Similar to the SWIR, the TIR scanning mirror periodically views an onboard black body for calibration. The density of vegetation cover, atmospheric changes, cloud formations, and aerosols affected by, or generated by, the grass fires all affect the radiation budget. One radiometer scans in a cross-track mode as the other scans in a biaxial mode. The former will continue NASA's Earth Radiation Budget Experiment and Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission study, while the latter will provide fresh angular flux information. That data will be used to enhance the accuracy of angular models researchers use to calculate the Earth's radiation budget.
Scientists subtract solar radiation from the total channel to obtain the emitted infrared radiation.
TRW equipped its radiometers with a solar diffuser, a tungsten lamp system with stability monitor, and a pair of black body sources to calibrate the radiometers during their operation. The ER-2 also carried an airborne version of the MISR to complement its orbiting counterpart. The Air MISR's single telescope is equipped with an electric motor to aim it at the nine different angles the satellite MISR observes simultaneously. In addition, the ER-2 carried two solar flux radiometers, one installed on top of the aircraft, and the other beneath it. The University of Washington's Convair-580 carried instruments to study aerosols, meteorology, and other data during Africa's burning season.