Sensor Systems and Data Products
Listings/Catalogs of Sensor Systems
CCRS Satellite List - CCRSCCRS provides detailed descriptions of the major remote sensing environmental platforms.
Earth Explorer Missions - ESA
Potential missions to be sponsored by the European Space Agency.
Earth Observation Satellite Launch Table - ITC
Table of launches for 1999 and beyond. Maintained by Wim Bakker.
Earth Observation Satellites - NASDA
Information and specifications on ADEOS-I, ADEOS-II, TRMM, JERS-1, MOS, Landsat, SPOT, and ERS.
Earth Observation Satellites: Current - UWM
Satellites currently collecting data.
Earth Observation Satellites: Future - UWM
Satellites proposed for launch.
Earth Observation Satellites: Past - UWM
Satellites that collected data in the past or did not function/obtain orbit.
Earth Observing System - NASA
The Earth Observing System (EOS) is the centerpiece of NASA's Earth Science Enterprise (ESE). It consists of a science component and a data system supporting a coordinated series of polar-orbiting and low inclination satellites for long-term global observations of the land surface, biosphere, solid Earth, atmosphere, and oceans.
Encyclopedia Astronautica - Mark Wade
An outstanding reference for those interested in launch vehicles and other satellite specifics. Chronology on satellite launches is outstanding. Other cool stuff is also compiled on site.
Explores! - Florida State University
An outstanding review of the history of meteorological satellites.
Extended Worldwide Launch Forecast - Space Online
A comprehensive directory about upcoming satellite launches for all types of systems.
Imaging Radar - NASA JPL
Excellent information on SIR-C, AIRSAR, GeoSAR, LightSAR, SRTM, Cassini Radar, NSCAT, TOPEX, and Magellan.
Indian Satellites - ISRO
Timeline of the IRS satellite launches. Links to the sensor packages. Additional information can be found here. The Federation of American Scientists also maintains a site on IRS and INSAT, that can be found by clicking here.
Instrument and Sensing Technology - NASA
This site contains information on NASA's Instrument and Sensing Technology development programs.
International Satellites - CCRS
Links of listings to Earth observation satellites.
Mission Equipments of Earth Observation Satellites - NASDA
Information and specifications on the actual sensors. One stop shopping for sensor information related to ADEOS-I, ADEOS-II, TRMM, JERS-1, MOS, Landsat, SPOT, and ERS.
Mission To Planet Earth Satellites and Payloads - NASA
Listing and details of satellite platforms and sensors that will ber part of the Mission To Planet Earth.
NEONet
The Netherlands Earth Observation Network provides Dutch remote sensing users with information and bundles information from data and service providers. NEONet has a terrific list of specs on numerous airborne and satellite sensors.
Orbital Models and Element Sets
Wim Bakker's fine collection of links to sites dealing with satellite orbits, tracking software, etc.
Remote Sensing Guide to Satellites and Sensors
One of the best listings I have seen!
Remote Sensing Launches - ITC
Recent remote sensing launches; the good and the bad!
Remote Sensing Satellites - SSC
An excellent table that overviews selected remote sensing satellites that are active and defunct. Provided by the Swedish Space Corporation.
Space Imaging Satellite Constellation - Space Imaging
Listing of sensor specifications that Space Imaging supports.
Space Mission Acronym List - NASA
A nice site with lots of links to information on a variety of space missions and instruments. It is worth a visit if you are looking for information on a specific mission or instrument.
SPUTNIK Server
Links to general information about Russian remote sensing systems.
The Satellite Encyclopedia - TBS
Online Satellite Encyclopedia, devoted to unmanned artificial Earth satellites.
TELSAT Guide for Satellite Information
Guide to all the major remote sensing platforms and sensors. An excellent resource with a working search engine!
Unmanned Spacecraft and Satellite Links
A very nice resource for planetary and Earth observation platforms and sensors.
Vandenberg AFB Launch Schedule - Brian Webb
A nice site with launch information for Vandenberg.
World Space Guide - FAS
A nice source of information about different satellites, by country.
