Radiometric sensitivity contrast metrics for spectral remote sensors

John F. Silny; Louis Zellinger

doi:10.1117/1.OE.56.8.081807

7 June 2017 Radiometric sensitivity contrast metrics for spectral remote sensors

John F. Silny, Louis Zellinger

Author Affiliations +

Optical Engineering, Vol. 56, Issue 8, 081807 (June 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.56.8.081807

Abstract

The calculation, interpretation, and implications of radiometric sensitivity metrics for Earth-observing multispectral and hyperspectral imaging sensors are discussed. The most commonly used sensor performance metric is signal-to-noise ratio, from which additional noise equivalent quantities can be computed, including noise equivalent spectral radiance (NESR), noise equivalent delta reflectance (NEΔρ), noise equivalent delta emittance (NEΔϵ), and noise equivalent delta temperature (NEΔT). For hyperspectral sensors, these metrics are typically calculated from an at-aperture radiance (typically generated by MODTRAN) that includes both target radiance and nontarget (atmosphere and background) radiance. Unfortunately, these calculations treat the entire at-aperture radiance as the desired signal, even when the target radiance is only a fraction of the total (such as when sensing through a long or optically dense atmospheric path). To overcome this limitation, an augmented set of metrics based on a contrast signal-to-noise ratio, including their noise equivalent counterparts (CNESR, CNEΔρ, CNEΔϵ, and CNEΔT), is developed. These contrast metrics better quantify sensor performance in an operational environment that includes remote sensing through the atmosphere.

Citation Download Citation

John F. Silny and Louis Zellinger "Radiometric sensitivity contrast metrics for spectral remote sensors," Optical Engineering 56(8), 081807 (7 June 2017). https://doi.org/10.1117/1.OE.56.8.081807

Received: 1 February 2017; Accepted: 11 May 2017; Published: 7 June 2017

ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE

INSTITUTIONAL
Select your institution to access the SPIE Digital Library.

SELECT YOUR INSTITUTION

PERSONAL
Sign in with your SPIE account to access your personal subscriptions or to use specific features such as save to my library, sign up for alerts, save searches, etc.

PERSONAL SIGN IN

No SPIE Account? Create one

PURCHASE THIS CONTENT

SUBSCRIBE TO DIGITAL LIBRARY

50 downloads per 1-year subscription

Members: $195

Non-members: $335 ADD TO CART

25 downloads per 1 - year subscription

Members: $145

Non-members: $250 ADD TO CART

PURCHASE SINGLE ARTICLE

Includes PDF, HTML & Video, when available