Executive Summary
This report addresses system characterization of the Earth Surface Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) sensor, an imaging spectrometer developed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. This report is part of a series of system characterization reports produced and delivered by the U.S. Geological Survey Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence. These reports present and detail the methodology and procedures for characterization; present technical and operational information about the specific sensing system being evaluated; and provide a summary of test measurements, data retention practices, data analysis results, and conclusions.
The Earth Resources Observation and Science Cal/Val Center of Excellence system characterization team completed data analyses to characterize the geometric (interior and exterior) and radiometric performances. Results of these analyses indicate that the EMIT sensor has a band-to-band geometric performance in the range of −0.355 to 0.210 pixel with a few exceptions of shortwave infrared channels. Geometric offset relative to the Landsat 8 Operational Land Imager ranged from −15.966 meters (−0.266 pixel) to 43.844 meters (0.731 pixel). Offset of a radiometric comparison ranged from −0.016 to 0.025, and slope of a radiometric comparison ranged from 0.837 to 0.985. EMIT agreed with Radiometric Calibration Network measurements within 5 percent across most of the spectral channels.