Individual Sensor Systems and Platforms
Active Microwave Instrument - ESAThe Active Microwave Instrument (AMI) combines the functions of a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) and a Wind Scatterometer. The SAR operates in image mode for the acquisition of wide-swath, all weather images over the oceans, polar regions, coastal zones and land. In wave mode the SAR produces imagettes (about 5 km x 5 km) at regular intervals for the derivation of the length and direction of ocean waves. The Wind Scatterometer uses three antennae for the generation of sea surface wind speed and direction. It has been flown on ERS-1 and ERS-2. Other information available at ESA's Earthnet.
Advanced Earth Observing Satellite - NASDA
Advanced Earth Observing Satellite (ADEOS) was launched on August 17, 1996 and became fully operational on November 26 after its initial checkout. ADEOS acquired global earth observation data for about seven months until it suddenly got out of control on June 30, 1997 because of the structural damage in its solar array paddle. It carried a full suite of sensors that included AVNIR (Advanced Visible Near Infrared Radiometer) and OCTS (Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner).
Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II - NASDA
Advanced Earth Observing Satellite-II (ADEOS-II) will monitor global environmental changes in an environment of international cooperation while continuing and furthering the broad-ranging observation technology created by ADEOS. ADEOS-II includes such sensors an advanced microwave radiometer, a scattering meter, an improved spactrometer for measuring infrared radiation at the edge of the atmosphere, and an earth surface reflection measuring device. Other specifications can be found here.
Advanced Land Imager - NASA
The ALI will provide Landsat type panchromatic and multispectral bands. These bands have been designed to mimic six Landsat bands with three additional bands covering 0.433-0.453, 0.845-0.890, and 1.20-1.30 µm. The ALI also contains wide-angle optics designed to provide a continuous 15° x 1.625° field of view for a fully populated focal plane with 30-meter resolution for the multispectral pixels and 10 meter resolution for the panchromatic pixels.
Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - NASA
The AMSR will fly on NASA'S EOS-Aqua Satellite planned for launch in December of 2000. It is similar to the AMSR that will be onboard ADEOS-II.
Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer - NASA
ASTER is the only high spatial resolution instrument on the EOS-AM1 platform. It will be used with MODIS, MISR and CERES which monitor the Earth at moderate to coarse spatial resolutions. ASTER's ability to serve as a 'zoom' lens for the other instruments will be particularly important for change detection, and calibration/validation studies.
Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar - ESA
ASAR will be flown on the ENVISAT-1 spacecraft. It is a high resolution, all-weather imaging SAR that will provide data on ocean waves, surface topography, land surface properaties, snow and ice extent, and sea-ice processes. The ASAR operates in three modes: image mode, wide swath mode and wave mode.
Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer - EDC DAAC
The Pathfinder Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer Land data sets are global data mapped to an 8 km equal area projection. The data consist of reflectances and brightness temperatures derived from the five-channel cross-track scanning AVHRR aboard the NOAA Polar Orbiter 'afternoon' satellites (NOAA-7, -9, and -11), along with derived Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI), cloud and quality control indicators, and ancillary data. The data are being produced from the NOAA Global Area Coverage (GAC) Level 1B data spanning a period of more than 14-years (1981-1996). Additional information can be found at NASA DAAC and GLIS.
Advanced Visible and Near-Infrared Radiometer - NASDA
AVNIR is a high spatial resolution optical sensor for observing land and coastal zones in visible and near-infrared regions. AVNIR has 4 VIS/NIR spectral bands with 16 m spatial resolution and 1 PAN band with an 8 m spatial resolution.
Agricultural Digital Camera - Dycam
The ADC is a portable digital camera specifically tailored for multi-band photography in the visible red and near-infrared. The camera and software allow calibration for the ambient conditions and apply the calibration value to all images made under the calibrated conditions. The 24-bit "color" image from the camera is evaluated by the host software as one of the three supported vegetation indexes. Other camera information can be found at Dycam.
Airborne Data Acquisition and Registration - Positive Systems
Positive Systems, Inc. designs, manufactures and markets the Airborne Data Acquisition and Registration (ADAR) digital camera systems. The ADAR Systems are designed with a modular expandable architecture to meet a wide variety of current needs, while permitting future upgrades and expansion.
