NOAA-11 AVHRR visible and near-IR inflight calibration

Abstract An inflight calibration method for NOAA-11 Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) visible and near-infrared bands using desert reflectance is discussed. The results show a decrease in sensor systems response of 22 per cent and 32 per cent for the visible and near-infrared bands respectively, relative to the published preflight calibration. The relative accuracy of the present calibration to the calibration of NOAA-9, published elsewhere, is ± 3 per cent. The absolute accuracy is around ±6 per cent. An approximate correction to the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) ratio suggests that an increase of 0·06 is required.