1. Overview of Earth Observations Satellites
by David E. Pitts
University of Houston Clear Lake
copies of this presentation are available from:
Dec. 15, 2017
Copyright 2017

2. Updates on the Status of Earth Observations Satellites can be found on:
History of satellite launches & upcoming launches is at:

3. LANDSAT (as of 1991, Landsat is a joint program of NASA, NOAA, and USGS)
Landsat 4 July
Landsat 5 March Failed Jan 6, 2013
Landsat 6 Sept (Failed)
Landsat 7 (ETM+, no MSS) available until 2018
16 day repeat cycle Sun-synchronous orbit (705 km altitude, inclination 98.2 deg, period 99 minutes)
MSS
Swath 185 km
4 bands (green, red, 2 near IR)
80 m resolution
0 ≤ DN (Digital Number) ≤ 128

4. LANDSAT 8
Launch - February 11, 2013
Combined with Landsat 7 gives 8 day coverage.
OLI -
7,000 pixel, 9 band pushbroom, 30 m resolution
Silicon Pin detectors, bands 1 - 4, & 8
MerCdTe detectors, bands 6,7, & 9
13,000 pixel, pan pushbroom, 15 m resolution
ITRS - Thermal IR, & m, 100 m res.
NET = 0.4 deg K. Gallium Arsenide detectors

5. LANDSAT 8 - continued
OLI sensor bands
(Pushbroom Scanner)

6. LANDSAT MSS & Landsat 7 ETM+ Data
Availability: EROS Data Center
Mundt Federal Building
Sioux Falls SD 57198
telephone
Digital Data
MSS full scene $200-$375 ( )
Landsat 4-5, $425-$625 (1982-present)
Landsat 7 ETM $475-$800 (1999-present)
Global visualization viewer
Use this tool to find images

7. LANDSAT continued
Thematic Mapper
185 x 170 km
7 bands (blue, green, red, near IR, 2 mid IR, thermal)
30 m resolution
0 ≤ DN (Digital Number) ≤ 255
No on-board tape recorders - instead uses:
TDRSS
Ground Stations
Landsat 7 ETM+ will have previous capabilities plus
15 m resolution - panchromatic
Thermal IR - 60 m resolution

8. Landsat 9
Launch – 2020
Orbital ATK was awarded a contract by NASA for $129.9 million to complete the delivery order in 5 years
Will be similar to Landsat 8
USGS will continue to operate, process, archive and provision the data (free).

9. Terra
Launch Dec. 18, 1999
Part of the Earth Observing System (EOS)
CERES (Clouds and the Earth Radiant Energy System)
A broadband scanning radiometer that measures
emitted and reflected energy.
MODIS-N (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectrometer - Nadir)
36 band Imaging Spectrometer Thermal IR
1 km resolution, Vegetation and Land surface m to 1 km.

10. Terra concluded
MISR (Multi-Angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer)
Push broom CCD 9 view angles, 4-band.
Study bidirectional characteristics of the atmosphere,
vegetation canopies and phytoplankton pigment concentrations.
ASTER (Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection
Radiometer)
Japanese 3-band (visible, mid IR, thermal IR) high resolution
imager (15 to 90 m) along track stereo for topography.
MOPITT (Measurement of Pollution in the Troposphere)
3 band scanner. Gas correlation radiometer to measure CO2 and
CH4 vertical profiles in the atmosphere.

11. Aquarius
Global sea surface salinity (seawater emissivity)
Launch - June 10, 2011 (lost power June 8, 2015)
Altitude 600 km
Repeat cycle - 8 days, sun synchronous
Radiometer/Scatterometer operating at 1.4 GHz (L-band)
Partnership between NASA and Argentina.

