Calibration and Verification of Remote Sensing Instruments and Observations

Satellite instruments are nowadays a very important source of information. The physical quantities (essential variables) derived from satellites are utilized in a wide field of applications, in particular in atmospheric physics and geoscience. In contrast to ground measurements the physical quantities are not directly measured, but have to be retrieved from satellite observations. Satellites observe hereby the reflection or emission of radiation by the Earth's surface or atmosphere, which enables the retrieval of respective physical quantities (essential variables). The physical basis for the retrieval is the interaction of the radiation with the Earth’s atmosphere and surface. This interaction is defined by radiative transfer, which favors the use of radiances and their respective units within retrieval methods. [...]