The hyperspectral Mission DESIS - Validation of L2A products using Sentinel-2 and RadCalNet data

Abstract

The hyperspectral instrument "DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer" (DESIS) was integrated into the "Multi-User System for Earth Sensing" (MUSES) platform, on-board of the International Space Station (ISS), on August 2018. Developed within a collaboration between the US company Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), DESIS is in operational phase since October 2019. This contribution will present a summary of the activities carried out by the DESIS Ground Segment for the validation of the L2A products during and after the commissioning phase. The validation results will be focused on the radiometric comparison (TOA and BOA) with Sentinel-2 data and on-ground measurements from the Radiometric Calibration Network (RadCalNet). Using these different data sources of TOA and BOA measurements, the quality of the DESIS BOA data can be addressed in a relative and an absolute way. The inter-comparison between DESIS data and Sentinel-2 data has also been used to validate the consistency in the used L2 processing software. The results of this study show a good level of agreement, both on TOA and BOA level, between Sentinel-2, DESIS and RadCalNet, demonstrating a consistent radiometric and spectral calibration of the space-borne sensors, as well as a good level of consistency in the atmospheric correction.