Inter-Band Radiometric Comparison and Calibration of ASTER Visible and Near-Infrared Bands

Abstract

The present study evaluates inter-band radiometric consistency across the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) visible and near-infrared (VNIR) bands and develops an inter-band calibration algorithm to improve radiometric consistency. Inter-band radiometric comparison of current ASTER data shows a root mean square error (RMSE) of 3.8%-5.7% among radiance outputs of spectral bands due primarily to differences between calibration strategies of the NIR band for nadir-looking (Band 3N) and the other two bands (green and red bands, corresponding to Bands 1 and 2). An algorithm for radiometric calibration of Bands 2 and 3N with reference to Band 1 is developed based on the band translation technique and is used to obtain new radiometric calibration coefficients (RCCs) for sensor sensitivity degradation. The systematic errors between radiance outputs are decreased by applying the derived RCCs, which result in reducing the RMSE from 3.8%-5.7% to 2.2%-2.9%. The remaining errors are approximately equal to or smaller than the intrinsic uncertainties of inter-band calibration derived by sensitivity analysis. Improvement of the radiometric consistency would increase the accuracy of band algebra (e.g., vegetation indices) and its application. The algorithm can be used to evaluate inter-band radiometric consistency, as well as for the calibration of other sensors.

Radiometric Degradation Curves for the ASTER VNIR Processing Using Vicarious and Lunar Calibrations

“…In this study, the RCCs for all ASTER VNIR bands (Bands 1, 2, 3N, and 3B) were calculated from the vicarious calibration by the AIST method [5,12,[20][21][22]. The AIST group performed a field campaign for the vicarious calibration for ASTER at six sites in the United States and two sites in Australia.…”

“…The detector temperature of the SWIR radiometer started to increase owing to the degradation of the detector cooling system, which resulted in the progressive deterioration of product quality in 2007, and low-quality SWIR images have been acquired since May 2008 [2]. However, the VNIR and TIR radiometers have been providing good images for approximately 20 years, and several calibration approaches have been applied to the radiometers [3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17].…”

“…Numerous studies have reported the cross calibration of ASTER and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) VNIR bands [7][8][9][10][11], but the trends in the cross-calibration results are not necessarily consistent [11]. Inter-band radiometric calibration, which can be used to evaluate inter-band consistency, was applied for the ASTER VNIR bands; then, the radiometric degradation curves of ASTER Bands 2 and 3N with a reference to Band 1, which is well calibrated compared with other bands, were calculated [12].…”

“…Even though the degradation curves have been revised in the radiometric DB ver. 4, the inter-band and lunar calibrations have reported a few inconsistencies [6,12], which is attributed to the different traceability of each band with a different calibration approach.…”

Application of Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) multispectral imagery to mineral and lithologic mapping in southern West Greenland

“…The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER), developed by the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (METI), Japan, has been operated aboard the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Earth Observation System (EOS) Terra platform since 2000 (Yamaguchi et al, 1998;Abrams, 2015;Obata et al, 2015). The ASTER measures reflected solar radiation in three bands between 0.52-0.86 µm in the visible to near infrared (VNIR) wavelength region, and in six bands from 1.6 µm to 2.43 µm in the short-wave infrared (SWIR) wavelength region (Table 1).…”