GOES-16/ABI Thermal Emissive Bands Assessments using GEO-LEO-GEO Double Difference.

Area of Science:

• Earth Observation
• Satellite Remote Sensing
• Atmospheric Science

Background:

• Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES)-16/Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) and Himawari-8/Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) offer advanced infrared imaging capabilities.
• Both instruments utilize similar calibration strategies, including onboard blackbody and space views, for thermal emissive bands (TEB).

Purpose of the Study:

• To conduct an inter-comparison of TEB measurements between GOES-16/ABI and Himawari-8/AHI.
• To assess calibration accuracy and enhance product quality for both geostationary imagers.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a double-difference approach with Aqua MODIS for inter-comparison.
• Selected co-located scenes observed at closest times for ABI and AHI, matching bands with Aqua MODIS.
• Corrected for view angle effects and estimated spectral mismatching effects.

Main Results:

• ABI-AHI differences were within 0.3K for several infrared bands (e.g., 7.35 μm, 11.24 μm).
• Differences reached up to 0.8K for longer infrared bands (12.38 μm, 13.28 μm).
• ABI demonstrated superior precision across all TEB compared to AHI; Image Navigation and Registration (INR) precisions were comparable.

Conclusions:

• The inter-comparison validates the performance of GOES-16/ABI and Himawari-8/AHI, crucial for climate monitoring and weather forecasting.
• ABI performance remained consistent before and after its operational relocation.
• Findings support the reliability of data from these advanced geostationary satellites for scientific applications.