Landsat 5 TM

NASA/USGS

705 km

Sun-synchronous

30 m

120 m

185 km

Every 16 days

Equator at ~09h45 (local time)

since March 1, 1984

Note: First Landsat Mission in 1972

B1: 0.45-0.52 μm (30 m)

B2: 0.52-0.60 μm (30 m)

B3: 0.63-0.69 μm (30 m)

B4: 0.76-0.90 μm (30 m)

B5: 1.55-1.75 μm (30 m)

B6: 10.4-12.5 μm (120 m) (IR)

B7: 2.08-2.35 μm (30 m)

Free access, use and redistribution;

oceanography, aerosols, bathymetry, vegetation types, peak vegetation, biomass content analysis, moisture analysis, thermal mapping, mineral deposit identification

^[1][2]

Landsat 7 ETM+

NASA/USGS

705 km

Sun-synchronous

15 m

30 m

60 m

183 km

Every 16 days

Equator at ~10h00 (local time)

since April 15, 1999

B1: 0.45-0.515 μm (30 m)

B2: 0.525-0.605 μm (30 m)

B3: 0.63-0.69 μm (30 m)

B4: 0.75-0.90 μm (30 m)

B5: 1.55-1.75 μm (30 m)

B6: 10.4-12.5 μm (60 m)

B7: 2.09-2.35 μm (30 m)

B8: 0.52-0.9 μm (15 m)

Free access, use and redistribution;

oceanography, aerosols, bathymetry, vegetation types, peak vegetation, biomass content analysis, moisture analysis, thermal mapping, mineral deposit identification

^[1][2]

Landsat 8

OLI (B1-B9)

TIRS (B10-B11)

NASA/USGS

705 km

Sun-synchronous

15 m

30 m

60 m

100 m

185 km

Every 16 days

Equator at ~10h00 (local time)

since

February 11, 2013

B1: 0.433–0.453 μm (30 m)

B2: 0.450–0.515 μm (30 m)

B3: 0.525–0.600 μm (30 m)

B4: 0.630–0.680 μm (30 m)

B5: 0.845–0.885 μm (30 m)

B6: 1.560–1.660 μm (60 m)

B7: 2.100–2.300 μm (30 m)

B8: 0.500–0.680 μm (15 m)

B9: 1.360–1.390 μm (30 m)

B10: 10.6-11.2 μm (100 m) (IR)

B11: 11.5-12.5 μm (100 m) (IR)

Free access, use and redistribution;

oceanography, aerosols, bathymetry, vegetation types, peak vegetation, biomass content analysis, moisture analysis, cloud cover analysis, thermal mapping, soil moisture estimation

^[1][2][3]

AVHRR/3

^{Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer}

NOAA/USGS

830–870 km

Sun-synchronous

1090 m

833 km

Twice daily; entire planet

since May 1998

AVHRR/1 (1978)

AVHRR/2 (1981; continuous data since 1981)

B1: 0.58 - 0.68 μm (1.09 km)

B2: 0.725 - 1.00 μm (1.09 km)

B3A: 1.58 - 1.64 μm (1.09 km)

B3B: 3.55 - 3.93 μm (1.09 km)

B4: 10.30 - 11.30 μm (1.09 km)

B5: 11.50 - 12.50 μm (1.09 km)

Free access, use and redistribution;

cloud and surface mapping, land-water bounds, recognition of snow and ice, sea surface temperatures and cloud cover analysis at night

^[4][5][6]

MODIS

^{Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer}

NASA

705 km

Sun-synchronous

250 m (B1-B2)

500 m (B3-B7)

1000 m (B8-B36)

2330 km

Daily; equator at ~10h30 and 13h30 (local time)

Terra: December 18, 1999

Aqua: May 4, 2002

B1: 620 - 670 nm

B2: 841 - 876 nm

B3: 459 - 479 nm

B4: 545 - 565 nm

B5: 1230 - 1250 nm

B6: 1628 - 1652 nm

B7: 2105 - 2155 nm

B8: 405 - 420 nm

B9: 438 - 448 nm

B10: 483 - 493 nm

B11: 526 - 536 nm

B12: 546 - 556 nm

B13: 662 - 672 nm

B14: 673 - 683 nm

B15: 743 - 753 nm

B16: 862 - 877 nm

B17: 890 - 920 nm

B18: 931 - 941 nm

B19: 915 - 965 nm

B20: 3.660 - 3.840 μm

B21: 3.929 - 3.989 μm

B22: 3.929 - 3.989 μm

B23: 4.020 - 4.080 μm

B24: 4.433 - 4.498 μm

B25: 4.482 - 4.549 μm

B26: 1.360 - 1.390 μm

B27: 6.535 - 6.895 μm

B28: 7.175 - 7.475 μm

B29: 8.400 - 8.700 μm

B30: 9.580 - 9.880 μm

B31: 10.780 - 11.280 μm

B32: 11.770 - 12.270 μm

B33: 13.185 - 13.485 μm

B34: 13.485 - 13.785 μm

B35: 13.785 - 14.085 μm

B36: 14.085 - 14.385 μm

Free access, use and redistribution;

aerosols, land and cloud boundaries and properties, ocean biology, biogeochemistry, atm. water vapour, sea surface and atmospheric temperature, cloud analysis

