Stellar calibration of the ROLO lunar radiometric reference

Thomas C. Stone

doi:10.1117/12.862141

27 August 2010 Stellar calibration of the ROLO lunar radiometric reference

Thomas C. Stone

Proceedings Volume 7807, Earth Observing Systems XV; 78070T (2010) https://doi.org/10.1117/12.862141
Event: SPIE Optical Engineering + Applications, 2010, San Diego, California, United States

Abstract

The Lunar Calibration program at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in Flagstaff, AZ, provides the radiometric reference of the Moon as a source for calibration at reflected-solar wavelengths. To develop this capability, thousands of multispectral images of the Moon were acquired by the Robotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) telescope imaging systems. During normal ROLO operations, 10 to 12 different stars were observed up to 15 times each night, primarily to derive atmospheric transmittance corrections for the Moon observations. But additionally, the ROLO telescope sensors are calibrated to the star Vega through a process of reduction of stellar images to absolute irradiances. A study of the ROLO stellar imaging characteristics for this purpose has led to development of an analytic model for the signal contained in the extended point spread function of the image data. This model is then applied as part of the standard data reduction procedures to generate corrections for individual star images. The resulting absolute stellar irradiance measurements allow development of a calibration history for the entire ROLO dataset, and by extension for the lunar models that constitute the lunar radiometric reference. This paper will discuss the image reduction techniques developed for calibration of the ROLO focal plane array sensors, and the implications of this development on the use of the Moon as a calibration reference source.

Citation Download Citation

Thomas C. Stone "Stellar calibration of the ROLO lunar radiometric reference", Proc. SPIE 7807, Earth Observing Systems XV, 78070T (27 August 2010); https://doi.org/10.1117/12.862141

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