Proceedings of SPIE, the International Society for Optical Engineering/Proceedings of SPIE · 2003 · 12 citations · 5 references
Natural SciencesAerospace EngineeringEarth SciencesAtmospheric ScienceRemote SensingSpectroscopyAtmospheric OpticsAtmospheric Sounding From SatellitesInfrared InstrumentationInfrared Remote SensingSatellite InstrumentationSatellite SensorsAtmospheric Sounding InstrumentsBeam Pointing AccuracyHyperspectral Atmospheric SoundingInfrared SpectraInstrument Performance CharacterizationPointing AccuracySpacecraft Pointing AccuracyWater Vapor Profiling
The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) is a space-based hyperspectral infrared instrument designed to measure the Earth’s atmospheric water vapor and temperature profiles on a global scale. AIRS has 2378 infrared channels in the spectral range of 3.7 to 15.4 microns, with a spatial resolution of 13.5 km and 4 Vis/NIR channels from 0.4 to 0.8 microns with a spatial resolution of 2.3 km. AIRS is one of several instruments onboard the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua spacecraft launched May 4, 2002. AIRS has completed its Activation and Evaluation (A&E) phase and is currently in its operational mode. This paper summarizes the AIRS instrument radiometric, spatial, and spectral performance as measured in orbit during the A&E phase. Instrument noise performance, spectral alignment dependence on temperature and other factors, and spatial pointing accuracy are discussed.
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