Airborne Imaging Spectrometer for different Applications - 3DI
AISA is a push-broom, hyperspectral imager. It is capable of collecting data within a spectral range of 430 to 900 nm. Although AISA is capable of collecting up to 286 spectral channels within this range, the data rate associated with the short integration times (sampling rates) required of the sensor in most operational/flight modes, limits the number of channels. Current operational collection configurations range from 10 to 70 spectral bands depending on the aircraft speed, altitude and mission goals.
Airborne Oceanic Lidar Fluorosensor - NASA
AOLFL is a laser fluorospectrometer that is carried onboard NASA aircraft. The AOLFL measures a variety of reflected and induced light properties, from which a number of oceanographic surface water properties can be derived.
Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar - NASA
The Airborne Synthetic Aperture Radar (AIRSAR) system is a three-frequency airborne SAR system that was developed as a general test-bed for various advanced SAR techniques. The AIRSAR was designed, built, and is managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The AIRSAR is flown on a NASA DC-8 passenger jet, modified for research applications, operated by NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Airborne Topographic Mapper - NASA
ATM measures topography to an accuracy of ten to twenty centimeters by combining measurements from an airborne laser altimeter and GPS (global positioning system) receivers. The ATM achieves this accuracy at distances exceeding a thousand kilometers from any base station.
Airborne Visible Infrared Imaging Spectrometer - NASA
The Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) is a world class instrument in the realm of Earth Remote Sensing. It is a unique optical sensor that delivers calibrated images of the upwelling spectral radiance in 224 contiguous spectral channels (also called bands) with wavelengths from 400 to 2500 nanometers (nm). The instrument flies aboard a NASA ER-2 airplane (a U2 plane modified for increased performance) at approximately 20 km above sea level, at about 730 km/hr. AVIRIS has flown all across the US, plus Canada and Europe.
Along Track Scanning Radiometer - ESA
The Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR) combines an infra-red radiometer and microwave sounder for measurements of sea-surface temperature, cloud-top temperature and cloud cover, and atmospheric water vapor. It has been flown on ERS-1 and ERS-2. Other information available at ESA's Earthnet.
Australian Resource Information and Environment Satellite - CSIRO
The ARIES-1 hyperspectral remote sensing system will provide users with the next generation of data and information services for mineral exploration, resource mapping and environmental monitoring. It will enable nationally and internationally focussed organisations to map key areas of interest more effectively than is possible with existing satellite systems. ARIES-1 will be a commercial operation using a spaceborne imaging spectrometer with visible & near infrared (VNIR) and shortwave infrared (SWIR) capabilities.
China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellites
China-Brazil Earth Resources Satellites (CBERS) Program pools the technical skills and financial resources of the two countries to establish a complete remote sensing system that is both competitive and compatible with present international needs. CBERS-1 has a Wide Field Imager (WFI), High-resolution CCD Camera, and an Infrared Multispectral Scanner (IR-MSS). Specific specifications can be found here.
Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager - Itres
The CASI-2 is a CCD pushbroom imaging spectrograph intended for the acquisition of visible and near-infrared hyperspectral imagery.
Coastal Zone Color Scanner - NASA
The Coastal Zone Color Scanner Experiment (CZCS), launched aboard NIMBUS-7 in October 1978, was the first instrument devoted to the measurement of ocean color and flown on a spacecraft. Although other instruments flown on other spacecraft had sensed ocean color, their spectral bands, spatial resolution and dynamic range were optimized for land or meteorological use and had limited sensitivity in this area, whereas in CZCS, every parameter was optimized for use over water to the exclusion of any other type of sensing. Other information on the CZCS can be found here.
Defense Meteorological Satellite Program - NOAA
The Defense Meteorological Satellite Program(DMSP) is a Department of Defense(DoD) program run by the Air Force Space and Missile Systems Center(SMC). The DMSP program designs, builds, launches, and maintains several near polar orbiting, sun synchronous satellites monitoring the meteorological, oceanographic, and solar-terrestrial physics environments.
Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer - GER
The 79-channel DAIS 7915 was built by the Geophysical Environmental Research Corporation. This sensor covers the spectral range from the visible to the thermal infrared wavelengths at variable spatial resolution from 3 to 20 m depending on the aircraft's flight altitude.
