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NASA NTRS2019

Generating Accurate and Consistent Top-Of-Atmosphere Reflectance Products from the New Generation Geostationary Satellite Sensors

GeoNEX is a collaborative project by scientists from NASA, NOAA, JAXA, and other organizations around the world with the purpose of generating a suite of Earth-monitoring products using data streams from the latest geostationary (GEO) sensors including the GOES-16/17 ABI and the Himawari-8/9 AHI. An accurate and consistent top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance product, in particular the bidirectional reflectance factor (BRF), is the starting point in the scientific processing chain. We describe the main considerations and corresponding algorithms in generating the GeoNEX TOA BRF product. First, a special advantage of geostationary data streams is their high temporal resolution (~10 minutes per full-disk scan), providing a key source of information for many downstream products. To fully utilize this high temporal frequency demands a high georegistration accuracy for every acquired image. Our analysis shows that there can be substantial georegistration uncertainties in both GOES and Himawari L1b data which we addressed by implementing a phase-based correction algorithm to remove residual errors. Second, geostationary sensors have distinct illumination-view geometry features in that the solar angle changes for every pixel. Therefore, to accurately derive a BRF requires a solar position algorithm and the estimation of the pixel-wise acquisition time within an uncertainty of 10 seconds. Third, we discuss the measures we adopted to check and correct residual radiometric calibration issues of individual sensors to enable time-series analysis as well as the cross calibration between different satellite sensors (including those from low-Earth orbit). Finally, we also explain the rationale for the choice of the global grid/tile system of the GeoNEX TOA BRF product.

Wang, Weile↗

NASA NTRS2020

Hot Rocks! Near-Infrared Reflectances (and Emissivities) or Rocks at Venus Surface Temperatures

Venus’ surface can be viewed in emission through a few near-infrared (NIR) spectral ‘windows’ (1 µm) in its relatively opaque atmosphere [1]. Venus’ surface shows NIR emissivities that correlate with surface geology [2-4], and these emissivity variations are interpreted as differences in surface rock type (mafic vs. silicic) and/or extent of weathering (Fe2+ silicates vs. Fe3+-oxide-coated). To understand and quantify the observed variations in NIR emissivity, high-temperature (T) emissivity can be measured directly [5,6]. For example, emissivities of basalts in the wavelength range 0.85 – 1.2 µm are ~0.95 [5-8]. This can be tested by measureing reflectance, because Kirchoff’s Law holds that emissivity (e) = 1 – reflectance (r). The r of basalt in the NIR is ~0.05 [o] consistent with a NIR e of ~0.95 [5-8]. High-T NIR e’s of silicic igneous rocks (granitic, rhyolite) have been reported to be 0.8-0.9 [5,6], which is inconsistent with r values of 0.3-0.8 of such rocks at 25°C [9,10]. However, these measurements have been updated [7,8] and are consistent with the results here (see below and Fig. 3).

Treiman, A. H.↗

NASA NTRS2020

Using Two-Stream Theory to Capture Fluctuations of Satellite-Perceived TOA SW Radiances Reflected from Clouds Over Ocean

Shortwave (SW) fluxes estimated from broadband radiometry rely on empirically gathered and hemispherically resolved fields of outgoing top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiances. This study aims to provide more accurate and precise fields of TOA SW radiances reflected from clouds over ocean by introducing a novel semiphysical model predicting radiances per narrow sun-observer geometry. This model was statistically trained using CERES-measured radiances paired with MODIS-retrieved cloud parameters as well as reanalysis-based geophysical parameters. By using radiative transfer approximations as a framework to ingest the above parameters, the new approach incorporates cloud-top effective radius and above-cloud water vapor in addition to traditionally used cloud optical depth, cloud fraction, cloud phase, and surface wind speed. A two-stream cloud albedo – serving to statistically incorporate cloud optical thickness and cloud-top effective radius – and Cox–Munk ocean reflectance were used to describe an albedo over each CERES footprint. Effective-radius-dependent asymmetry parameters were obtained empirically and separately for each viewing-illumination geometry. A simple equation of radiative transfer, with this albedo and attenuating above-cloud water vapor as inputs, was used in its log-linear form to allow for statistical optimization. We identified the two-stream functional form that minimized radiance residuals calculated against CERES observations and outperformed the state-of-the-art approach for most observer geometries outside the sun-glint and solar zenith angles between 20 and 70∘, reducing the median SD of radiance residuals per solar geometry by up to 13.2 % for liquid clouds, 1.9 % for ice clouds, and 35.8 % for footprints containing both cloud phases. Geometries affected by sun glint (constituting between 10 % and 1 % of the discretized upward hemisphere for solar zenith angles of 20 and 70∘, respectively), however, often showed weaker performance when handled with the new approach and had increased residuals by as much as 60 % compared to the state-of-the-art approach. Overall, uncertainties were reduced for liquid-phase and mixed-phase footprints by 5.76 % and 10.81 %, respectively, while uncertainties for ice-phase footprints increased by 0.34 %. Tested for a variety of scenes, we further demonstrated the plausibility of scene-wise predicted radiance fields. This new approach may prove useful when employed in angular distribution models and may result in improved flux estimates, in particular dealing with clouds characterized by small or large droplet/crystal sizes.

