Radiometric Use of QuickBird Imagery

Abstract

This technical note discusses the radiometric use of QuickBird imagery. The first four sections describe the QuickBird instrument and general radiometric performance including the QuickBird relative spectral radiance response, solar spectral irradiance, gain settings, and radiometric correction of QuickBird products. Sections 5-7 cover more advanced topics: conversion to top-of-atmosphere spectral radiance, radiometric balancing for multiple scene mosaics, and conversion to top-of-atmosphere spectral reflectance. QuickBird imagery MUST be converted to spectral radiance at a minimum before radiometric/spectral analysis or comparison with imagery from other sensors in a radiometric/spectral manner. The information contained in this technical note applies to the raw QuickBird sensor performance and linearly scaled top-of-atmosphere spectral radiance products. Caution is advised when applying the equations provided here to pan-sharpened products, dynamic range adjusted (DRA) products, or QuickBird mosaics with radiometric balancing because the generation of these products may apply non-linear transformations to the pixel DN values.