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ABSTRACT: Compact hyperspectral sensors potentially have a wide range of applications, including machine vision, quality control, and surveillance from small Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). With the development of Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) focal plane arrays, much of the Short Wave Infra-Red (SWIR) spectral regime can be accessed with a small hyperspectral imaging system, thereby substantially expanding hyperspectral sensing capabilities. To fully realize this potential, system performance must be well-understood. Here, stray light characterization of a recently-developed push-broom hyperspectral sensor sensitive in the 1 microm -1.7 microm spectral regime is described. The sensor utilizes anamorphic fore-optics that partially decouple image formation along the spatial and spectral axes of the instrument. This design benefits from a reduction in complexity over standard high-performance spectrometer optical designs while maintaining excellent aberration control and spatial and spectral distortion characteristics. The stray light performance characteristics of the anamorphic imaging spectrometer were measured using the spectral irradiance and radiance responsivity calibrations using uniform sources (SIRCUS) facility at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). A description of the measurements and results are presented. Additionally, a stray-light matrix was assembled for the instrument to improve the instrument's spectral accuracy. Transmittance of a silicon wafer was measured to validate this approach.
Optics Express 08/2010; 18(16):17510-20. · 3.59 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: An international comparison of spectral responsivity in the near infrared region, 900 nm to 1600 nm, designated CCPR-K2.a, has been conducted under the Consultative Committee for Photometry and Radiometry (CCPR) as one of the key comparisons to support the Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA). This comparison was participated in by 15 laboratories and was piloted by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The comparison was carried out through calibration of a group of transfer standard detectors, which were indium gallium arsenide (InGaAs) photodiodes with sapphire windows, mounted with a thermistor. The comparison was organized in a star pattern, and conducted in four groups of participants. The report describes in detail the measurements made at NIST and summarizes the reports submitted by the participants. Key comparison reference values and degrees of equivalence have been determined from the comparison results. Main text. To reach the main text of this paper, click on Final Report. Note that this text is that which appears in Appendix B of the BIPM key comparison database kcdb.bipm.org/. The final report has been peer-reviewed and approved for publication by the CCPR, according to the provisions of the CIPM Mutual Recognition Arrangement (MRA).
Metrologia 01/2010; 47(1A):02002. · 1.75 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Absolute stellar photometry is based on 1970s terrestrial measurements of the star Vega with instruments calibrated using the Planckian radiance from a Cu fixed-point blackbody. Significant advances in absolute radiometry have been made in the last 30 years that offer the potential to improve both terrestrial and space-based absolute stellar photometry. These advances include the development of detector-based radiometry utilizing spectrally tunable laser sources and improved atmospheric transmittance modelling and characterization. We describe the applications of these new technologies for ground-based spectral irradiance measurements of standard stars at wavelengths ranging from 0.35 µm to 1.7 µm.
Metrologia 06/2009; 46(4):S219. · 1.75 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Supercontinuum (SC) sources are novel laser-based sources that generate a broad, white-light continuum in single-mode photonic crystal fibres. Currently, up to 6 W of optical power is available, spanning the spectral range from 460 nm to 2400 nm. Advances in these sources promise polarized radiant flux with expanded spectral coverage down to 380 nm. We evaluate the use of SC sources for fundamental optical metrological applications.
Metrologia 06/2009; 46(4):S277. · 1.75 Impact Factor
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IEEE International Geoscience & Remote Sensing Symposium, IGARSS 2009, July 12-17, 2009, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa, Proceedings; 01/2009
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ABSTRACT: Independent methods for measuring the absolute spectral irradiance responsivity of detectors have been compared between the calibration facilities at two national metrology institutes, the Helsinki University of Technology (TKK), Finland, and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). The emphasis is on the comparison of two different techniques for generating a uniform irradiance at a reference plane using wavelength-tunable lasers. At TKK's Laser Scanning Facility (LSF) the irradiance is generated by raster scanning a single collimated laser beam, while at the NIST facility for Spectral Irradiance and Radiance Responsivity Calibrations with Uniform Sources (SIRCUS), lasers are introduced into integrating spheres to generate a uniform irradiance at a reference plane. The laser-based irradiance responsivity results are compared to a traditional lamp-monochromator-based irradiance responsivity calibration obtained at the NIST Spectral Comparator Facility (SCF). A narrowband filter radiometer with a 24 nm bandwidth and an effective band-center wavelength of 801 nm was used as the artifact. The results of the comparison between the different facilities, reported for the first time in the near-infrared wavelength range, demonstrate agreement at the uncertainty level of less than 0.1%. This result has significant implications in radiation thermometry and in photometry as well as in radiometry.
