THIS IS AN UNSOLICITED PROPOSAL FOR WORK IN SUPPORT OF EARTH-SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION STUDIES AT HALEAKALA ON THE ISLAND OF MAUI. THE PROPOSED FUNDING IS TO SUPPORT A GRADUATE STUDENT DURING THE SPRING 2017 ACADEMIC SEMESTER AT MONTANA STATE UNIVERSITY. THIS STUDENT WILL PERFORM AND VALIDATE RADIOMETRIC CALIBRATIONS ON TWO THERMAL INFRARED IMAGING MODULES THAT ARE BEING INCORPORATED INTO AN ALL-SKY INFRARED CLOUD IMAGER SYSTEM THAT WILL BE DELIVERED IN MAY OR JUNE 2017 TO HALEAKALA AS PART OF A NASA INSTRUMENT SUITE SUPPORTING EARTH-SPACE OPTICAL COMMUNICATION STUDIES. THE PROPOSED EFFORT BUILDS ON SEVERAL DECADES OF EXPERIENCE DURING WHICH THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR AND HIS GROUP HAVE PIONEERED THE USED OF GROUND-BASED INFRARED IMAGERS FOR DETECTING AND CHARACTERIZING CLOUDS USING SMALL LOW-COST UNCOOLED THERMAL IMAGERS. THESE SYSTEMS RELY ON CUSTOM METHODS THAT HAVE BEEN DEVELOPED TO ESTABLISH AND MAINTAIN RADIOMETRIC CALIBRATION WITHOUT AN ONBOARD CALIBRATION TARGET. IN THIS PROJECT TWO IR IMAGING MODULES WILL BE CALIBRATED WITH ALL-SKY FISHEYE LENSES. THE RADIOMETRIC PERFORMANCE WILL BE VALIDATED WITH A COLLOCATED INFRARED CLOUD IMAGER SYSTEM.