Radiometric resolution

urn:aero:airm:1.0.0:ContextualModel:ATMBusinessTerms:Radiometric_resolution

The capability of a sensor to discriminate levels or intensity of spectral radiance. In the analogue systems such as photography, the radiometric resolution is measured based on the number of grey levels that can be obtained. In opto-electronic systems, the radiance is recorded in an array of cells. A digit is assigned to each cell proportional to the received level of energy. This is done by an analog to digital converter in the platform. Generally, in modern sensors the range is between zero radiance into the sensor and 255 at saturation response of the detector.

Source: ICAO