A
Remote Sensing Systems
Table A.1 on pages 56-61 presents selected historical, current, and planned remote sensing systems operated by governmental, commercial, and public-private (government and commercial) organizations that provide data of value for scientific research.
TABLE A.1 Selected Government, Commercial, and Public-Private Remote Sensing Systems
Remote Sensing System |
Data Acquisition Model |
Operator |
Launch (end service date) |
Capability: Spatial/Spectral Resolution |
Revisit in Days |
Status |
U. S. Data Providers |
||||||
Landsat 3 RBV MSS |
Government |
NASA and NOAA |
1978 (1983) |
1 RBV band at 40 m 4 MSS bands at 80 m 1 MSS TIR band at 240 m |
18 |
Retired |
Landsat 4 TM MSS |
Public-Private |
EOSAT, Inc. Space Imaging, Inc. NASA |
1982 (1987) |
6 TM bands at 30 m 1 TM TIR band at 120 m 4 MSS bands at 80 m |
16 |
Retired |
Landsat 5 TM MSS |
Public-Private |
EOSAT, Inc. Space Imaging, Inc. NASA |
1984 |
6 TM bands at 30 m 1 TM TIR band at 120 m 4 MSS bands at 80 m |
16 |
Operational |
Landsat 6 ETM |
Commercial |
EOSAT, Inc. |
1993 |
1 ETM Pan band at 15 m 6 ETM bands at 30 m 1 ETM TIR band at 60 m |
16 |
Failed |
Landsat 7 ETM+ |
Government |
USGS EROS Data Center |
1999 |
1 ETM+ Pan band at 15 m 6 ETM+ bands at 30 m 1 ETM+ TIR band at 60 m |
16 |
Operational |
Landsat Follow-on |
Public-Private |
TBD |
2003 |
TBD |
TBD |
Planned |
AVHRR |
Government |
NOAA |
1970s to present |
2 MS bands at 1.1 km 3 MS TIR bands at 1.1 km |
Daily |
Operational |
IKONOS 1 Pan MS |
Commercial |
Space Imaging, Inc. |
1999 |
1 Pan band at 0.82–1 m 4 MS bands at 4 m |
3 to 5 |
Failed |
IKONOS 2 |
Commercial |
Space Imaging, Inc. |
1999 |
1 Pan band at 0.82–1 m 4 MS bands at 4 m |
3 to 5 |
Operational |
IKONOS 3 |
Commercial |
Space Imaging, Inc. |
2003 |
0.5 Pan band at <1 m 2 MS bands at 4 m |
3 to 5 |
Planned |
Earlybird |
Commercial |
EarthWatch, Inc. (now DigitalGlobe, Inc.) |
1997 |
1 Pan band at 3 m 3 MS bands at 15 m |
1 to 5 |
Failed |
QuickBird 1 |
Commercial |
EarthWatch, Inc. (now DigitalGlobe, Inc.) |
2000 |
1 Pan band at 1 m 4 MS bands at 4 m |
1 to 5 |
Failed |
QuickBird 2 |
Commercial |
EarthWatch, Inc (now DigitalGlobe, Inc.) |
Oct. 2001 |
1 Pan band at 61 cm 4 MS bands a |
1 to 5 |
Operational |
OrbView 2 (SeaWiFS) |
Public-Private |
OrbImage, Inc. |
1997 |
8 MS bands at 1.13 km |
1 |
Operational |
OrbView 3 |
Public-Private |
OrbImage, Inc. |
2002 |
1 Pan band at 1 m 4 MS bands at 4 m |
<3 |
Planned |
Remote Sensing System |
Data Acquisition Model |
Operator |
Launch (end service date) |
Capability: Spatial/Spectral Resolution |
Revisit in Days |
Status |
OrbView 4 |
Public-Private |
OrbImage, Inc. |
2001 |
1 Pan band at 1 m 4 MS bands at 4 m 8-m hyperspectral data (can sell reprocessed 20-m hyperspectral data to nongovernment [approved] entities) |
<3 |
Failed |
Terra Satellite |
Government |
NASA |
2000 |
|
Variable |
|
ASTER |
|
4 MS bands at 15 m 6 SWIR bands at 30 m 5 TIR bands at 60 m |
|
Operational |
||
MISR |
|
4 MS bands at 9 look angles from 275 m to 1.1 km |
|
Operational |
||
MODIS |
|
2 MS bands at 250 m 5 MS bands at 500 m 12 MS bands at 1 km 7 SWIR bands at 1 km 10 TIR bands at 1 km |
|
Operational |
European Data Providers |
||||||
SPOT 1-2 |
Public-Private |
