Calibration Validation of GOES-16 Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) with the Airborne Scanning High-Resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS)

The GOES-16 Post Launch Test (PLT) airborne calibration validation campaign was conducted in March through May 2017. The primary goal of the campaign was to independently validate the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) product performance post-launch. The campaign was conducted out of Palmdale, California and Warner Robins Air Force Base, GA with high altitude under-flights on the NASA ER-2 over a wide range of North American targets. During this calibration validation campaign, the NASA ER-2 payload consisted of the Scanning-High resolution Interferometer Sounder (S-HIS), the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS), the Fly’s Eye GLM Simulator (FEGS), the Lighting Instrument Package (LIP), the Cloud Physics Lidar (CPL), the ER-2 Doppler Radar (EXRAD), and the Geostationary Coastal and Air Pollution Event Airborne Simulator (GCAS) instruments.

Considering the wide range of existing satellite calibration validation approaches, the high accuracy of aircraft sensors combined with the ability to perform pre- and post-campaign calibration tests to confirm the radiometric performance make satellite under-flight comparisons like those presented here uniquely capable of assessing infrared satellite observations with sufficient accuracy and traceability. The S-HIS has proven to be an extremely dependable and accurately calibrated airborne reference instrument with a well-defined radiometric uncertainty and traceability path.

This presentation will include an overview of the infrared radiance calibration approach, the calibration accuracy and traceability of the S-HIS validation data, a detailed assessment of a single GOES-16 under-flight, and a summary assessment of the GOES-16 ABI radiance calibration verification for all under-flights. Under-flights of SNPP were also conducted during the campaign, and a summary of the CrIS spectral radiance calibration validation will also be presented if time allows.