Radiometric Quality Evaluation of INSAT-3D Imager Data

Abstract. INSAT-3D is an advanced meteorological satellite of ISRO which acquires imagery in optical and infra-red (IR) channels for study of weather dynamics in Indian sub-continent region. In this paper, methodology of radiometric quality evaluation for Level-1 products of Imager, one of the payloads onboard INSAT-3D, is described. Firstly, overall visual quality of scene in terms of dynamic range, edge sharpness or modulation transfer function (MTF), presence of striping and other image artefacts is computed. Uniform targets in Desert and Sea region are identified for which detailed radiometric performance evaluation for IR channels is carried out. Mean brightness temperature (BT) of targets is computed and validated with independently generated radiometric references. Further, diurnal/seasonal trends in target BT values and radiometric uncertainty or sensor noise are studied. Results of radiometric quality evaluation over duration of eight months (January to August 2014) and comparison of radiometric consistency pre/post yaw flip of satellite are presented. Radiometric Analysis indicates that INSAT-3D images have high contrast (MTF > 0.2) and low striping effects. A bias of <4K is observed in the brightness temperature values of TIR-1 channel measured during January–August 2014 indicating consistent radiometric calibration. Diurnal and seasonal analysis shows that Noise equivalent differential temperature (NEdT) for IR channels is consistent and well within specifications.