Digital Airborne Topographical Imaging System - EagleScan
DATIS is comprised of a LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) instrument to measure terrain elevation using laser light, a digital camera, a relative position GPS (Global Positioning System) to measure aircraft position, and an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) to measure aircraft attitude.
Earth Observing-1 - NASA
Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) is the first satellite in NASA's New Millennium Program Earth Observing series. The EO missions will develop and validate instruments and technologies for space-based Earth observations with unique spatial, spectral and temporal characteristics not previously available. Other information on the EOS can be found here.
Earth Radiation Budget Experiment - NOAA
ERBE, flown on the Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS), NOAA-9, and NOAA-10, was designed to measure the energy exchange between the earth-atmosphere system and space. The measurements of global, zonal, and regional radiation budgets on monthly time scales helped in climate prediction and in the development of statistical relationships between regional weather and radiation budget anomalies.
Emerge - Litton-TASC
Emerge is a complete remote sensing package designed for agricultural monitoring. Specific information about the Emerge airborne system can be found at E-Spatial or Litton-TASC.
ENVISAT-1 - ESA
In June 2001, the European Space Agency will launch ENVISAT-1, an advanced polar-orbiting Earth observation satellite which will provide measurements of the atmosphere, ocean, land, and ice over a five year period.
ERS-1 - ESA
ERS-1 was conceived as an orbiting SAR platform that would be capable of measuring, on a global scale, the Earth's atmospheric and surface properties with a high degree of accuracy. In fact it uses advanced microwave techniques to collect global measurements and images independent of time of the day or weather conditions. It also undertakes the measurements of many parameters not covered by existing satellite systems, including those of sea state, sea surface winds, ocean circulation and sea and ice levels.
ERS-2 - ESA
ERS-2, launched on 20 April 1995, operates in a sun-synchronous, near-polar orbit at an altitude of 785 km and an inclination of 98.5 degrees. ERS-2 is almost identical to ERS-1 launched in 1991.
Geodynamics Experimental Ocean Satellite - NASA
The GEOS-3 was launched in April 1975 and, in addition to the usual instrumentation for accurate position fixing, it carried a 13.9 GHz radar altimeter for measuring the vertical distance to the sea surface.
Geographic Synthetic Aperture Radar
An interferometric system, GeoSAR is a dual frequency radar using both P- and X-band wavelengths. Joint effort between the California Department of Conservation and NASA JPL.
Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites - NOAA
GOES satellites provide the kind of continuous monitoring necessary for intensive data analysis. They circle the Earth in a geosynchronous orbit, which means they orbit the equatorial plane of the Earth at a speed matching the Earth's rotation. This allows them to hover continuously over one position on the surface. Additional GOES data can be found here.
Geostationary Operational Meteorological Satellites - SPUTNIK
Russian meteorological satellite launched on October 31, 1994. Visible and IR sensors.
Heat Capacity Mapping Mission - NASA
NASA launched the HCMM which was capable of measuring temperatures and albedo, from which apparent thermal inertia could be estimated. The HCMM carried one visible sensor and one thermal infrared sensor. Additional information can be found from Nicholas Short's tutorial and NeoNet.
Hyperion System - NASA
The Hyperion provides a high resolution hyperspectral imager capable of resolving 220 spectral bands (from 0.4 to 2.5 µm) with a 30 meter resolution. The instrument can image a 7.5 km by 100 km land area per image and provide detailed spectral mapping across all 220 channels with high radiometric accuracy. The instrument originally conceived a drop in to the ALI instrument and is now baselined to be a standalone instrument on EO-1.
Hyperspectral Digital Imagery Collection Experiment - US Navy
Hughes Danbury Optical Systems built HYDICE under contract to NRL. The airborne sensor covered 0.4 to 2.5 µm spectral range produced by a pushbroom, double-pass prism dispersive optical system.
IKONOS - Space Imaging
Space Imaging launched the IKONOS satellite on 24 September 1999. IKONOS is the first 1-meter resolution civilian satellite. The potential uses of this data are widespread. IKONOS simultaneously collects 4-meter multispectral data.
Indian Remote Sensing-1A - FAS
Successful Indian entry into environmental satellite remote sensing. Specs provided. Other general information is provided by Space Imaging.
Indian Remote Sensing-1B - ISRO
Successful Indian entry into environmental satellite remote sensing. Specs provided. IRS-1A was same sensor package. Additional information can be found here and also here.
