Bidirectional Reflectance Round-Robin in Support of the Earth Observing System Program

Abstract

Laboratory measurements of the bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) of diffuse reflectors are required to support calibration in the Earth Observing System (EOS) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. To assess the ability of the instrument calibration laboratories to perform accurate BRDF measurements, a round-robin with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) as the central laboratory was initiated by the EOS Project Science Office. The round-robin parameters include sample type, wavelength, and incident and viewing angles. The results show that the participating calibration laboratories are, with a few exceptions due to experimental techniques or sample properties, generally able to measure BRDF for the round-robin parameters to within 2% of the values measured by NIST.