Two- stream theory↗

NASA NTRS2020

Reflective Solar Band Striping Mitigation Method for the GOES-R Series Advanced Baseline Imager Using Special Scans

The large focal plane arrays used in the new generation of the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) advanced baseline imager (ABI) introduce new calibration challenges compared with the heritage GOES imagers. The increased number of detectors allows for increased spatial, spectral, and temporal performance, but as a trade-off, it has an increased risk of image striping. We detail the development of a new postlaunch relative calibration capability for ABI reflective solar bands that utilizes ABI special scans to generate a set of relative gains that can be applied to improve image quality and reduce image striping. Results demonstrate that the method reduces image striping in the ABI solar reflective bands over varying scene content and time, both diurnally and over an extended period. This methodology ensures a calibration strategy that is consistent with heritage approaches yet adapts to the new postlaunch validation challenges presented by the new class of operational imagers in the GOES-R series. The developed approach is ready for operational use, as needed, and can be easily implemented into operations to support the operational production of geostationary imagery of the Earth.

Monica Cook↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Mapping Ocean-Reflected Radio Frequency Interference for the GPM Microwave Imager Using Normalized Retrieval Cost Function

By adapting an approach originally developed for WindSat, we identify regions where GMI is affected by radio frequency interference from ocean-reflected geostationary satellite emissions. Around North America, K-band emissions from geostationary satellites affect the GMI 18.7-GHz brightness temperatures, resulting in increases in the retrieval cost function. The method does not detect any 10.7-GHz RFI reflected of the ocean surrounding Europe. This study, which depends on the physically-based forward model for non-raining ocean retrievals, confirms results from a previous study that employed an empirical methodology.

Ian S. Adams↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Radiometric Assessment of the First Three Years of the NOAA-20 VIIRS Reflective Solar Bands Calibration

NASA’s Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) SYN1deg Ed4.1 product utilizes geostationary (GEO) satellite measured radiances and retrieved cloud properties to account for the regional diurnal fluctuations in the Earth’s radiant broadband fluxes for times between the CERES measurements gathered from the Aqua (1:30 PM) and Terra (10:30 AM) sun-synchronous satellites. In CERES Edition 4 products, a global uniformity in the cloud properties and computed surface fluxes across the GEO satellite domains is maintained by scaling the radiance observations from more than twenty GEO visible imagers in the CERES record to a common radiometric reference scale, i.e., Aqua-MODIS. With the new-generation GEO (Himawari-8/9 and GOES-16/17) imagers having multiple reflective solar bands (RSB) that are spectrally similar to those of VIIRS, the CERES Imager and Geostationary Calibration Group (IGCG) is preparing to use NOAA-20 VIIRS as the reference imager for maintaining the radiometric uniformity across the GEO imager constellation. Given the recent Aqua satellite anomaly, this transition may happen sooner than the projected date of Aqua’s de-orbit. This paper presents an independent performance evaluation of the first three years of the NOAA-20 VIIRS RSB calibration in the NASA VIIRS Land Science Investigator-led Processing System (Land SIPS) L1b Collection 2 dataset. The temporal radiometric stability is assessed using multiple invariant Earth targets, including tropical deep convective clouds and the Saharan desert. The invariant target anisotropic reflectance at the top of atmosphere was modeled using five years of stable satellite observations acquired from the previous VIIRS instrument onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite. The anisotropic corrections are essential for detecting temporal trends with a high statistical confidence. In addition, the radiometric consistency between the RSB of the two VIIRS instruments will be evaluated.

