Synthetic Scene Generation of Stennis Target Range for the Calibration of Remote Sensing Systems

The validation and verification (V&V) target range developed at Stennis Space Center is a useful tool for the calibration of remote sensing systems. In this paper, we present an algorithm for generating synthetic scenes or digital models of this target range. The atmospheric radiative transfer code Modtran 4 is used in simulating at-sensor radiance for a given sensor. Software is developed to generate the scene with different spatial and spectral resolutions using the at-sensor radiance values. Synthetic scenes provide a cost-effective way for in-flight validation for the spatial and radiometric accuracy of the data. Other applications include mission planning, sensor simulation, and trade-off analysis in sensor design. The radiometric and spatial accuracy of the simulation is evaluated by comparing simulated scenes with AVIRIS acquired values.