恒星巡天测量与模型分析显示大量恒星在0.3~35 μm波段内的绝对辐射精度达到3%, 在可见光波段接近1%.恒星与恒星之间的相对辐射定标精度优于0.2%.部分恒星具有极好的辐射稳定性, 可以作为长期稳定的辐射基准.但是恒星有效亮度通常比地面目标低几个量级, 并且恒星一般不会直接出现在遥感卫星视场, 不利于用作定标源.这里讨论的利用恒星进行辐射定标的方法是在遥感卫星上安装一个与遥感相机波段接近的微型定标相机, 它的指向可以通过转动机构在恒星与地面目标之间转换.在观测恒星时通过延长积分时间来获取高信噪比信号, 在观测地面目标时由于和遥感相机同时同视场观测有利于精确交叉定标.这个方法可以将作为标准源的恒星辐射直接传递到观测目标.目前分析显示最佳定标精度可以达到2%以内.

Star surveys and model analyses show that many stars have absolute stable fluxes as good as 3% in 0.3~35μm wavebands and about 1% in the visible wavebands. The relative flux calibrations between stars are better than 0.2%. Some stars have extremely stable fluxes and can be used as long term flux calibration sources. Stellar brightness is several orders of magnitude lower than that of most ground objects. However, the stars do not usually appear in remote sensing cameras, which makes the stars inappropriate for being calibration sources. The calibration method using stars discussed in this paper is through a mini-camera attached to remote sensing satellite. The mini-camera works at similar wavebands as the remote sensing cameras and it can observe the stars and the ground objects alternatively. High signal-to-noise ratio is achieved for the relatively faint stars through longer exposure time. Simultaneous precise cross-calibration is obtained as the mini-camera and remote sensing cameras look at the ground objects at the same time. The fluxes from the stars used as calibration standards are transferred to the remote sensing cameras through this procedure. Analysis shows that a 2% accurate calibration is possible.