Rajendra Bhatt↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Radiometric Assessment of the First Three Years of the NOAA-20 VIIRS Reflective Solar Bands Calibration

NASA’s Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES) SYN1deg Ed4.1 product utilizes geostationary (GEO) satellite measured radiances and retrieved cloud properties to account for the regional diurnal fluctuations in the Earth’s radiant broadband fluxes for times between the CERES measurements gathered from the Aqua (1:30 PM) and Terra (10:30 AM) sun-synchronous satellites. In CERES Edition 4 products, a global uniformity in the cloud properties and computed surface fluxes across the GEO satellite domains is maintained by scaling the radiance observations from more than twenty GEO visible imagers in the CERES record to a common radiometric reference scale, i.e., Aqua-MODIS. With the new-generation GEO (Himawari-8/9 and GOES-16/17) imagers having multiple reflective solar bands (RSB) that are spectrally similar to those of VIIRS, the CERES Imager and Geostationary Calibration Group (IGCG) is preparing to use NOAA-20 VIIRS as the reference imager for maintaining the radiometric uniformity across the GEO imager constellation. Given the recent Aqua satellite anomaly, this transition may happen sooner than the projected date of Aqua’s de-orbit. This paper presents an independent performance evaluation of the first three years of the NOAA-20 VIIRS RSB calibration in the NASA VIIRS Land Science Investigator-led Processing System (Land SIPS) L1b Collection 2 dataset. The temporal radiometric stability is assessed using multiple invariant Earth targets, including tropical deep convective clouds and the Saharan desert. The invariant target anisotropic reflectance at the top of the atmosphere was modeled using five years of stable satellite observations acquired from the previous VIIRS instrument onboard the Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (S-NPP) satellite. The anisotropic corrections are essential for detecting temporal trends with high statistical confidence. In addition, the radiometric consistency between the RSB of the two VIIRS instruments will be evaluated.

Rajendra Bhatt↗

NASA NTRS2021

Detection of Anomalies in the UV/Vis Reflectances from the Ozone Monitoring Instrument

Various instrumental or geophysical artifacts, such as saturation, stray light, or obstruction of light (either coming from the instrument or related to solar eclipses), negatively impact satellite measured ultraviolet and visible Earthshine radiance spectra and downstream retrievals of atmospheric and surface properties derived from these spectra. In addition, excessive noise such as from cosmic ray impacts, prevalent within the South Atlantic Anomaly, can also degrade satellite radiance measurements. Saturation specifically pertains to observations of very bright surfaces such as sun glint over open water or thick clouds. When saturation occurs, additional photoelectric charge generated at the saturated pixel may overflow to pixels adjacent to a saturated area and be reflected as a distorted image in the final sensor output.When these effects cannot be corrected to an acceptable level for science quality retrievals, flagging of the affected pixels is indicated. Here, we introduce a straightforward detection method that is based on the correlation, r, between the observed Earthshine radiance and solar irradiance spectraover a 10 nm-spectral range; our Decorrelation Index (DI for brevity) is simply defined as DI=1-r. DI increases with anomalous additive effects or excessive noise in either radiances, the most likely cause indata from theOzone Monitoring Instrument (OMI),or irradiances. DI is relatively straight-forward to use and interpret and can be 20computed for different wavelength intervals. We developed a set of DIs for two spectral channelsof the OMI, a hyperspectral pushbroom imaging spectrometer. For each OMI spatial measurement, we define 14 wavelength-dependent DIs within the OMI visible channel (350-498 nm) and 6 DIs in its ultraviolet 2 (UV2) channel (310-370 nm). As defined, DIs reflect a continuous range of deviations of observed spectra from the reference irradiance spectrum that are complementary to the binary Saturation Possibility Warning (SPW) flags currently provided for each individual spectral/spatial pixel in the OMI radiance data set. Smaller values of DI are also caused by a number of geophysical factors; this allows one to obtain interesting physical results on the global distribution of spectral variations.

