Intercalibration of the newest geostationary imagers via high spectral resolution AIRS data

Intercalibration of satellite radiances, which leads to an improved knowledge of calibration, is important for various global applications where data from more than one instrument are combined or compared. Comparisons between geostationary imagers and the high spectral-resolution Atmospheric InfraRed Sounder (AIRS), polar-orbiting on Aqua, provide an accurate estimate over pre-existing intercalibration techniques. The high spectral-resolution nature of such an instrument allows more accurate comparisons of measured radiances to other instruments sharing the same spectral bandwidths. AIRS has been proven to have absolute calibration accuracies of 0.1K in most bands. However, AIRS does not have complete spectral coverage. The channels on geostationary imagers where AIRS has spectral gaps, such as the water-vapor absorption region, are difficult to compare accurately. Recent intercalibration results for the world's newest geostationary imagers, such as GOES-N, MTSAT-1R, and FY-2C, are presented