The Marine Optical BuoY (MOBY) Radiometric Calibration and Uncertainty Budget for Ocean Color Satellite Sensor Vicarious Calibration

Steven W Brown, NIST, swbrown@nist.gov (Presenting)
Michael E Feinholz, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, mfeinholz@mlml.calstate.edu
Stephanie J Flora, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, flora@mlml.calstate.edu
Mark A Yarbrough, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, yarbrough@mlml.calstate.edu
Terrence Houlihan, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, thoulihan@mlml.calstate.edu
Darryl Peters, Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, peters@mlml.calstate.edu
Yong Sung Kim, NOAA, yong.sung.kim@noaa.gov
James L Mueller, None, jim@chors.sdsu.edu
B Carol Johnson, NIST, cjohnson@nist.gov
Dennis K Clark, Marine Optical Consulting, clark.dk@gmail.com

For the past decade, the Marine Optical Buoy (MOBY), an autonomous radiometric buoy stationed in the waters off Lanai, Hawaii, has been the primary in-water oceanic observatory for the vicarious calibration of U. S. satellite ocean color sensors SeaWiFS and MODIS. The MOBY vicarious calibration of these sensors supports international efforts to develop a global, multi-year time series of consistently calibrated ocean color data products. A critical component of the MOBY program has been establishing robust radiometric traceability to the International System of Units (SI); a detailed uncertainty budget is a core component of traceable metrology. We present the MOBY uncertainty budget for up-welling radiance. Consideration of the vicarious calibration uncertainty budget is important as next generation vicarious calibration sensors are being discussed because it gives information about how the resources for the vicarious calibration facility should be allocated. The MOBY uncertainty budget includes the Type A uncertainty in water-leaving radiance. We discuss the MOBY Type A uncertainty as it pertains to the Type A uncertainty in the vicarious calibration of SeaWiFS and discuss implications for satellite sensor vicarious calibration.