Indian Remote Sensing-1C - ISRO
Successful Indian entry into environmental satellite remote sensing. Specs provided.
Indian Remote Sensing-1D - ISRO
Successful Indian entry into environmental satellite remote sensing. Specs provided.
Indian Remote Sensing-P4 (OCEANSAT) - ISRO
IRS-P4 carries on board an Ocean Colour Monitor (OCM) and a Multifrequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer (MSMR).
Infrared Thermal Imaging Cameras - EMX
Small, handheld cameras designed for policing work, but may have further uses for environmental studies.
Japanese Environmental Satellites - NASDA
Japan has launched a variety of observation satellites equipped with the most highly sophisticated observation equipment. This equipment includes optical sensors capable of detecting solar radiation reflected from the Earth's surface and synthetic aperture radar capable of observing the Earth's surface with high resolution without being affected by weather conditions. Additional information can be found here.
Landsat 7 - USGS
At 11:36 am on April 15, 1999 the latest member of the Landsat family was launched into orbit. Landsat 7 will continue the flow of global change information to users worldwide. Scientists use Landsat satellites to gather remotely sensed images of the land surface and surrounding coastal regions for global change research, regional environmental change studies and other civil and commercial purposes. Pre-launch information and specifications can be found here.
Landsat 7 Gateway - NASA
Landsat 7 will fulfill its mission by providing repetitive, synoptic coverage of continental surfaces; spectral bands in the visible, near-infrared, short-wave, and thermal infrared regions of the electromagnetic spectrum; spatial resolution of 30 meters (98-feet); and absolute radiometric calibration. The Science Data Users Handbook is also available online.
Landsat Program - NASA
An excellent summary of the Landsat Program with specs on all sensors in the series.
Landsat Program Chronology - NASA
Timeline of the history of the Landsat Program.
Laser Vegetation Imaging Sensor - NASA
Airborne laser altimeter flown by NASA.
Mars Global Surveyor - NASA
Data sets and lots of other information about remote sensing of the Mars Planet. A camera, laser altimeter, and thermal sensor are among the remote sensing systems monitoring the planet.
MightySat-II - USAF
The MightySat-II carries the Fourier Transform HyperSpectral Imager (FTHSI) that uses the fourier transform technique to discern spectrally unique objects. FTHSI shows the technical advantages of Fourier systems over dispersive hyperspectral imagers, in that it can record the full spectra without any time delay and can decouple the spatial and spectral signatures. Military applications of this technology include detecting and classifying hidden targets in the operational theater, while commercial applications include identifying and classifying environmental/crop damage.
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer - NASA
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MODIS) is the key instrument aboard the Terra (EOS AM-1) satellite. The MODIS Instrument will view the entire Earth's surface every 1 to 2 days, acquiring data in 36 spectral bands.
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Airborne Simulator - NASA
The MODIS Airborne Simulator (MAS) is an airborne scanning spectrometer that acquires high spatial resolution imagery of cloud and surface features from its vantage point on-board a NASA ER-2 high-altitude research aircraft. Data acquired by the MAS are helping to define, develop, and test algorithms for the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), a key sensor of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS). The MODIS program will emphasize the use of remotely sensed data to monitor variation in environmental conditions for assessing both natural and human-induced global change.
MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator - NASA
The primary objective of the MASTER activity is to support the ASTER and MODIS instrument teams in the areas of algorithm development, calibration and validation. MASTER is essentially a clone of MAS (see above), with changes in the spectral band positions in order to better simulate both ASTER and MODIS.
Modular Optoelectronic Scanner - DLR
MOS is a spaceborne imaging pushbroom spectrometer in the visible and near infrared range of optical spectra (400 - 1010 nm) which was specially designed for remote sensing of the ocean-atmosphere system. MOS-PRIRODA and MOS-IRS instruments are basicaly identical providing 17 spectral channels with medium spatial resolution in the VIS/NIR. More info can be found here.
Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner - NASDA
OCTS will be flown onboard ADEOS-I. Like SeaWiFS, it will be a successor to CZCS. OCTS will have 8 bands in visible and near-infrared region and 4 bands in the thermal region, and achieve highly sensitive spectral measurement with these bands.