12. Altitude 705 km, 98.2 deg Inclination, period 99 minutes
Aqua
Launch: May 4, 2002
Altitude 705 km, 98.2 deg Inclination, period 99 minutes
Sun Synchronous, repeat 16 days.
MODIS: Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
AMSR-E: Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer-JAXA
6.9, 10.7, 18.7, 23.8, 36.5, 89.0 Ghz
AMSU-A: Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit-A
CERES: Cloud's and the Earth's Radiant Energy System
AIRS: Atmospheric Infrared Sounder
HSB: Humidity Sounder for Brazil

13. Launch: July 15, 2004 Sun Synchronous
Aura
Launch: July 15, Sun Synchronous
HIRDLS Measures Ozone, Water vapor, methane, and many chemicals - stopped working 2008
OMI measured Nitrous Oxide, Sulfur Dioxide, aerosols and other chemicals. Similar to TOMS
TES Fourier Transform spectrometer, Also on the Aqua satellite
Can measure many chemicals including those listed for HIRDLS and OMI.
MLS measures temperature and water vapor profiles and OH, HO2 and BRO.

14. TRW built Hyperion hyperspectral imager - launched Nov 21, 2000
EO-1 NASA Satellite
TRW built Hyperion hyperspectral imager - launched Nov 21, 2000
after 17 years in orbit will be powered off – March 30, 2017
30 m resolution
220 spectral bands
swath 7.5 km x 180 km
CCD Vis nIR, HgCdTe SWIR
A test bed for new sensors- resulted in the OLI on Landsat 8
Sales and Distribution by USGS (provided 2600 sets by 2005)
Serving as knowledge base for several other efforts: ARTEMIS (USAF),
CHRIS (ESA), HERO (Canada), SPECTRA (ESA), EnMAP (German)

15. OCO Orbiting Carbon Observatory
The $278 million dollar satellite failed on launch - Feb 24, 2009
OCO-2 Orbiting Carbon Observatory -2
Successful launch July 2, 2014
Measures Solar Induced Chlorophyll Fluorescence (SIF)
Measured Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere
NASA's Glory Earth Observation Satellite launch – March 4, 2011 – resulted in failure
Monitoring aerosols in the atmosphere
Monitoring solar irradiance

16. SMAP Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission
Successful launch January 31, 2015
Measures soil moisture in the top 5 cm
Resolution 9 km, repeat coverage every 2-3 days
Failed Sept 2, 2015

17. SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) Satellite
Under development, Launch scheduled – 2020
Uses Ka band radar to map areal extent and topography
SWOT (Surface Water and Ocean Topography) Aircraft Program
Ka band radar on a King Air Aircraft based at Armstrong Flight Research Facility in California
Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (IFSAR) is a technique to determine surface elevation using 2 or more SAR scenes

18. Planet Labs launches 88 “Dove” satellites
Launch Feb 17, 2017 from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in India
Provides daily coverage of entire Earth at 3.7 m
Four bands R,G,B, and near IR
Now has 300 of these shoebox satellites in orbit.
Planet Labs has acquired Google’s Terra Bella Satellites
Seven Skysats which have 0.7 m resoltuion

19. http://eoedu.belspo.be/en/satellites/spot.htm France
Spot-4 launched March 23, 1998 (Spot-2 retired July 30, 2009)
Spot-5 launched May 4, 2002
Sun synchronous orbit
repeat cycle - each 26 days
Cross track point of 60 km swath gives 2.5 day coverage
3-bands (green, red, near IR) 20 m resolution
1-band (combined) 10 m resolution x 60 km scene
Full multispectral scene or full B & W $1,200.00
Rectified multispectral scene $11,475.00
Source - Spot Image Corp. Washington D. C.
1897 Preston White Drive
Reston VA
Telephone
Spot-6 & 7 launch

20. India
Bhaskara 1 launched June 7, 1979
Bhaskara 2 launched Nov. 20, 1981
IRS-1A series began in March not in use
IRS P- 3 Launched March 21, 1996
IRS-1D Launched Sept. 29, 1997
140,000 scenes of India obtained
Ground stations at Bangalore and Hyderabad
4 bands - (G, R, nIR, SWIR) resolution m
70.5 m resolution inSWIR band (IRS-1C,D is 5.8 m)
Swath width km (has a wide FOV mode like AVHRR)
Repeat cycle days, Sun Synchronous
Cross Track Stereo

