Thermal-Infrared Transfer Radiometer validates radiance scales used on land, at sea, and in space. (News Briefs).The Thermal-Infrared Transfer Radiometer radiometer (rā'dēŏm`ətər), instrument for detection or measurement of electromagnetic radiation; the term is applied in particular to devices used to measure infrared radiation. (TXR) was designed at NIST to permit NIST staff to perform field calibrations of critical instruments used for environmental remote sensing. As word spread through the remote-sensing calibration community about this unique and valuable measurement capability, the TXR was deployed on three critical missions during the summer of 2001. In May, NIST in collaboration with NASAs Goddard Space Flight Center The Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) is a major NASA space research laboratory established on May 1, 1959 as NASA's first space flight center. GSFC employs approximately 10,000 civil servants and contractors, and is located approximately 6.5 miles northeast of Washington, D.C. deployed the TXR at an infrared radiometry workshop at the University of Miami This article is about the university in Coral Gables, Florida. For the university in Oxford, Ohio, see Miami University. The University of Miami (also known as Miami of Florida,[2] UM,[3] or just The U (Florida) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science The Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science (RSMAS /ɹʷaz.məs/) is the graduate school of marine and atmospheric science within the University of Miami. . The TXR checked the radiance scales of blackbody blackbody Theoretical surface that absorbs all radiant energy that falls on it, and radiates electromagnetic energy at all frequencies, from radio waves to gamma rays, with an intensity distribution dependent on its temperature. sources used by the sea-surface remote sensing community to calibrate ship-based radiometers that validate satellite measurements of sea-surface temperature. In July, the TXR was deployed to the NOAA Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) Imager calibration chamber at a private company in Ft. Wayne, IN. NIST staff, in collaboration with this company, performed measurements of the radiance of two calibration targets used for GOES Imagers during pre-flight calibration. These data will enable radiometric calibration models used by the GOES program to be checked against the NIST infrared radiance scale. Finally, in August, the TXR was deployed to Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) (previously known at various times as Site Y, Los Alamos Laboratory, and Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory) is a United States Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratory, managed and operated by Los Alamos National (LANL). NIST and LANL collaborated to measure in a cryogenic vacuum chamber, the radiance of blackbody sources which were used previously to calibrate a DOE satellite-based infrared sensor. These data will enable a comparison between the scale used for calibration of the DOE sensor and the NIST infrared radiance scale. Presently, the TXR is back at NIST undergoing post-deployment recalibration and even more thorough characterization. Reports will soon be issued on the results of the 2001 measurement campaigns. CONTACT: Joe Rice, (301) 975-2133; joseph.rice@nist.gov. |
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