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The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) is a key instrument aboard the Terra and Aqua satellites, launched in 1999 and 2002, respectively. Relying on a two-sided paddle-wheel cross-track scanning mirror, the sensor provides Earth view measurements in 36 spectral bands from 0.4 to 14.4 μm. The swath of data collected by MODIS is over 2300 km wide and covers the entire surface of the Earth every one to two days. A set of onboard calibrators include a solar diffuser (SD) and a solar diffuser stability monitor, a v-grooved flat panel blackbody (BB), and a spectro-radiometric calibration assembly. A deep space view (SV) is used as a background reference. The thermal emissive bands (TEBs) on‐orbit calibration is performed using a quadratic algorithm by reference to a temperature controlled BB on a scan-by-scan basis. This study examines the consistency of the Terra MODIS TEB responses between the two mirror sides for measurements from the BB, SV, SD, and Earth view sectors. It was found that there is a mirror side correlated noise (MSCN) during the early mission of Terra MODIS, particularly after the electronic configuration changes or instrument resets. In this work, the impact of MSCN on radiometric calibration is assessed using measured brightness temperatures obtained from the deep convective clouds, ice/snow surface at Dome C, Antarctica and the Atlantic Ocean. Results of this study provide a further assessment of the newly implemented Collection 7 calibration algorithm in reducing the MSCN induced striping in the MODIS L1B imagery.
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