21. TecSAR imaging radar built by Israel
India
launch Risat-2 on April 20, 2009
TecSAR imaging radar built by Israel
X-band, 550 km orbit, 41 deg inclination
Military as well as civilian Earth Observations
ResourceSat-1 (IRS-P6)
Sun synchronous orbit
Steerable 26 degrees across track
3 bands Visible & near IR, 5.8 m, 23.5 m resolution
AWiFS has 56 meter resolution
ResourceSat-3 launch 2011

22. India
Cartosat - 1 Stereo .8 m resolution B & W cameras.
Launched May, 5, Sun-synchronous orbit
Cartosat - 2 Similar spacecraft, launched Jan. 10, 2007
Cartosat - 2a Military version with a SAR, launched Jan. 10, 2007
IMS - 1 Low cost remote sensing satellite to share with poor countries
IRS Satellite Data
Availability -

23. India concluded
IRS Satellite Data
Media - CD ROM
Format - tiff, bsq
North American Coverage
23 x 23 km scene $900.00
5m IRS-1C/1D (B&W) (2653 sq km, about 51 x 51 km)
$7.00 /sqkm $18,571.00 USD plus shipping ($35)
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24.
High Resolution (launch Sept. 24, 1999)
0.8 m resolution IKONOS, (Panchromatic) $7.00 /sqkm
1 m IKONOS (B&W / 4 band, 3.2 meter) (2653 sq km)
, , ,
$18,571.00 USD plus shipping ($35)
Geoeye-1 spacecraft launch was launched Sept 6, 2008.
0.41 m resolution panchromatic, they combined the 1.64m color and the panchromatic to give 0.41 m color imagery.

25. Geoeye-2 spacecraft
Renamed WorldView-4
Launch expected in 2016
Resolution 30 cm in panchromatic mode
Resolution (multispectral) 1.2 m
Repeat cycle 3 days
15 revolutions per day
10 am local solar time at the equator
Dynamic range 11 bits

26. 1 m Panchromatic $5/sq km, (2653 sq km)
Orbview-3
4m Multispectral (8 bands) $7/sq km, (2653 sq km)
$18,571.00 USD plus shipping ($35)
, , ,
1 m Panchromatic $5/sq km, (2653 sq km)
$13,265.00 USD plus shipping ($35)

27. Canada
Radarsat
C-band SAR - November 4, 1995
100 km swaths, 9 m resolution, HH polarization,
16 day repeat cycle
Radarsat - 2 launched Dec 14, 2007 from Baikonur
Availability - EOSAT (Earth Observations Satellite Co.)
4300 Forbes Boulevard
Lanham, Maryland USA
ext 537
Cost $1, to $ U. S. per scene on CDROM

28. United Kingdom & Spain
UK-DMC2 Multispectral Satellite
Launched July 29, 2009
22 m resolution, 660 km swath, Daily coverage, Sun Synchronous
3 bands, similar to Landsat 2,3, 4, wide field of view
Part of the Disaster Monitoring Constellation of 6 satellites
Image is of Texas

29. Japanese Remote Sensing Satellites
MOS - Marine Oceanographic Satellite
MOS - 1 Launched Feb 1987
MOS - 1B Launch scheduled 1990
17 day repeat Sun Synchronous Satellite
MSS copy
Direct Downlink
JERS - 1
Launched Feb. 1992, Failed Oct. 12, 1998
TM copy (without the thermal band)
L-band SAR (HH polarization) km swath, 18 m resolution
Direct Downlink, repeat cycle - 44 days

30. Japanese Remote Sensing Satellites concluded
ADEOS-1
Launched Aug. 17, 1996 into 98.6 deg orbit, failed June 30, 1997
Orbital period min, repeat cycle 41 days
AVNIR - Advanced visible & NIR Radiometer
4 bands
16 meter resolution - multispectral
8 meter resolution - panchromatic, Cross track stereo OCTS - Ocean Color and Temp Scanner
ADEOS-2
Has OCTS, AVNIR & several gas spectrometers
Launch - Dec. 14, 2002, Solar panel failed October 26, 2003
Data Available thru JAXA
GOSAT (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite) – launch 2009

