Uncertainties in the in-flight calibration of sensors with reference to measured ground sites in the 0.4-1.1 μm range

This article describes the error sources for three in-flight sensor calibration methods used by the Remote Sensing Group of the Optical Sciences Center at the University of Arizona. The three methods are the reflectance-, improved reflectance-, and radiance-based methods, which all reference the earth-atmosphere system. The sources of error or uncertainty for each method are discussed, and an estimate of the percent uncertainty associated with each source is made for conditions similar to those actually used for calibrations at White Sands, New Mexico. The results of in-flight calibrations are compared to those of the on-board lamp calibration system for a SPOT HRV camera.