Meeting at Izaña of the ESA project about lunar spectral irradiance measurement and modelling

On 19 March 2018, Izaña Observatory hosted a meeting among the committee members of the European Space Agency (ESA) project called “Lunar spectral irradiance measurement and modelling for absolute calibration of EO optical sensors”; researchers from the University of Valladolid are involved in this project, with the support of the Izaña Observatory infrastructure through “WMO-CIMO Testbed for Aerosols and Water Vapour Remote Sensing Instruments”. Other participants of this meeting were members of the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) from the United Kingdom, members of the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (Vlaamse Instelling voor Technologisch Onderzoek, VITO) and members of the ESA.

The goal of this meeting was to determine the steps to follow in the development of an extra-terrestrial lunar irradiance model based on photometric measurements conducted at Izaña Observatory and at Teide Peak station. This model must be precise enough to use the Moon as a reference for absolute calibration of the EO optical sensors at space platforms. The excellent atmospheric conditions at these two observatories are a key factor for the attainment of this project.