31. ALOS JAXA - Advanced Land Observing Satellite
2 systems (Atmosphere and Marine, Land observations)
Launch Jan 24, 2006, Sunsynchronous (98.16 deg), repeat cycle 46 days
PALSAR (follow on to JERS-1) L-band, 250 to 350 km swath, HH and VV and Cross Polarization
AVNIR-2 nadir view, 10 m resolution, 4 band (RGB & nIR), 70 km swath, pointing 44 degrees left or right of nadir
PRISM points fore and aft to give stereo 2.5 m resolution
70 km swath, 35 km swath stereo Panchromatic m

32. Russia
MIR
KFA System - 5 m resolution film based system
$ per scene
Recoverable film packages each 4 weeks
Operational
Spin - 2
Dates of Operation
Panchromatic KVR-1000, 40 x 160 km scene, 2 m res.
Panchromatic TK-350, 200 x 300 km scene, 10 m res.
Browse Site -
Format tiff or hard copy prints
Cost 10 m res. - $1.00 / km sq
2 m res. - $2.59 / km sq, min order 100 sq. km

33. Russia
Resurs Launched July 10, 1998
Multispectral Earth Resources Image Transmission Spacecraft
(similar to Landsat)
Launched Nov. 4, 1994 into a 660 km polar sunsynchronous
orbit at 98 deg incl.,repeat cycle 4 days at the equator.
Resolution m, fov = 600 km, 4 bands,
intermediate resolution between Landsat and AVHRR
Resurs FM-2 Launched Sept. 28, 1999
Resurs DK-1
Launched June 15, 2006
Resolution ft grey scale imagery, 7 ft multispectral

34. Russia
KANOPUS
Launch - Dec 2009
2.1 m panchromatic resolution
10.5 m multispectral resolution
Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL) in the UK is providing avionics and software plus design support.

35. European Space Agency
SMOS Soil Moisture & Ocean Salinity - launch Nov 2, 2009
ERS-1 Launch May 1991
ERS-2 Launch 1995
C-band SAR
VV polarization, 25 m resolution
3.1 x 3.1 mile imagettes
35 day repeat cycle
80 km swath
4 band Thermal IR instrument
3 Angle Scatterometer for sea surface roughness
Cost $1, to $ U. S. per scene on CDROM
Source - EOSAT

36. European Space Agency
ENVISAT - Launched March 1, 2002
Lost communications April 8, 2012
ASAR - C band Radar like ERS-1 & 2, swath 400 km
GOMOS - Stellar Occultation - Atmosphere Constituents
µm and µm
MIPAS - Limb emission spectra using Interferometer
( µ m)
MERIS - Vis - nIR coastal zone imager, 300 m res,
1150 km swath, 15 bands

37. ENVISAT (continued)
MWR - Cloud water content for correction of Radar altimeter
(uses 23.8 and 36.5 Ghz)
RA-2 - Radar Altimeter similar to Topex- Poseidon
Uses S and K bands
AATSR - Sea Surface Temp and Vegetation mapper
Scans along track only,
0.67, 0.87, 1.6, , and 12.0 µ m
SCIAMACHY - Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer
for Atmospheric Cartography
Maps gasses such as Ozone
micrometers

38. European Space Agency (continued)
Sentinel 1a - C-band SAR 5 m resolution - launch Apr 3, 2013
Sun synchronous, repeat cycle 12 days
cycle length 175 days
local solar time 1600
Dual Polarization
Sentinel 2A - Multispectral 13 bands – launch June 23, 2015
Sun synchronous, repeat cycle 10 days (5 days using 2 satellites), local solar time 1030, descending node
Swath width 290 km, images 100 km square, 650 Mb.
Available USGS EROS data center
Sentinel 2B – identical to 2A, launch March 7, 2017
Sentinel 1b - C-band SAR – launch April 25, 2016
repeat cycle 12 days, flying 180 deg from Sentinel 1-a
Sentinel 5P – Launch Oct. 2017, CO, SO2, NO2 Pollution

