Landsat Thermal Image Systems Engineering Support

This project provides general calibration and systems support for the Landsat thermal band instruments for NASA. Specifically, this involves the continuing on-orbit characterization and calibration of the Landsat 8 / Thermal Infrared Sensor (TIRS) instrument and the pre-flight calibration of the TIRS-2 instrument for the upcoming Landsat 9 mission (scheduled for launch in 2021). The PI serves as the Deputy Calibration Lead for the TIRS-2 project and is a member of the Calibration and Validation team for the Landsat program. Team members also provide technical expertise and guidance on Landsat thermal image products to the Landsat Science team and USGS.

Over the past year, the PI has been involved in the pre-flight environmental tests for the TIRS-2 instrument at the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center by writing test procedures, coordinating calibration activities with other systems leads, executing calibration data collection procedures, processing and analyzing image characterization datasets, writing requirement verification reports, and presenting results to project management. These efforts led to the successful on-time delivery of the instrument to the Northrup Grumman facility where the Landsat 9 observatory is being constructed. Calibration results from these pre-flight tests have been delivered to the US Geological Survey for implementation into the Landsat ground processing system that will process and distribute Landsat image data to users. Additionally, major progress was made over the past year supporting new land surface temperature products for the Landsat program through the refinement of the split window temperature product to be made available soon for select users. Preliminary discussions have also began on architecture studies regarding the next generation Landsat thermal systems.