Radiometric Calibration of Multispectral Airborne Video Systems

This paper describes the operational characteristics and radiometric calibration of the Multispectral Airborne Video System (MAVS) at Charles Sturt University. The system consists of an array of four high-resolution Charge-Coupled Device (CCD) cameras, each with a narrow band filter. The four channels of image data are digitised in real time using a data acquisition system, which also provides for continuous interactive viewing while the system is in operation. The characteristics of system performance, the results of aperture calibration and the results of system radiometric calibration are presented. The video imaging system is found to have a highly linear response. The differences of the radiance based and reflectance based system calibration curves are investigated through a newly developed radiometric calibration model. As a result of this, a method for calculation of atmospheric optical thickens is presented. Calibrated imagery from this system is now being used routinely for remote monitoring of l...