OrbView-1 - Orbimage
Successfully launched in April 1995, ORBIMAGE’s OrbView-1 is the world's first commercial imaging satellite. The satellite contains two atmospheric instruments that are improving weather forecasting capabilities around the world. The satellite’s miniaturized camera provides daily severe weather images and global lightning information during day and night operations. Its atmospheric monitoring instrument provides global meteorological data useful for improving long-term weather forecasts.
OrbView-2 - Orbimage
The OrbView-2 satellite, successfully launched in August 1997, provides unprecedented multispectral imagery of the Earth’s land and ocean surfaces every day. By detecting subtle color changes on the Earth’s surface, OrbView-2’s imagery is valuable for monitoring plankton and sedimentation levels in the oceans and assessing the health of land-based vegetation on a global basis.
OrbView-3 - Orbimage
ORBIMAGE’s OrbView-3 satellite will be one of the world’s first commercial satellites to provide high-resolution imagery from space. OrbView-3 will produce one-meter resolution panchromatic and four-meter resolution multispectral imagery. One-meter imagery will enable the viewing of houses, automobiles and aircraft, and will make it possible to create highly precise digital maps and three-dimensional fly-through scenes. Four-meter multispectral imagery will provide color and infrared information to further characterize cities, rural areas and undeveloped land from space.
OrbView-4 - Orbimage
OrbView-4's imaging instrument will provide one-meter panchromatic imagery and four-meter multispectral imagery with a swath width of 8 km as well as 200 channel hyperspectral imagery with a swath width of 5 km.
Quickbird-1
EarthWatch's QuickBird system features high spatial resolution, high geolocational accuracy, large area collection, and variable imaging collection times. It will offer 1-meter panchromatic and 4-meter multispectral spatial resolution, onboard GPS and star trackers, and swaths of 22 kilometers.
Radar Altimeter - ESA
The Radar Altimeter is a Ku-band (13.8 GHz) nadir-pointing active microwave sensor designed to measure the time return echoes from ocean and ice surfaces. Functioning in one of two operational modes (ocean or ice) the Radar Altimeter provides information on significant wave height; surface wind speed; sea surface elevation, which relates to ocean currents, the surface geoid and tides; and various parameters over sea ice and ice sheets. It has been flown on ERS-1 and ERS-2. Other information available at ESA's Earthnet.
RADARSAT - CSA
RADARSAT is an advanced Earth observation satellite system developed by Canada to monitor environmental change and to support resource sustainability. With the launch of RADARSAT-1 in November 1995, Canada and the world have access to the first fully operational civilian radar satellite system capable of large scale production and timely delivery of data. The data from the satellite meets the needs of commercial, government, and scientific programs and provides a new and reliable source of high quality radar data.
Raytheon Thermal Cameras - EMX Inc.
EMX is an Orlando-based electronic systems integrator and a Raytheon dealer. They specialize in infrared thermal imaging cameras and high-tech electronic systems and equipment for search and rescue, security, law enforcement, and surveillance.
Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre - CNES
The SPOT satellites were designed by the Centre National d'Etudes Spatiales in France, and developed with the participation of Sweden and Belgium. The system is composed of a series of spacecrafts plus ground facilities for satellite control and programming, image production, and distribution. Four systems have been launched successfully through 1999. Other information on SPOT satellites can be found here.
Scanning Lidar Imager of Canopies by Echo Recovery - NASA
LIDAR system designed to measure three-dimensional canopies.
Scanning Multichannel Microwave Radiometer - NASA
SMMR was an imaging 5-frequency radiometer flown on Seasat. Mission objectives were to obtain ocean circulation parameters such as sea surface temperatures, low altitude winds, water vapor and cloud liquid water content, sea ice extent, sea ice concentration, snow cover, snow moisture, rainfall rates, and differentiation of ice types.
Scatterometer - ESA
Scatterometer instruments aim to achieve high accuracy measurements of wind vectors, and resolution is of secondary importance - the resolution of the ERS scatterometer is 50km, though the grid sampling is 25km. Because the scatterometer operates at microwave wavelengths, the measurements are available irrespective of weather conditions. It has been flown on ERS-1 and ERS-2.
