On-orbit Radiometric Stability Assessment of MODIS Thermal Emissive Bands with Lunar Observation

The MODIS thermal emissive bands (TEB) are radiometrically calibrated on-orbit on a scan-by-scan basis, with reference to an aboard blackbody operated at 290 K for Terra MODIS and at 285 K for Aqua MODIS. The quality of the calibration can be evaluated with independent thermal sources at other temperatures. As a spectrally, spatially and radiometrically stable source, the Moon has become more important to the on-orbit calibration of space-borne spectral sensors that have regular lunar observation capability. MODIS is scheduled to observe the Moon on a nearly monthly basis at approximately the same lunar phase angle through its space view port. In this paper, the long-term stability of MODIS TEB radiometric calibration is assessed through the multi-year trends of the brightness temperatures (BT) of the lunar surface retrieved from the scheduled lunar observation. The highest lunar surface temperature is approximately 390 K, higher than the saturation temperatures of most TEB. For the non-saturated bands, the trending is based on the BT of the hottest area of the Moon. For the partially saturated bands, the trending is based on the BT difference of the unsaturated matching pixels between the band and a non-saturated reference band, given the fact that all MODIS bands are spatially registered. Overall, the trends have been stable throughout MODIS lifetime. The results also prove that the Moon can be used as a source to monitor the stability of the thermal bands.