Parametric Study of Calibration Blackbody Uncertainty Using Design of Experiments

Nipa Phojanamongkolkij, Joe A. Walker, Richard P. Cageao, Martin G. Mlynczak, Joseph J. O’Connell, Rosemary R. Baize

Aeronautics System Engineering, Engineering Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, USA.
Clarreo Project Office, Flight Projects Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, USA..
Climate Science Branch, Science Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, USA.
Remote Sensing Flight Systems, Engineering Directorate, NASA Langley Research Center, Hampton, USA.
Science Systems and Applications Inc., Hampton, USA.

DOI: 10.4236/jasmi.2012.23020                

Abstract

NASA is developing the Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission to provide accurate measurements to substantially improve understanding of climate change. CLARREO will include a Reflected Solar (RS) Suite, an Infrared (IR) Suite, and a Global Navigation Satellite System-Radio Occultation (GNSS-RO). The IR Suite consists of a Fourier Transform Spectrometer (FTS) covering 5 to 50 micrometers (2000-200 cm^-1 wavenumbers) and on-orbit calibration and verification systems. The IR instrument will use a cavity blackbody view and a deep space view for on-orbit calibration. The calibration blackbody and the verification system blackbody will both have Phase Change Cells (PCCs) to accurately provide a SI reference to absolute temperature. One of the most critical parts of obtaining accurate CLARREO IR scene measurements relies on knowing the spectral radiance output from the blackbody calibration source. The blackbody spectral radiance must be known with a low uncertainty, and the magnitude of the uncertainty itself must be reliably quantified. This study focuses on determining which parameters in the spectral radiance equation of the calibration blackbody are critical to the blackbody accuracy. Fourteen parameters are identified and explored. Design of Experiments (DOE) is applied to systematically set up an experiment (i.e., parameter settings and number of runs) to explore the effects of these 14 parameters. The experiment is done by computer simulation to estimate uncertainty of the calibration blackbody spectral radiance. Within the explored ranges, only 4 out of 14 parameters were discovered to be critical to the total uncertainty in blackbody radiance, and should be designed, manufactured, and/or controlled carefully. The uncertainties obtained by computer simulation are also compared to those obtained using the “Law of Propagation of Uncertainty”. The two methods produce statistically different uncertainties. Nevertheless, the differences are small and are not considered to be important. A follow-up study has been planned to examine the total combined uncertainty of the CLARREO IR Suite, with a total of 47 contributing parameters. The DOE method will help in identifying critical parameters that need to be effectively and efficiently designed to meet the stringent IR measurement accuracy requirements within the limited resources.

Keywords

Calibration; Uncertainty; Design of Experiments

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

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