AVIRIS-3: Next-Generation Imaging Spectroscopy Calibration and First Results

The Airborne Visible / Infrared Imaging Spectrometer-3 (AVIRIS-3) instrument is the newest member of NASA’s AVIRIS airborne imaging spectrometer family. A Dyson pushbroom spectrometer similar to the satellite-based Earth Mineral Dust Source Investigation (EMIT) instrument, AVIRIS-3 offers higher throughput, a higher signal-to-noise ratio, and a more compact form factor than previous AVIRIS generations. AVIRIS-3 relies upon in-flight data to create updates to the wavelength, flatfield, and radiometric calibration using features from Earth’s surface and atmosphere. This technique of applying calibration updates derived from in-flight, solar-illuminated Earth scenes will be used in NASA’s upcoming Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) mission. We discuss the calibration method and first results from the first year of flights from AVIRIS-3.