The effect of orbit drift on the calibration of the 3.7 µm channel of the AVHRR onboard NOAA-14 and its impact on night-time sea surface temperature retrievals

Abstract

The orbit drift of National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)-14 towards the terminator has caused the deterioration of the radiometric calibration of the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) 3.7 µm channel at night. This deterioration is a result of solar contamination of the radiometric calibration system when the sun strikes the instrument from the spacecraft horizon. The long-term trend and seasonal variation of the contamination are analysed in this study based on trending data from 1995 to 2000. The calibration bias is evaluated and its effect on the sea surface temperature retrievals is quantified. The solar contamination in late 2000 affected as much as 25% of an orbit of data, compared to an average of 7% in 1995. The NOAA/NESDIS operational calibration algorithm partially corrects for the bias but residual effects can still contribute bias on the order of 0.5 K in scene brightness temperature.

Keywords:

• NOAA-14/AVHRR
• orbit drift
• radiometric calibration
• solar contamination

Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Drs Andrew Heidinger and Alex Ignatov of NOAA/NESDIS for a critical reading of the manuscript. Comments and suggestions from the anonymous reviewers are also appreciated. The trending data used in this study are provided by Robert Levin of NOAA/NESDIS.