Applied Optics 08/2007; 46(20):4228-36. · 1.41 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The development of a radiation thermometer calibrated for spectral radiance responsivity using cryogenic, electrical-substitution radiometry to determine the thermodynamic temperatures of the Ag- and Au-freezing temperatures is described. The absolute spectral radiance responsivity of the radiation thermometer is measured in the NIST Spectral Irradiance and Radiance Responsivity Calibrations using Uniform Sources (SIRCUS) facility with a total uncertainty of 0.15% (k=2) and is traceable to the electrical watt, and thus the thermodynamic temperature of any blackbody can be determined by using Planck radiation law and the measured optical power. The thermodynamic temperatures of the Ag- and Au-freezing temperatures are determined to be 1234.956 K (+/-0.110 K) (k=2) and 1337.344 K(+/-0.129 K) (k=2) differing from the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) assignments by 26 mK and 14 mK, respectively, within the stated uncertainties. The temperatures were systematically corrected for the size- of-source effect, the nonlinearity of the preamplifier and the emissivity of the blackbody. The ultimate goal of these thermodynamic temperature measurements is to disseminate temperature scales with lower uncertainties than those of the ITS-90. These results indicate that direct disseminations of thermodynamic temperature scales are possible.
Applied Optics 06/2007; 46(15):2870-80. · 1.41 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Detectors have historically been calibrated for spectral power responsivity at the National Institute of Standards and Technology by using a lamp-monochromator system to tune the wavelength of the excitation source. Silicon detectors can be calibrated in the visible spectral region with combined standard uncertainties at the 0.1% level. However, uncertainties increase dramatically when measuring an instrument's spectral irradiance or radiance responsivity. We describe what we believe to be a new laser-based facility for spectral irradiance and radiance responsivity calibrations using uniform sources (SIRCUS) that was developed to calibrate instruments directly in irradiance or radiance mode with uncertainties approaching or exceeding those available for spectral power responsivity calibrations. In SIRCUS, the emission from high-power, tunable lasers is introduced into an integrating sphere using optical fibers, producing uniform, quasi-Lambertian, high-radiant-flux sources. Reference standard irradiance detectors, calibrated directly against national primary standards for spectral power responsivity and aperture area measurement, are used to determine the irradiance at a reference plane. Knowing the measurement geometry, the source radiance can be readily determined as well. The radiometric properties of the SIRCUS source coupled with state-of-the-art transfer standard radiometers whose responses are directly traceable to primary national radiometric scales result in typical combined standard uncertainties in irradiance and radiance responsivity calibrations of less than 0.1%. The details of the facility and its effect on primary national radiometric scales are discussed.
Applied Optics 12/2006; 45(32):8218-37. · 1.41 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: A simple, practical method has been developed to correct a spectroradiometer's response for measurement errors arising from the instrument's spectral stray light. By characterizing the instrument's response to a set of monochromatic laser sources that cover the instrument's spectral range, one obtains a spectral stray light signal distribution matrix that quantifies the magnitude of the spectral stray light signal within the instrument. By use of these data, a spectral stray light correction matrix is derived and the instrument's response can be corrected with a simple matrix multiplication. The method has been implemented and validated with a commercial CCD-array spectrograph. Spectral stray light errors after the correction was applied were reduced by 1-2 orders of magnitude to a level of approximately 10(-5) for a broadband source measurement, equivalent to less than one count of the 15-bit-resolution instrument. This method is fast enough to be integrated into an instrument's software to perform real-time corrections with minimal effect on acquisition speed. Using instruments that have been corrected for spectral stray light, we expect significant reductions in overall measurement uncertainties in many applications in which spectrometers are commonly used, including radiometry, colorimetry, photometry, and biotechnology.
