Improved Lunar Irradiance Model Using Multiyear MODIS Lunar Observations

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instruments on board the Terra and Aqua spacecrafts were launched on December 18, 1999, and May 4, 2002, respectively. One of the features of the MODIS instruments is the ability to perform observations of the lunar surface from its space view (SV) port. This event is scheduled approximately once a month via a spacecraft roll maneuver, which enables the lunar phase to be confined to within 1° for each instrument. The Moon is considered to be an extremely stable reference to monitor the long-term radiometric stability of the reflective solar bands (RSB). Each MODIS instrument can also view the Moon for about four months in a year without a roll maneuver. This is caused by the intrusion of the Moon in the SV. The lunar phase angles of these unscheduled lunar observations are distributed over a wide range varying from approximately 50° to 80° for Terra MODIS and from about −80° to −50° for Aqua MODIS, where the positive phase angle refers to a waning Moon, while the negative phase angle corresponds to a waxing Moon. Together, the scheduled and unscheduled lunar observations are used to monitor the long-term radiometric stability of the RSB. Of the several challenges involved in the modeling of the lunar optical properties, such as its absolute brightness, a number of optical and view geometry effects need to be considered. These effects are much easier to characterize for the scheduled observations due to confinement of the lunar phase angles compared to those for the unscheduled intrusions of the Moon in the SV. Nevertheless, it is still a challenge to remove the view geometry effect in the calibration coefficients derived from the scheduled lunar observations and even more challenging for the unscheduled lunar intrusions. In this work, the lunar absolute irradiance is modeled using known attributes and from the lunar observations by the two MODIS instruments from the time period between the years 2005 and 2012. The model developed here attempts to mitigate for the deficiencies in the lunar irradiance measurements by the RObotic Lunar Observatory (ROLO) model, developed by the United States Geological Survey. Overall, the relative uncertainty of the ROLO model for MODIS calibration has been assessed to be about 4% for the shortest wavelength (a center wavelength of 412 nm) in the phase angle range mentioned above. With our new established lunar model, the calibration coefficients derived from the lunar observations, especially those from the unscheduled lunar observations, for the RSB of the two MODIS instruments are significantly improved for the entire mission. A good agreement is observed between the calibration coefficients derived from the scheduled and unscheduled lunar observations. Both the absolute uncertainty of the new lunar irradiance model and its relative uncertainty due to view geometry variation are much smaller than those of the current ROLO model which has been widely used for most remote sensors’ lunar calibrations. Our newly developed lunar irradiance model can be applied to other remote sensors for their lunar calibrations as well. Finally, the significant improvement in the measurement of the lunar irradiance led to a polarization effect in the Moon response for MODIS to be identified. In this article, the impact of the polarization of the moonlight for the MODIS RSB is quantified. This is extremely vital as polarization effect for remote sensors such as MODIS and the follow-on suite of the Joint Polar Satellite System Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite has been found to significantly increase the calibration uncertainty, especially at short wavelengths.