In-flight calibration and monitoring of the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) short-wave infrared (SWIR) module

Abstract

During its first year in operation the shortwave infrared (SWIR) Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) was calibrated in-flight and its performance was monitored. In this paper we present the results of the in-flight calibration and the ongoing instrument monitoring. This includes the determination of the background signals, noise performance, instrument spectral response function (ISRF) stability, and stray-light stability. From these results, the number of incurred dead and bad pixels due to cosmic-ray impacts is determined. The light-path transmission is checked by monitoring internal lamp and diffuser stabilities. Due to its high sensitivity to Earth radiation on the eclipse side, the calibration strategy for the background (i.e. dark current and offset) monitoring was adjusted. Trends over the first full year of nominal operations reveal a very stable SWIR module. The number of newly incurred dead and bad pixels is less than 0.1% over nearly a full year since the start of operations. Assuming linear degradation of various components, the SWIR module is expected to keep performing within expected parameters for the full operational lifetime.