Space sensor↗

NASA NTRS2019

Uncertainties in the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) Remote Sensing Reflectance for Assessing Diurnal Variability of Biogeochemical Processes

Short-term (sub-diurnal) biological and biogeochemical processes cannot be fully captured by the current suite of polar-orbiting satellite ocean color sensors, as their temporal resolution is limited to potentially one clear image per day. Geostationary sensors, such as the Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI) from the Republic of Korea, allow the study of these short-term processes because their orbit permit the collection of multiple images throughout each day for any area within the sensor’s field of regard. Assessing the capability to detect sub-diurnal changes in in-water properties caused by physical and biogeochemical processes characteristic of open ocean and coastal ocean ecosystems, however, requires an understanding of the uncertainties introduced by the instrument and/or geophysical retrieval algorithms. This work presents a study of the uncertainties during the daytime period for an ocean region with characteristically low-productivity with the assumption that only small and undetectable changes occur in the in-water properties due to biogeochemical processes during the daytime period. The complete GOCI mission data were processed using NASA’s SeaDAS/l2gen package. The assumption of homogeneity of the study region was tested using three-day sequences and diurnal statistics. This assumption was found to hold based on the minimal diurnal and day-to-day variability in GOCI data products. Relative differences with respect to the midday value were calculated for each hourly observation of the day in order to investigate what time of the day the variability is greater. Also, the influence of the solar zenith angle in the retrieval of remote sensing reflectances and derived products was examined. Finally, we determined that the uncertainties in water-leaving “remote-sensing” reflectance (Rrs) for the 412, 443, 490, 555, 660 and 680 nm bands on GOCI are 8.05 × 10−4, 5.49 × 10−4, 4.48 × 10−4, 2.51 × 10−4, 8.83 × 10−5, and 1.36 × 10−4 sr−1, respectively, and 1.09 × 10−2 mg m−3 for the chlorophyll-a concentration (Chl-a), 2.09 × 10−3 m−1 for the absorption coefficient of chromophoric dissolved organic matter at 412 nm (ag (412)), and 3.7 mg m−3 for particulate organic carbon (POC). These Rrs values can be considered the threshold values for detectable changes of the in-water properties due to biological, physical or biogeochemical processes from GOCI.

Geostationary Ocean Color Imager (GOCI)↗

NASA NTRS2019

Remote Sensing of Daytime Water Leaving Reflectances of Oceans and Large Inland Lakes from EPIC onboard the DSCOVR Spacecraft at Lagrange-1 Point

The NASA’s Earth Polychromatic Imaging Camera (EPIC) on board the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) satellite has been making multiple observations of the entire sunlit Earth in a given day from the Sun-Earth Lagrangian L1 point since the summer of 2015. EPIC contains 10 narrow channels in the 317–780 nm solar spectral range. The data acquired with EPIC have already been used in a variety of scientific investigations, including the study of the global ozone levels, aerosol index and aerosol optical depth, UV reflectivity of clouds over land and ocean, cloud height over land and ocean, and vegetation indices. In this article, we report that EPIC data, particularly for the data measured with narrow channels centered near 443, 551, and 680 nm, can also have important applications in remote sensing of ocean color in different geographical regions. We have modified a version of a multi-channel atmospheric correction algorithm for Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro Radiometer (MODIS) ocean color applications and adapted the algorithm for processing EPIC data. We present three case studies on water leaving reflectance retrievals from EPIC data acquired over a large turbid river, inland lakes, and oceans. We conclude that a future ocean color instrument on board a satellite at the L1 point, which provides continuous view of the full sunlit disk of the Earth, will complement and extend ocean color observations with the low Earth observing polar orbital and geostationary satellite instruments in both the spatial and time domains.

remote sensing↗

NASA NTRS2019

First Provisional Land Surface Reflectance Product from Geostationary Satellite Himawari-8 AHI