Seasat - NASA
Seasat was the first Earth-orbiting satellite designed for remote sensing of the Earth's oceans with SAR. It collected approximately 40 hours oof data before failure. Additional information on this frontrunner of present day SAR satellites can be found at NASA-JPL and Enclopedia Astronautica.
Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor - NASA
SeaWiFS has brought to the ocean community a welcomed and improved renewal of the ocean color remote sensing capability lost when the Nimbus-7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) ceased operating in 1986. The SeaStar spacecraft carries the SeaWiFS instrument, and was launched to low Earth orbit on board an extended Pegasus launch vehicle on August 1, 1997. The SeaWiFS instrument will be the only scientific payload on the SeaStar spacecraft.
SeaWinds - NASA
The SeaWinds instrument on the QuikSCAT satellite is a specialized microwave radar that measures near-surface wind speed and direction under all weather and cloud conditions over Earth's oceans. SeaWinds uses a rotating dish antenna with two spot beams that sweep in a circular pattern. The antenna radiates microwave pulses at a frequency of 13.4 gigahertz across broad regions on Earth's surface. The instrument will collect data over ocean, land, and ice in a continuous, 1,800-kilometer-wide band, making approximately 400,000 measurements and covering 90% of Earth's surface in one day.
Shuttle Laser Altimeter - NASA
Laser altimeter used for developing better topographic models of the Earth. Designed to fly onboard the Space Shuttle.
Shuttle Radar Topography Mission - NASA
SRTM consists of a specially modified radar system that will fly onboard the space shuttle. This radar system will gather data that will result in the most accurate and complete topographic map of the Earth's surface that has ever been assembled.
Side-Looking Airborne Radar - USGS
In 1980, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) began the Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR) program. SLAR is an electronic image-producing system that derives its name from the radar beam transmission being perpendicular to the path of the aircraft during data acquisition. The result is an obliquely illuminated view of the terrain that enhances subtle surface features. SLAR is an active sensor; the system provides its own source of illumination in the form of microwave energy. Consequently, imagery can be obtained either day or night. Since microwave energy penetrates most clouds, SLAR can be used to prepare image maps of cloud-covered areas.
Space Shuttle - NASA
All sorts of wonderful information about the Space Shuttle program and some of the sensors the astronauts have utilized.
Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C - NASA
Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C (SIR-C) provides multi-frequency, multi-polarization radar data. The SIR-C instrument is composed of several subsystems: the antenna array, the transmitter, the receivers, the data-handling subsystem, and the ground SAR processor. The antenna is composed of two planar arrays, one for L-band and one for C-band.
Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar - GARE
Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) flew on space shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SIR-C/X-SAR used a highly sophisticated imaging radar to capture images of Earth that are useful to scientists across a great range of disciplines. Lots of full-size images are available at this site and can be downloaded for processing.
Special Sensor Microwave Imager
SSM/I is a microwave radiometer system flown on the DMSP satellites.
SPIN-2 - Aerial Images, Inc. - SPUTNIK
SPIN-2 is the World's highest resolution, commercially available satellite imagery. SPIN-2 is panchromatic, 2 meter resolution Russian satellite image data that is digitized and ortho-rectified. Access SPIN-2 data at Microsoft TerraServer, the place where Microsoft invades the remote sensing market.
SPOT-5 - CNES
SPOT-5 will offer a higher ground resolution in the panchromatic mode (2.5 m and 5 m) and the multispectral mode (10 m in all 3 spectral bands in the visible and near infrared ranges). The spectral band in the short wave infrared band will remain at 20 m. Swath width will stay at 60 km. Look for it to be launched around 2001.
Synthetic Aperture Radar - ESA
The home page for general information about the European Space Agency's synthetic aperture radar.
Television Infrared Observation Satellite - NASA The TIROS Program was NASA's first experimental step to determine if satellites could be useful in the study of the Earth. Other good information on the original TIROS program can be found here.
Terra - NASA
Terra (formerly EOS AM-1) is the flagship of the Earth Observing System, a series of spacecraft that represent the next landmark steps in NASA's leadership role to observe the Earth from the unique vantage point of space. Focused on key measurements identified by a consensus of U.S. and international scientists, Terra will enable new research into the ways that Earth's lands, oceans, air, ice, and life function as a total environmental system. Terra launched on December 18, 1999!
