against standards tied to the International System of Units (SI) to ensure that measurements are physics-based and comparable between nations, organizations, and over generations. The present talk will provide an overview of research and dissemination efforts at NIST to advance the calibration and characterization of sensors, highlighting satellite-based sensors, for application to measurements in support of climate science.