A provisional surface reflectance (SR) product from the Advanced Himawari Imager (AHI) on-board the new generation geostationary satellite (Himawari-8) covering the period between July 2015 and December 2018 is made available to the scientific community. The Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) algorithm is used in conjunction with time series Himawari-8 AHI observations to generate 1-km gridded and tiled land SR every 10 minutes during day time. This Himawari-8 AHI SR product includes retrieved atmospheric properties (e.g., aerosol optical depth at 0.47μm and 0.51μm), spectral surface reflectance (AHI bands 1–6), parameters of the RTLS BRDF model, and quality assurance flags. Product evaluation shows that Himawari-8 AHI data on average yielded 35% more cloud-free, valid pixels in a single day when compared to available data from the low earth orbit (LEO) satellites Terra/Aqua with MODIS sensor. Comparisons of Himawari-8 AHI SR against corresponding MODIS SR products (MCD19A1) over a variety of land cover types with the similar viewing geometry show high consistency between them, with correlation coefficients (r) being 0.94 and 0.99 for red and NIR bands, respectively. The high-frequency geostationary data are expected to facilitate studies of ecosystems on daily to diurnal time scales, complementing observations from networks such as the FLUXNET.

Himawari-8 AHI↗

NASA NTRS2020

Broadband Characterization of Anti-reflection Coated Starshade Optical Edges for Solar Glint Control

A starshade is a large flower-shaped screen designed to enable the direct imaging of exoplanets with a space telescope. The starshade perimeter is composed of sharp, precisely shaped edges to minimize the glint of sunlight into the telescope. Past work has focused on bare edges to minimize the terminal radius. This paper describes the broadband, wide-angle performance of edges coated with a thin multi-layer anti-reflection coating. This coating uses a combination of interference and absorption to reduce the surface reflectivity and to avoid the negative effects associated with a large cross-sectional area. A custom scattered light testbed has been developed to quantify the amount of light scattered from sample edges and to validate Finite-Difference Time-Domain (FDTD) models of the optical scatter. We show that optical edge samples with this coating significantly reduce the solar glint pattern compared to similar uncoated optical edges.

Sheikh, David↗

NASA NTRS2021

Automated Uas Measurements of Reflectance and Solar Induced Florescence (SIF) for Assessment Of the Dinamics in Photosynthetic Function, Application for Maze (Zea Mays L.) in Greenbelt, Maryland, Us

For accurate assessment of vegetation function there is a strong need for advancement in the remote sensing methods and instruments, to enable monitoring of the parameters governing photosynthesis at the temporal frequency relevant to their dynamics and at a spatial scale that allows practical assessment and management. Currently, no single sensor can provide data at the desired high temporal, spectral and spatial resolutions. Our field measurements obtained using the integrated UAS Piccolo system during the summers of2017 and 2018 demonstrate that science quality reflectance and solar induced fluorescence (SIF) data can be retrieved with high temporal frequency using small Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). The implemented approach facilitates data comparisons through space and time, and the integration with other spectral satellite and airborne data. This investigation contributes for bridging the gap in Earth observation between field and airborne measurements by implementing autonomous methods for obtaining high temporal frequency spectroscopy measurements from an Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS) at various illumination conditions. An advancement in the Intelligent Payload Module (IPM) facilitated the implementation of an optimization workflow to collect spectral data for characterizing vegetation reflectance and solar induced fluorescence (SIF).

Petya Campbell↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Spacecraft Material Characterization Using Reflectance Spectra Extracted from RGB/IR Color Images

The space environment is detrimental to the exterior of the spacecraft and imposes stringent requirements on spacecraft materials. Space materials are often expected to perform for 15-20 years in the harsh space environment without significant degradation of their optical, electrical, mechanical and thermal properties. Further, as commercial activities increase in the space domain, development of predictive capability for material evolution is critical for agile adaption of novel materials. Therefore, it is very important to understand the effects of the space environments on the spacecraft materials. The Materials on the International Space Station Experiment Flight Facility (MISSE-FF) has flown numerous material samples to investigate the effect of LEO space weather exposure on the performance and durability of materials and devices. We are manifest on the MISSE-16 mission, scheduled to launch in June 2022, to fly fifteen novel and well-characterized materials in the LEO environment for a duration of six months. Changes in spectral reflectivity will be measured in real time throughout the mission with an RGB/IR camera. These time-resolved data will function as a "space-truth" reference for our team's ongoing laboratory-based space weather-material interaction experiments. Correlation of the MISSE-16 data with extensive ground testing of duplicate samples under simulated space weather conditions will enable development of fundamental chemical models for material degradation. This paper discusses preliminary results from the ground test campaign to collect the RGB/IR images for pristine and damaged materials and the development of machine learning algorithms to extract reflectance spectra from the color images.

