Calibration of the National Ecological Observatory Network’s Airborne Imaging Spectrometers

The National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON) is currently under construction by the National Science Foundation. NEON is designed to collect data on the causes and responses to change in the observed ecosystem. The observatory will combine site data collected by terrestrial, instrumental, and aquatic observation systems with airborne remote sensing data. The Airborne Observation Platform (AOP) is designed to collect high-resolution aerial imagery, waveform and discrete LiDAR, and high-fidelity imaging spectroscopic data over the NEON sites annually at or near peak-greenness. Three individual airborne sensor packages will be installed in leased Twin Otter aircraft and used to the collect the NEON sites as NEON enters operations. A key driver to the derived remote sensing data products is the calibration of the imaging spectrometers. This is essential to the overall NEON mission to detect changes in the collected ecosystems over the 30-year expected lifetime.

The NEON Imaging Spectrometer (NIS) is a Visible and Shortwave Infrared (VSWIR) grating spectrometer designed by NASA JPL. Spectroscopic data is collected at 5-nm intervals from 380-2500-nm. A single 480 by 640 pixel HgCdTe Focal Plane Array collects dispersed light from a grating tuned for efficiency across the solar-reflective utilized in a push-broom configuration. Primary calibration of the NIS consists of the characterizing the FPA behavior, spectral calibration, and radiometric calibration. To this end, NEON is constructing a Sensor Test Facility to calibrate the NEON sensors. This work discusses the initial NIS laboratory calibration and verification using vicarious calibration techniques during operations. Laboratory spectral calibration is based on well-defined emission lines in conjunction with a scanning monochromator to define the individual spectral response functions. A NIST traceable FEL bulb is used to radiometrically calibrate the imaging spectrometer. An On-board Calibration (OBC) system is used to monitor the behavior of the NIS throughout flight operations. In addition, results are discussed from a vicarious calibration campaign at Railroad Valley Playa in Nevada collected during a Landsat 8 overpass.