Applied Optics 03/2006; 45(6):1111-9. · 1.41 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Ames Research Center's Airborne Sensor Facility (ASF) is responsible for the calibration of several airborne Earth-viewing sensor systems in support of NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) investigations. The primary artifact used to calibrate these sensors in the reflective solar region from 400 to 2500 nm is a lamp-illuminated integrating sphere source. In September 1999, a measurement comparison was made at the Ames ASF Sensor Calibration Facility to validate the radiometric scale, establish the uncertainties assigned to the radiance of this source, and examine its day-to-day repeatability. The comparison was one of a series of validation activities overseen by the EOS Calibration Program to ensure the radiometric calibration accuracy of sensors used in long-term, global, remote-sensing studies. Results of the comparison, including an evaluation of the Ames Sensor Calibration Laboratory (SCL) measurement procedures and assigned radiometric uncertainties, provide a validation of their radiometric scale at the time of the comparison. Additionally, the maintenance of the radiance scale was evaluated by use of independent, long-term, multiyear radiance validation measurements of the Ames sphere source. This series of measurements provided an independent assessment of the radiance values assigned to integrating sphere sources by the Ames SCF. Together, the measurements validate the SCF radiometric scale and assigned uncertainties over the time period from September 1999 through July 2003.
Applied Optics 11/2005; 44(30):6426-43. · 1.41 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Spectrographs are used in a variety of applications in the field of remote sensing for radiometric measurements due to the benefits of measurement speed, sensitivity, and portability. However, spectrographs are single grating instruments that are susceptible to systematic errors arising from stray radiation within the instrument. In the application of measurements of ocean color, stray light of the spectrographs has led to significant measurement errors. In this work, a simple method to correct stray-light errors in a spectrograph is described. By measuring a set of monochromatic laser sources that cover the instrument's spectral range, the instrument's stray-light property is characterized and a stray-light correction matrix is derived. The matrix is then used to correct the stray-light error in measured raw signals by a simple matrix multiplication, which is fast enough to be implemented in the spectrograph's firmware or software to perform real-time corrections: an important feature for remote sensing applications. The results of corrections on real instruments demonstrated that the stray-light errors were reduced by one to two orders of magnitude, to a level of approximately 10-5 for a broadband source measurement, which is a level less than one count of a 15-bit resolution instrument. As a stray-light correction example, the errors in measurement of solar spectral irradiance using a highquality spectrograph optimized for UV measurements are analyzed; the stray-light correction leads to reduction of errors from a 10 % level to a 1 % level in the UV region. This method is expected to contribute to achieving a 0.1 % level of uncertainty required for future remote-sensing applications.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
08/2005;
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ABSTRACT: Sun photometers are used to characterize the radiative properties of the atmosphere. They measure both the incident solar irradiance as well as the sky radiance (from scattered incident flux). Global networks of sun photometers provide data products such as aerosol optical thickness derived from these measurements. Instruments are typically calibrated for irradiance responsivity by cross-calibration against a primary reference sun photometer and for radiance responsivity using a lamp-illuminated integrating sphere source. A laser-based facility for Spectral Irradiance and Radiance Responsivity Calibrations using Uniform Sources (SIRCUS) has been developed at the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Sensors can be calibrated in this facility for absolute spectral irradiance and radiance responsivity with combined expanded (k = 2) uncertainties ranging from 0.15% to 0.25%. Two multi-channel filter radiometers used in the Sensor Intercomparison and Merger for Biological and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) program of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) at the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) were calibrated for radiance and irradiance responsivity using conventional approaches and using laser-illuminated integrating spheres on SIRCUS. The different calibration methods are compared, the uncertainties are evaluated, and the impact on remote sensing applications is discussed.© (2003) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
11/2003;
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ABSTRACT: In ocean-color remote sensing, approximately 90% of the flux at the sensor originates from atmospheric scattering, with the water-leaving radiance contributing the remaining 10% of the total flux. Consequently, errors in the measured top-of-the atmosphere radiance are magnified a factor of 10 in the determination of water-leaving radiance. Proper characterization of the atmosphere is thus a critical part of the analysis of ocean-color remote sensing data. It has always been necessary to calibrate the ocean-color satellite sensor vicariously, using in situ, ground-based results, independent of the status of the pre-flight radiometric calibration or the utility of on-board calibration strategies. Because the atmosphere contributes significantly to the measured flux at the instrument sensor, both the instrument and the atmospheric correction algorithm are simultaneously calibrated vicariously. The Marine Optical Buoy (MOBY), deployed in support of the Earth Observing System (EOS) since 1996, serves as the primary calibration station for a variety of ocean-color satellite instruments, including the Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), the Japanese Ocean Color Temperature Scanner (OCTS) , and the French Polarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (POLDER). MOBY is located off the coast of Lanai, Hawaii. The site was selected to simplify the application of the atmospheric correction algorithms. Vicarious calibration using MOBY data allows for a thorough comparison and merger of ocean-color data from these multiple sensors.
