Spectrally Tunable Sources for Advanced Radiometric Applications

A common radiometric platform for the development of application-specific metrics to quantify the performance of sensors and systems is described. Using this platform, sensor and system performance may be quantified in terms of the accuracy of measurements of standardized sets of source distributions. The prototype platform consists of spectrally programmable light sources that can generate complex spectral distributions in the ultraviolet, visible and short-wave infrared regions for radiometric, photometric and colorimetric applications. In essence, the programmable spectral source is a radiometric platform for advanced instrument characterization and calibration that can also serve as a basis for algorithm testing and instrument comparison.