The TPM predictions match the HIRS measurements within 5% (10% at the shortest wavelengths below 5 micron when using the Moon's known properties (size, shape, spin, albedo, thermal inertia, roughness) in combination with a newly established wavelength-dependent hemispherical emissivity. The similarity between these Moon data and typical asteroid spectral-IR energy distributions allows us to benchmark the TPM concepts and to point out problematic aspects. We found 22 Moon intrusions, taken in 19 channels between 3.75 micron and 15.0 micron, and over a wide phase angle range from -73.1 deg to +73.8 deg. The data were obtained by the High-resolution InfraRed Sounder (HIRS) instruments on board a fleet of Earth weather satellites that serendipitously scan over the Moon.

Here, we make an attempt to verify a widely accepted thermophysical model (TPM) against unique thermal infrared (IR), full-disk, and well-calibrated measurements of the Moon. However, testing these models is often a difficult process and the uncertainties of the derived parameters are not easy to estimate.

Depending on the available data, a range of simple to complex thermal models are applied to achieve specific science goals. Thermal-infrared measurements of asteroids are crucial for deriving the objects' sizes, albedos, and also the thermophysical properties of the surface material.

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