05/2003;
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ABSTRACT: The Marine Optical Buoy (MOBY) is the centerpiece of the primary ocean measurement site for calibration of satellite ocean color sensors based on independent in situ measurements. Since late 1996, the time series of normalized water-leaving radiances L(sub WN)(lambda) determined from the array of radiometric sensors attached to MOBY are the primary basis for the on-orbit calibrations of the USA Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS), the Japanese Ocean Color and Temperature Sensor (OCTS), the French Polarization Detection Environmental Radiometer (POLDER), the German Modular Optoelectronic Scanner on the Indian Research Satellite (IRS1-MOS), and the USA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS). The MOBY vicarious calibration L(sub WN)(lambda) reference is an essential element in the international effort to develop a global, multi-year time series of consistently calibrated ocean color products using data from a wide variety of independent satellite sensors. A longstanding goal of the SeaWiFS and MODIS (Ocean) Science Teams is to determine satellite-derived L(sub WN)(labda) with a relative combined standard uncertainty of 5 %. Other satellite ocean color projects and the Sensor Intercomparison for Marine Biology and Interdisciplinary Oceanic Studies (SIMBIOS) project have also adopted this goal, at least implicitly. Because water-leaving radiance contributes at most 10 % of the total radiance measured by a satellite sensor above the atmosphere, a 5 % uncertainty in L(sub WN)(lambda) implies a 0.5 % uncertainty in the above-atmosphere radiance measurements. This level of uncertainty can only be approached using vicarious-calibration approaches as described below. In practice, this means that the satellite radiance responsivity is adjusted to achieve the best agreement, in a least-squares sense, for the L(sub WN)(lambda) results determined using the satellite and the independent optical sensors (e.g. MOBY). The end result of this approach is to implicitly absorb unquantified, but systematic, errors in the atmospheric correction, incident solar flux, and satellite sensor calibration into a single correction factor to produce consistency with the in situ data.
05/2003;
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ABSTRACT: In this paper, we describe an algorithm to correct a spectrograph's response for stray light. Two recursion relations are developed: one to correct the system response when measuring broad-band calibration sources, and a second to correct the response when measuring sources of unknown radiance. The algorithm requires a detailed understanding of the effect of stray light in the spectrograph on the instrument's response. Using tunable laser sources, a dual spectrograph instrument designed to measure the up-welling radiance in the ocean was characterized for stray light. A stray-light correction algorithm was developed, based on the results of these measurements. The instrument's response was corrected for stray light, and the effects on measured up-welling in-water radiance were evaluated.
