The Impact of the AIRS Spatial Response on Channel-to-Channel and Multi-Instrument Data Analyses

The Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) measures the infrared spectrum in 2378 channels between 3.7 and 15.4 microns with a very high spectral resolution of approximately 1200. AIRS footprints are approximately 1.1 by 0.6 degrees. Because AIRS is a grating spectrometer, each channel has a unique spatial response. Image rotation due to the scan mirror causes these spatial responses to rotate. In effect, each channel has 90 spatial responses, one for each scene footprint in the scan line. Although the spatial response for most channels is symmetric and nearly uniform, some channels have significantly asymmetric response. This paper reviews and describes the prelaunch measurements that characterized the spatial response functions. Next, it describes the conversion of the ground-based results into footprint-specific response functions valid in flight. Then we describe the postlaunch validation of the measurements, including centroid location, axes orientations, and a check on the full two-dimensional response functions. This latter check involves comparison of AIRS data with that of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS), which flies on the same platform as AIRS. An important result is that AIRS/MODIS brightness temperature comparisons are significantly improved (scatter reduced) when the AIRS spatial response is explicitly taken into account. Finally, a status report is given on attempts to fully verify the prelaunch measurements by deriving the AIRS spatial response from flight data alone.