Publications

This paper provides a comprehensive list of prime candidate terrestrial targets for consideration as benchmark sites for the post-launch radiometric calibration of space-based instruments. The key characteristics of suitable sites are outlined primarily with respect to selection criteria, spatial uniformity, and temporal stability. The establishment and utilization of such benchmark...

The mapping community is witnessing significant advances in available sensors, such as medium format digital cameras (MFDC) and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) systems. In this regard, the Digital Photogrammetry Research Group (DPRG) of the Department of Geomatics Engineering at the University of Calgary has been actively involved in the development of standards and specifications...

In an era when the number of Earth-observing satellites is rapidly growing and measurements from these sensors are used to answer increasingly urgent global issues, it is imperative that scientists and decision-makers rely on the accuracy of Earth-observing data products. The characterization and calibration of these sensors are vital to achieve an integrated Global Earth Observation...

Effective April 2, 2007, the radiometric calibration of Landsat-5 (L5) Thematic Mapper (TM) data that are processed and distributed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) will be updated. The lifetime gain model that was implemented on May 5, 2003, for the reflective bands (1-5, 7) will be replaced by a new lifetime radiometric...

The Thematic Mapper (TM) is a multi-spectral electro-optical sensor featured onboard both the Landsat 4 (L4) and Landsat 5 (L5) satellites. TM sensors have seven spectral bands with center wavelengths of approximately 0.49, 0.56, 0.66, 0.83, 1.65, 11.5 and 2.21 μm, respectively. The visible near-infrared (VNIR) bands are located on the primary focal plane (PFP), and two short-wave...

The Landsat archive provides more than 35 years of uninterrupted multispectral remotely sensed data of Earth observations. Since 1972, Landsat missions have carried different types of sensors, from the Return Beam Vidicon (RBV) camera to the Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+). However, the Thematic Mapper (TM) sensors on Landsat 4 (L4) and Landsat 5 (L5), launched in 1982 and 1984...

To facilitate acceptance of new digital technologies in aerial imaging and mapping, the US Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners have launched a Quality Assurance (QA) Plan for Digital Aerial Imagery. This should provide a foundation for the quality of digital aerial imagery and products. It introduces broader considerations regarding processes employed by aerial flyers in collecting

The Landsat-5 (L5) Thematic Mapper (TM) detectors of the short wave infrared (SWIR) bands 5 and 7 are maintained on cryogenic temperatures to minimize thermal noise and allow adequate detection of scene energy. Over the instrument's lifetime, gain oscillations are observed in these bands that are caused by an ice-like contaminant that gradually builds up on the window of a dewar that...

Launched in April 1999, Landsat-7 ETM+ continues to acquire data globally. The Scan Line Corrector in failure in 2003 has affected ground coverage and the recent switch to Bumper Mode operations in April 2007 has degraded the internal geometric accuracy of the data, but the radiometry has been unaffected. The best of the three on-board calibrators for the reflective bands, the Full...

The Landsat-7 Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus instrument has two selectable gains for each spectral band. In the acquisition plan, the gains were initially set to maximize the entropy in each scene. One unintended consequence of this strategy was that, at times, dense vegetation saturated band 4 and deserts saturated all bands. A revised strategy, based on a land-cover classification and...

The Landsat suite of satellites has collected the longest continuous archive of multispectral data of any land-observing space program. From the Landsat program's inception in 1972 to the present, the Earth science user community has benefited from a historical record of remotely sensed data. However, little attention has been paid to ensuring that the data are calibrated and comparable...

Oscillations in radiometric gains of the short wave infrared (SWIR) bands in Landsat-4 (L4) and Landsat-5 (L5) Thematic Mappers (TMs) are observed through an analysis of detector responses to the Internal Calibrator (IC) pulses. The oscillations are believed to be caused by an interference effect due to a contaminant film buildup on the window of the cryogenically cooled dewar that...