Metrologia 02/2003; 40(1):S81. · 1.75 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: Comparison of independent measurement results allows an assessment of the accuracy of the underlying methods. In this work, four multichannel filter radiometers were calibrated using tunable laser-illuminated and lamp-illuminated integrating sphere sources (ISSs). The determination of the radiance of the laser-illuminated ISS is based on electrical substitution radiometry at cryogenic temperatures and dimensional metrology of circular apertures. The determination of the spectral radiance of the lamp-illuminated ISS is based on blackbody physics, referenced to the freezing temperature of gold. By calibrating the filter radiometers using both methods, we compare the `detector-based' to the `source-based' radiance scale at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Metrologia 02/2003; 40(1):S216. · 1.75 Impact Factor
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ABSTRACT: The recently completed upgrade of the Synchrotron Ultraviolet Radiation Facility (SURF III) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has improved the accuracy of radiometric measurements over a broad spectral range from the infrared to the soft x ray. The beamline 4 at SURF III is a cryogenic-radiometer based radiometric facility for the ultraviolet (UV) spectral range. The upgrade of SURF III has allowed us to use beamline 4 to improve the detector spectral power responsivity scales in the wavelength range from 125 to 320 nm. The achieved combined relative standard uncertainty is better than 0.5% over most of this spectral range. This is a significant improvement over the more than 6% relative standard uncertainty in this spectral range of the current scales maintained at the Spectral Comparator Facility (SCF) in the Optical Technology Division and the Far UV Calibration Facility in the Electron and Optical Physics Division. The new UV scale of beamline 4 was subsequently intercompared and transferred to the SCF and to the Far UV Calibration Facility to improve their UV scales and ensure consistency within NIST. The new scale established at beamline 4 improves NIST’s calibration capabilities for environmental monitoring, astrophysics, and the UV industry. The new scale also includes wavelengths such as 193 and 157 nm excimer laser wavelengths, which are of particular interest to the semiconductor photolithography industry.
Review of Scientific Instruments 06/2001; · 1.37 Impact Factor
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IEEE T. Instrumentation and Measurement. 01/2001; 50:474-477.
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The Eighth Color Imaging Conference: Color Science and Engineering Systems, Technologies, Applications, 2000, Scottsdale, Arizona, USA; 01/2000
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James J. Butler,
B. Carol Johnson, Steven W. Brown,
Howard W. Yoon,
Robert A. Barnes,
Brian L. Markham,
Stuart F. Biggar,
Edward F. Zalewski,
Paul R. Spyak,
John W. Cooper,
Fumihiro Sakuma
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ABSTRACT: EOS satellite instruments operating in the visible through the shortwave infrared wavelength regions (from 0.4 micrometer to 2.5 micrometer) are calibrated prior to flight for radiance response using integrating spheres at a number of instrument builder facilities. The traceability of the radiance produced by these spheres with respect to international standards is the responsibility of the instrument builder, and different calibration techniques are employed by those builders. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA's) Earth Observing System (EOS) Project Science Office, realizing the importance of preflight calibration and cross-calibration, has sponsored a number of radiometric measurement comparisons, the main purpose of which is to validate the radiometric scale assigned to the integrating spheres by the instrument builders. This paper describes the radiometric measurement comparisons, the use of stable transfer radiometers to perform the measurements, and the measurement approaches and protocols used to validate integrating sphere radiances. Stable transfer radiometers from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the University of Arizona Optical Sciences Center Remote Sensing Group, NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, and the National Research Laboratory of Metrology in Japan, have participated in these comparisons. The approaches used in the comparisons include the measurement of multiple integrating sphere lamp levels, repeat measurements of select lamp levels, the use of the stable radiometers as external sphere monitors, and the rapid reporting of measurement results. Results from several comparisons are presented. The absolute radiometric calibration standard uncertainties required by the EOS satellite instruments are typically in the plus or minus 3% to plus or minus 5% range. Preliminary results reported during eleven radiometric measurement comparisons held between February 1995 and May 1998 have shown the radiance of integrating spheres agreed to within plus or minus 2.5% from the average at blue wavelengths and to within plus or minus 1.7% from the average at red and near infrared wavelengths. This level of agreement lends confidence in the use of the transfer radiometers in validating the radiance scales assigned by EOS instrument calibration facilities to their integrating sphere sources.© (1999) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.
12/1999;