Thermal Infrared Multispectral Scanner - NASA
The TIMS sensor is a multispectral scanner that collects data in six thermal channels. The mineral signature data collected by the TIMS sensor are used in the discrimination of silicate rocks, carbonate rocks, and hydrothermally altered rocks. More information about TIMS can be found at the USGS.
Topex/Poseidon - NASA
A global-mapping altimeter system, TOPEX/Poseidon is a satellite-based system that was developed as a partnership between the USA and France to monitor global ocean circulation, discover the tie between the oceans and atmosphere, and improve global climate predictions. Every 10 days, the TOPEX/Poseidon satellite measures global sea level with unparalleled accuracy. Additional information can be found here.
TopoSys - TopoSys
Development of high resolution DEMs by airborne laser scanning.
Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer - NASA
TOMS aboard Nimbus-7 and Meteor-3 provided global measurements of total column ozone on a daily basis and together provide a complete data set of daily ozone from November 1978 - December 1994. After an eighteen month period when the program had no on-orbit capability, ADEOS TOMS was launched on August 17, 1996 and provided data until June 29, 1997. Earth Probe TOMS was launched on July 2, 1996 to provide supplemental measurements, but was boosted to a higher orbit to replace the failed ADEOS. Earth Probe continues to provide near real-time data.
Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission - NASA
The Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission is a joint endeavor between NASA and Japan's National Space Development Agency. It is designed to monitor and study tropical rainfall and the associated release of energy that helps to power the global atmospheric circulation, shaping both global weather and climate.
Vegetation Canopy LIDAR - NASA
VCL is a joint effort to begin mapping vegetation and topography with LIDAR. Should begin in Year 2000. Additional information can be found here.
Visible Infrared Spin-Scan Radiometer - NOAA
VISSR is an imaging device used for two-dimensional, cloud cover pictures. It is flown onboard GOES, GMS, and Meteosat.
Pathfinder Data Products
AVHRR Land PathfinderThe Goddard DAAC maintains archives of Pathfinder Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) Land (PAL) data. Some data are available on-line through ftp, and data stored in our archives can be ordered through the Goddard DAAC's WWW search and order utility.
AVHRR Oceans Pathfinder
The NOAA/ NASA AVHRR Oceans Pathfinder sea surface temperature data are derived from the 5-channel Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometers (AVHRR) on board the NOAA -7, -9, -11 and -14 polar orbiting satellites. Daily and monthly averaged data for both the ascending pass (daytime) and descending pass (nighttime) are available on equal-angle grids of 4096 pixels/360 degrees (nominally referred to as the 9km resolution), 2048 pixels/360 degrees (nominally referred to as the 18km resolution), and 720 pixels/360 degrees (nominally referred to as the 54km resolution or 0.5 degree resolution).
Landsat Pathfinder Program
The goal of the Landsat Pathfinder Program is to establish long-term, medium- to high-resolution data sets for particular regional and global applications to global change research. The Landsat Pathfinder Science Working Group has defined several projects to address land cover change.
Pathfinder Program
The Pathfinder program was jointly created by NASA and NOAA through the Earth Observing System (EOS) Program Office. The focus of the Pathfinder Program is to determine how existing satellite based data sets could be processed and used to study global change. The data sets are designed to be long time-series data processed with stable calibration and community consensus algorithms to better assist the research community. The Pathfinder Program will also generate important information on the processing of large consistent data sets that can be implemented in the EOS era.
Polar Pathfinder Program
Because of the cryosphere's sensitivity, scientists turn to the world's ice sheets, glaciers, snow cover, sea- lake- and river ice, ice caps and frozen ground, to learn more about past climate events, to understand current weather, and to project, on regional and global levels, what the future holds. However, true understanding depends on adequate representation of cryospheric processes and cryosphere-climate interactions in climate and hydrological models, and on our ability to monitor and understand variability exhibited by major ice sheets and hemispheric patterns of snow and sea ice extent. The difficulties inherent in comparing parameters from different data sets hamper even basic studies. To mitigate such obstacles, NASA and NOAA initiated the NOAA/NASA Polar Pathfinder Program.