Derivation of the MODIS Aqua Point-Spread Function for Ocean Color Bands

Published

September 11, 2008

Author(s)

Gerhard Meister, Yuqin Zong, Charles R. McClain

Abstract

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Earth Observing System (EOS) Aqua platform has 9 spectral bands with center wavelengths from 412nm to 870nm that are used to produce the standard ocean color data products. Ocean scenes usually contain high contrast due to the presence of bright clouds over dark water. The MODIS has been characterized for straylight effects prelaunch. In this paper, we derive Point-Spread Functions for the MODIS Aqua ocean bands based on the prelaunch Near-Field Response measurements. We use Harvey-Shack cofficients derived by the system vendor Santa Barbara Remote Sensing. The crucial step in the derivation of the Point-Spread Function is the normalization of the Harvey-Shack coefficients relative to the center pixel. The straylight contamination of ocean scenes is evaluated based on artificial test scenes. Furthermore, the dependence of top-of-atmosphere radiances and ocean color products on proximity to a cloud is analyzed, and a straylight correction algorithm is proposed.

Proceedings Title

Proceedings Vol. 7081, Earth Observing Systems XIII, James J. Butler; Jack Xiong, Editors, 70811F

Volume

7081

Conference Dates

August 10-14, 2008

Conference Location

San Diego, CA, US

Conference Title

SPIE Optics+Photonics

Pub Type

Conferences

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Keywords

characterization, MODIS, point-spread function, scanner

Citation

Meister, G. , Zong, Y. and McClain, C. (2008), Derivation of the MODIS Aqua Point-Spread Function for Ocean Color Bands, Proceedings Vol. 7081, Earth Observing Systems XIII, James J. Butler; Jack Xiong, Editors, 70811F, San Diego, CA, US, [online], https://tsapps.nist.gov/publication/get_pdf.cfm?pub_id=842607 (Accessed October 28, 2025)