The EarthCARE broadband radiometer detectors

The Broadband Radiometer (BBR) is an instrument being developed for the ESA EarthCARE satellite. The BBR instrument objective is to provide top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiance measurements in two spectral channels, and over three along-track directions. The instrument has three fixed telescopes (one for each view) each containing a broadband detector. Each detector consists of an uncooled 30-pixel linear focal plane array (FPA) coated with gold black in order to ensure uniform spectral responsivity from 0.2 μm to 50 μm. The FPA is hybridized with a readout integrated circuit (ROIC) and a proximity electronics circuit-card assembly (CCA) packaged in an aluminum base plate with cover. This paper provides a technical description of the detector design and operation. Performance data at the FPA pixel level as well as unit-level test results on early prototypes of the detectors are also presented.