Jainisha R. Shah↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Spacecraft Material Characterization Using Reflectance Spectra Extracted from RGB/IR Color Images

Jainisha R. Shah↗

NASA NTRS2020

A Reflective Framework for Performance Management (REFORM) of Real-Time Hybrid Simulation

Currently, the lack of (1) a sufficiently integrated, adaptive, and reflective framework to ensure the safety, integrity, and coordinated evolution of a real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS) as it runs, and (2) the ability to articulate and gauge suitable measures of the performance and integrity of an experiment, both as it runs and post-hoc, have prevented researchers from tackling a wide range of complex research problems of vital national interest. To address these limitations of the current state-of-the-art, we propose a framework named Reflective Framework for Performance Management (REFORM) of real-time hybrid simulation. REFORM will support the execution of more complex RTHS experiments than can be conducted today, and will allow them to be configured rapidly, performed safely, and analyzed thoroughly. This study provides a description of the building blocks associated with the first phase of this development (REFORM-I). REFORM-I is verified and demonstrated through application to an expanded version of the benchmark control problem for real-time hybrid simulation.

Amin Maghareh↗

NASA NTRSDate not supplied

Reflectivity Control Device (RCD) Roll Momentum Management for Solar Cruiser and Beyond

Reflectivity control devices (RCDs), thin film optical devices that are actuated (by application of a voltage across the device) to control the reflection of sunlight on their surfaces, can effectively enable roll momentum management (MM) of a solar sail operating in deep space, outside any magnetic field. This enables solar sails to maintain adequate attitude control in these challenging environments without sacrificing mission life by using expendables. They were planned and developed for use on Solar Cruiser, operating sunward of the Sun-Earth Lagrange Point 1 (sub-L1) in a propulsion-intensive artificial halo orbit. Located in pairs of panels near the distal end of each of four booms, each articulated at a slight angle out of the sail plane to produce a force tangent to the sail at a large moment arm, the RCDs provide roll torque capabilities by using simple switching logic to determine which panels should be activated (voltage applied) to produce torque in the desired direction. The performance capabilities and constraints of these devices across a range of operating conditions, namely sun-relative attitude, is well characterized, granting designers insight on how to properly size the system and optimize the system and component designs to maximize roll torque per unit area. With an informed design, RCDs can be very effective actuators for managing roll momentum with minimal detrimental system impacts (mass, power, complexity, etc.) on Solar Cruiser and other future deep space solar sail missions.

Andrew F Heaton↗

NASA NTRS2022

Simulating Reflected Light Coronagraphy of Earth-like Exoplanets with a Large IR/O/UV Space Telescope: Impact and Calibration of Smooth Exozodiacal Dust

Observing Earth-like exoplanets orbiting within the habitable zone of Sun-like stars and studying their atmospheres in reflected starlight requires contrasts of ∼1e–10 in the visible. At such high contrast, starlight reflected by exozodiacal dust is expected to be a significant source of contamination. Here, we present high-fidelity simulations of coronagraphic observations of a synthetic solar system located at a distance of 10 pc and observed with a 12 m and an 8 m circumscribed aperture diameter space telescope operating at 500 nm wavelength. We explore different techniques to subtract the exozodi and stellar speckles from the simulated images in the face-on, the 30 deg inclined, and the 60 deg inclined case and quantify the remaining systematic noise as a function of the exozodiacal dust level of the system. We find that in the face-on case, the exozodi can be subtracted down to the photon noise limit for exozodi levels up to ∼1000 zodi using a simple toy model for the exozodiacal disk, whereas in the 60 deg inclined case this only works up to ∼50 zodi. We also investigate the impact of larger wave front errors and larger system distance, finding that while the former has no significant impact, the latter has a strong (negative) impact. Ultimately, we derive a penalty factor as a function of the exozodi level and system inclination that should be considered in exoplanet yield studies as a realistic estimate for the excess systematic noise from the exozodi.

Exoplanet detection methods↗