39. European Space Agency (continued) German Space Agency (DLR)
Terra SAR-X
m resolution Synthetic Aperture Radar
X - band Radar
Launched June 2006
Tandem-X (almost identical satellite to Terra SAR-X)
Formed a radar interferometer system (launched in June 2010)
EnMap - pushbroom hyperspectral scanner
30 m resolution, swath width 30 km
0.42 to 2.45 m (184 bands, 155 bands visible, 94 band nIR)
Launch 2018
Sun synchronous polar orbit, revisit cycle 4 days
30 degrees off nadir

40. European Space Agency (concluded) Sentinel 3 launch expected 2014
Earthcare Satellite
Cloud and aerosol mission
Atmospheric Lidar
Broad band radiometer
Mutispectral Imager
JAXA Cloud profiling radar
Launch 2013
Cryosat -2 launched Apr 8, 2010
SAR/Interferometric Radar Altimeter (Siral) detects ice thickness in the arctic and antarctic

41. German 5 satellite constellation
Rapid Eye
German 5 satellite constellation
Launch August 28, 2008 from Baikonur
6.5 meter resolution, 77 km swath, 5.5 day repeat
5 bands, sun synchronous
Blue ( nm)
Green ( nm)
Red ( nm)
Red Edge ( nm)
Near Infrared ( nm)
Minimum order 2,500 euros

42. Franco-Italian Pleiades http://www.telespazio.it/cosmo.html
Italy
COSMO-Sky-Med
Dual Use (Defense and Civil)
X-band
Radar 1 & 3 meter resolution
Launch Vandenberg AFB on Delta
Launches
June 7, 2007, Dec , Oct , & Oct 29, 2010
Franco-Italian
Pleiades
.7 m resolution Earth Observation Satellite
20 km swath, 26 day repeat cycle, launch Soyuz, French Guiana
Visible and near IR
Launches: HR1A Dec 17,2011, HR 1B Dec 2, 2012

43. Spain Ingenio (SEOSAT) U. K. 2.5 m panchromatic resolution
10 meter Multispectral
2012 launch
Radar imager to follow
U. K.
2.5 m resolution
Launched Oct 27, 2005
Build under the British National Space Centre Mosaic Program
Surrey Satellite Technology (SSTL), QinetIQ, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

44. GÖKTÜRK-2 Earth Observations Satellite
Turkey
GÖKTÜRK-2 Earth Observations Satellite
Launch by China on Dec 18, 2012, 98 deg inclination orbit, 700 km
Pushbroom imager, 20 km swath
Repeat cycle: 2 to 5 days
Resolution: 2.5 m panchromatic, 10 m, 5 bands: B,G,R,Near IR, SWIR
Nigeria Sat-2
Resolution: 32m, 300 km swath, multispectral 5m, 20 km swath
Launched Aug 17, 2011, built by British SSTL
Nigeria Sat-X
Resolution: 22m, 600 km swath

45. OrbView - 1 launched April 3, 1995 OrbView - 2 launched Aug. 1, 1997
Orbital Imaging Corp.
OrbView - 1 launched April 3, 1995
OrbView - 2 launched Aug. 1, 1997
Panchromatic, 1 m resolution
Multispectral, 4 m resolution
Pointable ± 45 degrees, Sun Synchronous
repeat coverage on the ground of <3 days.
OrbView - 3 launched June 26, 2003
Orb View - 4 launch Sept launch failed to reach orbit
Hyperspectral 280 channels, swath 5 km, 4m resolution

