The Libera instrument is being developed as part of a NASA Earth Venture Continuity mission for extending Earth radiation budget (ERB) measurements by the currently operational Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) instruments into the future. Libera will be launched on NOAA’s JPSS-4 satellite. Libera introduces several new technologies, including advanced VACNT detectors, a split-shortwave channel to quantify shortwave near-IR and visible radiation, and a wide field of view camera (WFC) that advance the state-of-the-art in Earth radiation budget measurements. The WFC is a monochromatic wide field of view camera operating at 555nm over a 123-degree field of view that will continuously observe the full Earth disk from low-earth orbit. The WFC provides a unique capability for scene identification and Angular Distribution Model (ADM) generation that complements similar measurements from the VIIRS instrument that will fly on JPSS-4 with Libera. By demonstrating that Libera’s WFC provides the data required for ADM development, a path forward for future free-flier ERB measurements will be explored. We focus on the development of the WFC, its science objectives, unique design features, its current state of development, and how it could help to enable a constellation of smaller, more cost-effective ERB instruments for the future.
The Earth radiation budget, a 40-year data record of the balance between solar radiation reaching the Earth and the amount reflected, and emitted from the Earth, is a key climate record for determining whether the Earth is warming or cooling. The need for accurate and cost-effective space-based measurements is driving the technology development of broadband bolometers and linear microbolometer arrays. We describe the performance of microfabricated bolometers and 1 x 32 linear microbolometer arrays developed for this purpose. To accurately measure the total outgoing radiation from 0.3 μm to over 100 μm, consisting of reflected shortwave solar radiation and emitted longwave thermal radiation, a vertically aligned carbon nanotube thermal absorber is incorporated with an electrical substitution heater that provides on-board calibration capabilities. A silicon nitride heat link is used to optimize response time while minimizing noise and the inequivalence between thermal and optical heating. The devices operate at room temperature with noise floors at nW/√Hz or lower at the measurement frequency of 7 Hz. Response times below 10 ms have been demonstrated in closed-loop operation using the electrical heater. Thin film Pt thermistors measure the change in microbolometer temperature. The deposition of the thin film thermistors has been optimized to maximize the temperature coefficient of resistance, which is key to meeting the demanding signal-to-noise requirement of this application.
We have designed a microfabricated planar absolute radiometer based on a vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) absorber and an electrical power substitution method. The radiometer is designed to operate at room temperature and to be capable of measuring laser powers up to 300 mW from 300 nm to 2300 nm with an expected expanded uncertainty of 0.06% (k = 2). The electrical power substitution capability makes the radiometer absolute and traceable to the international system (SI) of units. The new bolometer is currently under construction and will replace NIST's 50 year old detector standard for free-space CW laser power measurements. We also study the possibility of reducing background temperature sensitivity by optimizing the spectral selectivity of the VACNT forest with a photonic crystal structure.
The long-term balance between Earth’s absorption of solar energy and emission of radiation to space is a fundamental climate measurement. Total solar irradiance (TSI) has been measured from space, uninterrupted, for the past 40 years via a series of instruments. The Compact Total Irradiance Monitor (CTIM) is a CubeSat instrument that will demonstrate next-generation technology for monitoring total solar irradiance. It includes novel silicon-substrate room temperature vertically aligned carbon nanotube (VACNT) bolometers. The CTIM, an eight-channel 6U CubeSat instrument, is being built for a target launch date in late 2020. The basic design is similar to the SORCE, TCTE and TSIS Total Irradiance Monitors (TIM). Like TSIS TIM, it will measure the total irradiance of the Sun with an uncertainty of 0.0097% and a stability of <0.001%/year. The underlying technology, including the silicon substrate VACNT bolometers, has been demonstrated at the prototype-level. During 2019 we will build and test an engineering model of the detector subsystem. Following the testing of the engineering detector subsystem, we will build a flight detector unit and integrate it with a 6U CubeSat bus during late 2019 and 2020, in preparation for an on-orbit demonstration in 2021.
