Scattering sensors are calibrated to provide accurate and reproducible measurements of the volume scattering function (VSF).

Digital counts are converted to VSF units m-1 sr-1 through a calibration to NIST-traceable 0.1 µm beads according to the methods described in Twardowski et al. (2012) and Sullivan et al. (2013).

The reproducibility component takes into account replicability of calibration procedures as well as any possible sensor drift that may have occurred. Accuracy estimates include this reproducibility coupled with any possible bias errors from the calibration procedure.

Calibrations are being provided for NASA’s Ocean Ecology Lab. The Laboratory works to ensure the accuracy of ocean-color data from NASA satellite sensors and make it available to users across the world.