Program SAFEGUARD:

Radiometric calibration panels for field deployment

During the sensor characterization experiments, data from the linescanner can best be interpreted when an object of known radiance is within the imaged scene.  Since we were already working on the ground test site, AeroSurvey has become responsible for deploying what we have come to call radiometric calibration targets or simply radiometric panels.

Radiometric panels offer an area of known radiance, large enough to completely fill at least a few pixels in the linescanner images produced as it flies over the test site.  Typically we lay out multiple panels, with different panels displaying different emissivities.  The different emissivities are produced as a result of special paint used on the panels or the material of the panels themselves.  The temperatures of the panels are measured and datalogged with thermocouples in direct contact with the panel cores.  The radiometric temperatures are measured and recorded using radiometers suspended over the panels.  The radiometers operate in the 8 - 12 micron region of the infrared where most of the linescanner's channels are responsive.

Below we show some ground and airborne images including the radiometric panels.