The Calibration Home Base (CHB) is an optical laboratory designed for the calibration of imaging spectrometers for the VNIR/SWIR wavelength range. It was partly funded by ESA to establish a calibration facility for the airborne imaging spectrometer APEX, but is used for other optical sensors as well. Radiometric, spectral and geometric calibration as well as the characterization of sensor signal dependency on polarization are realized in a precise and highly automated fashion. This allows carrying out a wide range of time consuming measurements in an efficient way. The implementation of ISO 9001 standards in all procedures ensures a traceable quality of results.
The CHB is the only facility in Europe which allows precise characterization of bulky and heavy instruments up to 350 kg in a wide spectral range from 380 - 2500 nm. Radiance sources traceable to national standard (PTB) are used for radiometric calibration. In particular for instruments with large aperture or large field of view, a large integrating sphere is available.
Sensor artifacts, such as caused by stray light will be characterizable and correctable in the near future. For now, the CHB is suitable for the characterization of pushbroom sensors, spectrometers and cameras. However, it is planned to extend the CHBs capabilities such that snapshot hyperspectral imagers can be characterized as well.
For technical details of the laboratory see link on the right.