Spot Image, Inc. |
1986 and 1990 |
1 Pan band at 10 m 3 MS bands at 20 m |
1 to 4 |
Standby in 1990 |
SPOT 3 |
Public-Private |
Spot Image, Inc. |
1993 (1996) |
1 Pan band at10 m 3 MS bands at 20 m |
1 to 4 |
Failed |
SPOT 4 |
Public-Private |
Spot Image, Inc. |
1998 |
1 Pan band at 10 m 3 MS bands at 20 m 1 SWIR band at 20 m 4 vegetation bands at 1.15 km |
1 to 4 |
Operational |
SPOT 5 |
Public-Private |
Spot Image, Inc. |
2003 |
1 Pan band at 2.5 m 3 MS bands at 10 m 1 SWIR band at 10 m 4 vegetation bands at 1.15 km |
1 to 4 |
Planned |
ERS-1 |
Government |
ESA |
1991 |
30–50-m SAR |
3 to 35 |
Operational |
ERS-2 |
Government |
ESA |
1995 |
30–50-m SAR |
3 to 35 |
Operational |
ENVISAT |
Government |
ESA |
2001 |
30-m SAR |
3 to 35 |
Operational |
SPIN-N KVR-1000 |
Government |
Russian Sovinformsputnik |
1992 [available publicly in 2000] |
1 band at 2 m |
45 days in orbit, each launch |
Operational |
Remote Sensing System |
Data Acquisition Model |
Operator |
Launch (end service date) |
Capability: Spatial/Spectral Resolution |
|
Revisit in Days |
Status |
Canadian Data Providers |
|||||||
Radarsat 1a |
Government |
Canadian Space Agency |
1995 |
8-m SAR at various resolutions |
|
3 to 24 |
Operational |
Radarsat 2 |
Public-Private |
Canadian Space Agency and McDonald Detwiller, Inc. |
2004 |
3-m SAR at various resolutions |
|
3 to 24 |
Planned |
Other Data Providers |
|||||||
EROS A1 |
Commercial |
ImageSat, Int. |
2000 |
1 Pan band at 1.8m |
1 to 4 (depends on number of satellites in orbit) |
Operational |
|
EROS B1 |
Commercial |
ImageSat, Int. |
2003 |
1 Pan band at 0.82 m |
Planned |
||
EROS B2 |
Commercial |
ImageSat, Int. |
2003 |
1 Pan band at 0.82 m |
Planned |
||
EROS B3 |
Commercial |
ImageSat, Int. |
2004 |
1 Pan band at 0.82 m |
Planned |
||
EROS B4 |
Commercial |
ImageSat, Int. |
2004 |
1 Pan band at 0.82 m |
Planned |
||
EROS B5 |
Commercial |
ImageSat, Int. |
2004 |
1 Pan band at 0.82 m |
Planned |
||
EROS B6 |
Commercial |
ImageSat, Int. |
2004 |
1 Pan band at 0.82 m |
Planned |
||
IRS-1 A |
Government |
Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) |
1988 |
4 MS bands at 36.25 and 72.5 m |
|
22 |
Operational |
IRS-1 B |
Government |
ISRO |
1991 |
4 MS bands at 36.25 m and 72.5 m |
22 |
Operational |
|
IRS-1 C |
Government |
ISRO |
1995 |
1 Pan band at 5.8 m 3 MS bands at 23 m 1 SWIR band at 70 m 2 MS bands at 188 m |
5 to 24 |
Operational |
IRS-1 D |
Government |
ISRO |
1997 |
1 Pan band at 5.8 m 3 MS bands at 23 m 1 SWIR band at 70 m 2 MS bands at 188 m |
5 to 24 |
Operational |
NOTE: All acronyms are defined in Appendix D; TBD, to be determined. aRadarsat 1 is noted as a government system because it was funded by the Canadian government. SOURCES: Commercial and government remote sensing data-provider Web sites; Yahya A. Dehquanzad cial Satellite Imagery Will Change the World, Washington, D. C., Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2000; John R. Jensen, Remote Sensing of the Environment: An Earth Resource Perspective, Upper Saddle River, N. J., Prentice-Hall, 2000; and William E. Stoney, “Summary of Land Imaging Satellites Planned to Be Operational by 2006,” Mitretek Systems, July 2, 2001, available online at <http://www.asprs.org/news>. |