NASA NTRS1985
The LANDSAT-4 thematic mapper, with its wide spectral coverage and digitization to 8 bits per word, is a large step forward in the direction of quantitative radiometry from the multispectral scanner (MSS). In order to utilize the quantitative accuracy built into the thematic mapper effectively, more attention must be paid to calibration before launch, changes of calibration with time in orbit, and atmospheric interference with the measurements, especially in the 450 to 520 nanometer band. Experience with the coastal zone color scanner (CZCS) program led to procedures wherein Rayleigh correction factors can be generated utilizing simultaneous surface truth data that empirically give correct upwelled surface radiances, despite errors in sensor calibration, solar spectral irradiance measurements, and reported values of Rayleigh optical depth. These techniques offer sensitive tests for change in calibration, especially at shorter wavelengths. Instruments, such as the CZCS, have shown that calibration changes first, and to the largest degree, at the shorter wavelengths, with lesser changes as wavelength increases. These techniques are utilized to calculate a Rayleigh correction factor that, together with geometric terms, should give an accurate correction for this portion of the atmospheric contribution to the signal.