title: Noise assessment of a Fourier transform infrared spectroradiometer subject to the stability of a conventional laboratory blackbody source.
abstract: A method is described for the measurement of the noise-equivalent spectral radiance (NESR) of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroradiometers at all wave numbers of a selected range. The method requires minimal detailed knowledge of the sensor and no support equipment beyond a blackbody source. The NESRs of the FTIR spectroradiometer are determined at every wave-number increment in the 700-1300 cm(-1) range, for six resolutions, with a conventional blackbody source and ensembles of differential spectra. The NESRs are well behaved and consistent with the expected dependence on resolution; however, they depend on source temperature at the highest (1 cm(-1)) and lowest (32 cm(-1)) resolutions, with little or no statistical dependence at intermediate resolutions. Residual source drift is shown to be the likely cause of the dependence at 1 cm(-1); the dependence on the source at 32 cm(-1) resolution is shown to be most probably due to photon noise. At intermediate resolutions the sensor noise is dominant.
authors.affiliation: SymSpec, 2418 Briarwood Road, Baltimore, Maryland 21209, USA. dfflanig@worldnet.att.net
authors.forename: Dennis F
authors.initials: DF
authors.lastname: Flanigan
authors.forename: Alan C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Samuels
authors.forename: Avishai
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ben-David