46. Earthwatch Inc. (merged with Ball Aerospace in 1995)
Early Bird launch - Dec. 24, (failed after 4 days)
Quick Bird - 1 launch - launch failure 4 bands
B, G, R, NIR,
66 deg orbit, revisit 1-5 days
resolution - 4 m multispectral, 1 m panchromatic
704 km swath, scene 22 x 22 km
Russian launch vehicle
Quickbird - 2 launched - Oct. 18, 2001

47. ImageSat International Joint venture by Israel Aircraft Industries &
Core Software Technology
receiving station on Cyprus
EROS-A1 Satellite
Launch - Dec. 5, 2000
Pan µ m m resolution pointable sensor
15 day repeat
10 bit imagery, swath = 14 km (9666 pixels)
EROS-B1 Satellite
Launch - pending
15 day repeat ( 3 days with pointing)
1 m resolution - 20 km swath (20,000 pixels)

48. China-Brazil
Haiyung 1 - launched May 15, 2002
9 Bands
5 bands - 20 m res., 3 bands 80 m res., 1 band m res.
Cross Track Stereo
900 km wide swath
26 day repeat Sun Synchronous orbit
Tsinghua - 1 launched June 28, 2000
CBERS-1 - (4 band 3 m) launched Oct 14, 1999, deactivated 2003
CBERS-2 - (4 band 3 m) launch 2003, deactivated 2007
CBERS 2-B launch Sept 19, 2007, 20 m resolution, 113 km swath, 26 day repeat, 4 bands
CBERS-3 – launch failed
CBERS-4 – early December 2014 launch

49. China
Feng Yun Meteorological satellites
Some are geosynchronous
Some are in low Earth Orbit (LEO) – Sun Synchronous
See:

50. KH-11
National Imagery and Mapping Agency-
Previous known as the National Reconnaissance Office
Resolution < 0.3 m
not available to the public
Skybox Imaging
Skysat-1 launch 2013, 450 km orbit, Sun Synchronous
Skysat-2 launch March 27, 2014, identical to Skysat-1

51. Argentina SAC-C Launched Nov. 21, 2000
Comision Nacional de Actividades Especiales (CONAE)
SAC-D launched on the NASA Aquarius Satellite June 2011 (on a Delta)
Lost power June 8, 2015
Aquarius by NASA
ROSA by Italy
SODAD by CNES (France)
CONAE instruments
Microwave Radiometer (MWR)
Infra-red Camera (NIRST)
High Sensitivity Camera (HSC)
Data Collection System (DCS)
Technological Demonstration Package (TDP)

52. Israel
Ofek-5 Remote Sensing Satellite launched 2002
Ofek-6 failed due to 3rd stage malfunction Sept. 7, 2004

53. Korea
Kompsat-2 - Launched July 28, 2006
1 meter resolution, operational July 2007
Kompsat-3 - Launch May 17, 2012 by JAXA
resolution: 0.7 m Pan, 2.8 m B,G,R, near IR
Kompsat-5 - Launch Aug 13, x-band radar
1 m resolution, similar to Germany’s SAR-x
900 km wide swath
26 day repeat Sun Synchronous orbit
Taiwan
Formosat-2 Launch May 19, 2004
2 meter resolution

54. $400 image processing software allows detail analysis
Google Earth
Probably uses Geoeye-1 images (color at .4 m)
$400 image processing software allows detail analysis

55. Topex/Poseidon (Joint USA/French)
Launched Aug. 10, 1992 into a 1,336 km orbit at 66 deg. inc.
Repeat coverage - each 10 days.
Jason - launched Dec. 7, 2001, similar to Topex/Poseidon
Jason measures ocean height with 4.2 cm accuracy for
Monitoring El Nino and Ocean eddies.
Jason - 2 launch June 15, 2008.
Jason – 3 launch Jan. 17, 2016
LRA: Laser retroreflector array
Poseidon-2: A solid state radar altimeter
JMR: Microwave radiometer

