This letter presents quantification and comparison of spectral characteristics of three similar sensors, namely Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor (LISS)-III, LISS-IV and Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS) on board Indian Remote Sensing (IRS) satellites Resourcesat-1 (RS1) and Resourcesat-2 (RS2). Theoretical estimates of three critical spectral characteristics, effective bandwidth ( λ), central wavelength (λ c ) and bandpass solar exoatmospheric irradiance (E 0 ), have been computed based on the laboratory measurements of the relative spectral response (RSR) for each spectral band. A comparative analysis between two estimates computed through the moment method and the full width at half maximum (FWHM) method showed noticeable differences of the order of 4.4-14.1 nm in λ and λ c for the corresponding band of Resourcesat sensors. A coefficient of variation (CV) of the order of 0.1-1.3% was noticed in E 0 among various Resourcesat sensors, which could induce a difference of 0.26-3.27% in the estimation of top-of-atmosphere (TOA) reflectance. The variations in spectral characteristics among the Resourcesat sensors should be taken into account when comparisons are made between measurements from sensors on board RS1 and RS2 satellites, for example, for long-term monitoring of the Earth's environment.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.