The curious case of the inter-sensor radiometric comparison of SNPP VIIRS M11 with Aqua MODIS B7

摘要

The inter-sensor radiometric comparison of the 2257 run channel (M11) of SNPP VIIRS and the 2130 nm channel (B7) of Aqua MODIS curiously demonstrates a wildly varying time series, in stark contrast to the very stable results of other band pairs. A link is found between the few statistically robust outcomes in the time series and the land-based snowy scenes, specifically of Antarctica. With a refined procedure including a selection of land-based snowy scenes, we are able to generate a viable comparison time series of radiance of Aqua MODIS B7 over that of SNPP VIIRS M11. The refined time series shows multi-year stability and hovers around 0.39. The connection between the observed behaviors and their non-overlapping relative spectral responses (RSRs) is discussed.