56. TOMS-1
launched 1978 on Nimbus 7 to measure stratospheric ozone
failed May 1993
TOMS-2
launched on Russian Meteor 3 on Aug 1991
Chopper motor failed Dec. 23, 1994
TOMS-4 (on ADEOS)
Launched Aug. 17, 1996 into 98.6 deg orbit, failed June 30, 1997
Earth Probe Launched July 2, currently in operation

57. TOMS Concluded
Solar UV Backscatter in 1 nm bands at 309, 313, 318, 322, 331, and 360 nm
Scans 51 degrees either side of nadir (3000 km wide swath)
Resolution 50 km, 11:30 am local time sun synchronous, Altitude 955 km
Sulfur Dioxide from volcanic eruptions is detectable in these bands.'
Coverage goes back to Nimbus 7 in October 1978.
QuickTOMS - launch in Sept failed to reach orbit.
TOMS Launch on Russian Meteor

58. SEAWIFS
Designed as a follow up to the highly successful
Coast Zone Color Scanner (CZCS).
Launched - August 1, 1997
2-day global coverage via GAC (Global Area Coverage) format
LAC (Local Area Coverage) format requests are possible
Resolution 1.1 km LAC and 4.4 km GAC at nadir
For data availability contact

59. SEAWIFS concluded
Eight Bands
nm ctr , ctr , ctr 490
, ctr , ctr , ctr 670
ctr , ctr 865
Radiometric accuracy, 5% each band
10 bit data
Altitude 705 km, swath width, 2800 km (+ or degrees)
equatorial crossing time noon ± 15 min; descending
Design lifetime - 5 yrs

60. International Space Station (ISS)
HREP/RAIDS transferred to ISS Sept 11, 2009
To continue to 2013
Missions |19/20 |21/22 |23/24 |25/26 |27/28 |29/30 |31/32 |33/34|
HREP consists of HICO (Hyperspectral Imager for Coastal Ocean)
Naval Research Laboratory
m (0.01 m bands), 7.6 deg fov
In WORF (Window Observational Research Facility) on ISS
Data archived at NRL Stennis Space Center
water clarity
bottom types
bathymetry
on-shore vegetation maps

61. GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment)
Twin satellites launched March 2002
Making detailed measurements of the Earth's gravity field
Twin GRACE satellites fly in formation one behind the other. A satellite speeds up when it experiences a stronger gravitational field.
This has enabled the detection of shifting ocean currents, desiccation of droughts, draining of lakes, shrinking of ice sheets, and reduction of ground water in Northern Indian.

62. NOAA AVHRR
NOAA Polar Orbiter and DMSP Programs merged in 1995,
became NPOESS (National Polar-Orbiting Operational Env. Sat. Systems)
NOAA satellite (with AVHRR) series started with TIROS - N in 1978
NOAA-15 launched May 13, 1998
NOAA-16 launched Sept. 21, (10:17 am equatorial crossing)
NOAA-17 launched June 4, ( 2:05 pm equatorial crossing)
NOAA May 20, 2005
NOAA - 19 Feb 6, 2009
NOAA – 20 launch 2017
3 DMSP Meteorological Satellites have broken up (F-11, F-12, and F13)
producing debris. Five DMSP satellites are still in service, but they have had power failure issues.

63. NPOESS-1 scheduled January 2013 launch but was cancelled.
The Suomi National Polar-Orbting Partnership (SNPP) satellite was launched in 2011
Instruments: VIIRS (.56 km AVHRR sensor), CrIS (temperature sounder), ATMS (microwave sounder), OMPS (ozone), CERES (effect of clouds on radiation budget)
The Free Flyer 1 and 2 spacecraft will carry radar imagers - launch 2017
NOAA-20, previously called JPSS-1 – launched Nov. 18, 2017
MiRaTA CubeSat (on the JPSS-1 launch) is proof of concept that a microwave capability can be in a smaller package

64. NOAA AVHRR
sun synchronous
Daily coverage
2600 km swath
Nadir resolution is 1.1 km (LAC)
Archived global area coverage (GAC) - 4 km resolution µm µm µm µm µm

