MODIS Thermal Emissive Bands Calibration Algorithm and On-orbit Performance

The MODerate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is one of the key instruments for the NASA s Earth Observing System (EOS). MODIS ProtoFlight Model (PFM) was launched on-board the EOS Terra spacecraft on December 18, 1999 and the MODIS Flight Model (FM-1) was launched on-board the EOS Aqua spacecraft on May 4, 2002. MODIS has 36 spectral bands with wavelengths ranging from 0.41 to 14.5μm and nadir spatial resolutions of 250m (2 bands), 500m (5 bands), and 1km (29 bands). The sensor s 20 reflective solar bands (RSB) from 0.41 to 2.1μm are calibrated on-orbit by a solar diffuser (SD) and a solar diffuser stability monitor (SDSM). The other 16 thermal emissive bands (TEB) with wavelengths above 3.7μm are calibrated by a blackbody. This paper follows the discussions on the RSB calibration and instrument performance presented in a separate paper (Xiong et. al.) in these proceedings, and focuses on the 16 thermal emissive bands (TEB).