Accurate, long-term solar spectral irradiance (SSI) measurements are vital for interpreting how solar variability impacts Earth’s climate and for validating climate model sensitivities to spectrally varying solar forcing. The Compact Spectral Irradiance Monitor (CSIM) 6U CubeSat successfully launched on Dec. 3rd, 2018 as part of the SpaceX SSO-A: SmallSat Express Mission ultimately achieving a sun-synchronous 575 km orbit. CSIM brings new, emerging technology advancements to maturation by demonstrating the unique capabilities of a complete SSI mission with inherent low mass and compact design. The instrument is a compact, two-channel prism spectral radiometer incorporating Si, InGaAs, and extended InGaAs focal plane photodiodes to record the solar spectrum daily across a continuous wavelength region spanning 200 – 2800 nm (>97% of the total solar irradiance). A new, novel electrical substitution radiometer (ESR) using vertically aligned carbon-nanotube (VACNT) bolometers serves as an absolute detector for periodic on-orbit spectral calibration corrections. Pre-launch component level performance characterizations and final instrument end-to-end absolute calibration achieved low combined standard uncertainty (uc<0.5%) in irradiance. These calibrations were performed in the LASP Spectral Radiometer Facility (SRF), a comprehensive spectral irradiance calibration facility utilizing a tunable laser system tied to an SI-traceable cryogenic radiometer. On-orbit, optical degradation corrections to better than 0.05% / year uncertainty are achieved by comparing periodic, simultaneous solar measurements of the two CSIM channels operating with significantly different solar exposure duty cycles. Operational overlap of CSIM with existing SSI measurements validate concepts for maintaining critical long-term solar data records.
Currently at NIST, there is an effort to develop a black array of broadband absolute radiometers (BABAR) for far infrared sensing. The linear array of radiometer elements is based on uncooled vanadium oxide (VOx) microbolometer pixel technology but with the addition of two elements: vertically aligned carbon nanotubes (VACNTs) and an electrical substitution heater. Traditional microbolometer pixels use a thermistor film as an absorber, which is placed a quarter wavelength above a reflector, typically limiting absorption to a narrow band from 8 μm to 15 μm. To extend the sensing range of the imaging array into the far infrared (20 μm to 100 μm), we are replacing the cavity with a single absorber of VACNTs. In addition, each pixel has an electrical substitution heater which can be used to determine equivalent incident optical power when the device is non-illuminated. This device forms the basis of an absolute radiometer eliminating the need for an external reference (e.g. blackbody source).
The total solar irradiance (TSI) climate data record includes overlapping measurements from 10 spaceborne radiometers.
The continuity of this climate data record is essential for detecting potential long-term solar fluctuations, as offsets
between different instruments generally exceed the stated instrument uncertainties. The risk of loss of continuity in this
nearly 30-year record drives the need for future instruments with <0.01% uncertainty on a absolute scale. No facility
currently exists to calibrate a TSI instrument end-to-end for irradiance at solar power levels to these needed accuracy
levels. The new TSI Radiometer Facility (TRF) is intended to provide such calibrations. Based on a cryogenic
radiometer with a uniform input light source of solar irradiance power levels, the TRF allows direct comparisons
between a TSI instrument and a reference cryogenic radiometer viewing the same light beam in a common vacuum
system. We describe here the details of this facility designed to achieve 0.01% absolute accuracy.
Aperture area knowledge is a primary calibration in radiometric instruments. Corrections for edge effects, particularly
diffraction and scatter, must also be taken into account for high accuracy measurements. The Total Irradiance Monitor
(TIM) is a total solar irradiance radiometer on NASA's SORCE mission launched in 2003 and on the NASA/Glory
mission launching in 2008. In order to measure irradiance, the TIM instrument measures the total optical power that
passes through circular diamond-turned precision apertures. The geometric areas of the 8-mm diameter apertures are
measured to approximately 25 parts per million (ppm) at the National Institute of Standards and Technology [1]. Due to
scatter and diffraction, not all light that passes through the geometric area of an aperture will enter the radiometer cavity
of the instrument, and corrections must be made for these edge effects. Diffraction effects are generally well understood
and are calculated from the instrument geometry. Scatter, on the other hand, is dependent on the microscopic edge
quality of each individual aperture, and so must be measured. This paper describes the measurement of aperture edge
diffraction and scatter for the precision apertures on NASA's Glory/TIM instrument.
The Total Irradiance Monitor (TIM) is a total solar irradiance radiometer on NASA's SORCE mission launched in 2003 and on the NASA/Glory mission launching in 2008. The primary sensors in TIM must absorb energy with accurately calibrated efficiency across the entire solar spectrum. To achieve high efficiency and good thermal conduction, the four sensors in each instrument are hollow conical silver cavities with a cylindrical entrance extension and a diffuse black nickel phosphorous (NiP) interior that converts absorbed incident radiation to thermal energy. A stable resistive heater wire embedded in the cone along with thermistors mounted on the cavity exterior are used in a temperature-sensing servo loop to measure the spectrally-integrated incident solar radiation. Characterization of the absorptance properties of the cavities across the solar spectrum is a dominant driver of instrument accuracy, and a dedicated facility has been developed to acquire these calibrations with uncertainties of approximately 50 ppm (0.005%). This paper describes the absorptance calibration facility, presents the preliminary cavity reflectance results for the Glory mission's TIM instrument, and details the uncertainty budget for measuring these cavity reflectances.
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