65. DMSP
Two sun synchronous satellites used (6:30 am and 9:00 am)
Bands 0.4 to 1.1 mm, mm
Resolution either 0.55 km (Regional Coverage)
2.7 km (global coverage) km swath width
Block 5D-2 (F12 , F13, F14, F15) & 5D-3 (F16)
DMSP - F15 launched Dec. 12, 1999.
DMSP - F16 launched Oct. 18, (7:54 am equator crossing)
DMSP - F17 launched Nov 4, 2007
DMSP - F19 Oct 18, 2009
DMSP - F-20 Oct 2011
Microwave Imager
19, 22, 37 and 85 GHz
1400 km swath width
available thru the NOAA/NGDC (National Geophy. Data Center)

66. U. S. - GOES system resolution in the visible of 1 km and 8 km
in the infrared at 30 minute intervals.
GOES 10 launched April 25, 1997 (135 deg W)
Visible Channel ( µm) x 0.78 km 6 bits
IR Channel x 7 km bits
GOES 9 launched May 23, 1995
Sounding & Imaging capability over the entire hemisphere
Each 15 minutes , located 75 deg W
19 channels provide Temperature and Moisture profiles
GOES L Launched May 3, 2000
GOES M launched July 23, (GOES East, 75 deg W)
GOES N launched May 24, 2006
GOES launched June 27, 2009
GOES launched March 4, 2010
GOES - R – Nov. 19, x channels, 4x resolution, 30 sec scan
GOES - S - ?

67. Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)
Joint NASA and JAXA satellite
Monitors Tropical Rainfall
Launched 1997
35 degree inclination - complicated repeat pattern
Not sun synchronous
Follow on to TRMM, the GPM was launched Feb 28, 2014
Precipitation Radar (PR) (wavelength 2.17 cm, 13.8 GHz)
Images each grid each 3rd day
Microwave Imager (TMI) (10, 19, 22, 37, and 85 GHz)
Images every grid each day (different local time)
Visible and Infrared Scanner (VIRS) (0.63, 1.6, 3.75, 10.8 & 12.0 m)
Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)
Images every grid twice per day
Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS)

68. Meteosat (Eumetsat)
Geosynchronous system
Full hemisphere image each 30 minutes
Meteosat
Meteosat
Meteosat (50 degrees west, being used by the U. S.)
Meteosat 4 - backup for Meteosat 5
Meteosat 5 - reactivated & moved to 63 degrees East (Saudi & India)
Meteosat 6 - in stand by mode at 9 deg W
Meteosat 7 - launched Sept. 9, 1997, Indian Ocean, decommissioned May 2017.
MSG-1 - launched Aug. 28, 2002, 3.4 deg W
MSG-2 - launched Dec 21, 2005 (Eumetsat, Metop)
MSG-3 - launch expected June 19, 2012
METOP-A - Launched Oct 19, 2006 from Baikonur
METOP-B

69. India
Metsat 1 launched Sept 12, 2002
Renamed Kalpana-1 in honor
of the Columbia astronaut.
Japan
Himawari 5 - launched March 18, 1995
Geosynchronous satellite
MTSat-1R- Feb 24, 2005
MTSat-2 Feb 18, 2006

70. Russia
Meteor 3M-N1 - launched Dec. 10, 2001
Meteor 3M-N2 - launched Dec 2004
Polar orbiting Metsat similar to the US NOAA series.
GOMS-N1- Geosynchronous Meteorological Satelite
Launched Oct. 31, 1994, Locate at 76o 50 ' E
GOMS-N2 - Launched Dec 2005
visible µ m
IR µ m
IR µ m on GOMS-2

71. China
FY-2B Feng Yun geostationary met satellite - June 26, 2000
FY-2C
FY-2D
FY-2E
FY-1D Polar Orbiter May 15, 2002
FSW-3 5 A recoverable imaging satellite - March 2005

72. Orbital debris
19,000 objects > 10 cm
150,000 objects > 1 cm
China's antisatellite test Jan 11, 2007 was the worst debris creating event.