^[7][8]

QuickBird

Digital Globe

482 km

450 km

Sun-synchronous

65 cm B/W

2.62 m RGBiR

61 cm B/W

2.44 m RGBiR

16.8 km –

18 km

Every 2.4-5.9 days, equator at 10h30 (local time)

since October 18, 2001

B/W: 405-1053 nm

R: 430 - 545 nm

G: 466 - 620 nm

B: 590 - 710 nm

NIR: 715 - 918 nm

Data needs to be purchased from DigitalGlobe or a commercial reseller; if imagery is not available in archive, special request can be made

mapping, change detection, planning (engineering, natural resources, urban, infrastructure), land-use, EIA, tourism, military, crop management, environmental monitoring

^[9][10][11]

GOES

^{Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite}

NOAA

35 790 km

Geostationary

1 km

4 km

8 km

Pacific Ocean, Americas and Atlantic (160°E to 20°W)

captures and sends data at various intervals; up to 8 per hour in the Continental US

First Mission 1978

B1 (Visible) (1 km)

B2 (Shortwave) (4 km)

B3 (Moisture) (8 km (4 km GOES 12/13/14/15))

B4 (Longwave 1) (4 km)

B5 and 6 (Longwave 2) (4 km)

GOES also has remote sensing equipment to detect space weather.

Free access, use and redistribution;

weather tracking, water vapour analysis, meteorology and atmospheric science

^[12][13][14]

Ikonos

Digital Globe

681 km

Sun-synchronous

80 cm B/W

3.2 m RBGiR

11.3 km

every 3 days

launch September 24, 1999

B/W: 445-900 nm

B: 445-516 nm

G: 506-595 nm

R: 632-698 nm

NiR: 757-853 nm

Data needs to be purchased from DigitalGlobe or a commercial reseller; if imagery is not available in archive, special request can be made

mapping, change detection, planning (engineering, natural resources, urban, infrastructure), land-use, EIA, tourism, military, crop management, environmental monitoring

^[11][15]

SPOT

^{Satellite pour l’Observation de la Terre}

EADS Astrium

694 km

Sun-synchronous

2.5 m

5 m

10 m

20 m

60 km

every 1–3 days

SPOT1 launched in 1986

SPOT6 launched in 2012

B/W: 0.450-0.745 μm

R: 0.625-0.695 μm

G: 0.530-0.590 μm

B: 0.450-0.520 μm

NiR: 0.760-0.890 μm

Data needs to be purchased from EADS Astrium; if imagery is not available in archive, special request can be made

mapping, change detection, planning (engineering, natural resources, urban, infrastructure), land-use, EIA, tourism, military, crop management, environmental monitoring

^[11][16][17]

RADARSAT

Canadian Space Agency

MDA

RADARSAT1

793–821 km

RADARSAT-2

798 km

RADARSAT Constellation

592,7 km

8–100 m

3x1m–100x100m

3x1m–100x100m

45–500 km

18–500 m

5-500 km

14 (14,92 Constellation) orbits per day; at equator: 6h00 and 18h00 (local)

RADARSAT 1 launched on November 4, 1995

RADARSAT 2 launched on December 14, 2007

RADARSAT Constellation to be launched in 2018

Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)

Data needs to be purchased from MDA for commercial purposes; available for research through the SOAR partnership from MDA and the Government of Canada

environmental monitoring, ice monitoring, marine surveillance, disaster management, hydrology, mapping, geology, agriculture and forestry

^[18][19]

ASTER

^{Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflectance Radiometer}

NASA

Government of Japan

705 km

Sun-synchronous

15–90 m

60 km

Daily; equator at ~10h30 (local)

since December 18, 1999 (on Terra)

B1: 0.520–0.600 μm (15 m)

B2: 0.630–0.690 μm (15 m)

B3: 0.760–0.860 μm (15 m)

B4: 0.760–0.860 μm (15 m)

B5: 1.600–1.700 μm (30 m)

B6: 2.145–2.185 μm (30 m)

B7: 2.185–2.225 μm (30 m)

B8: 2.235–2.285 μm (30 m)

B9: 2.295–2.365 μm (30 m)

B10: 2.360–2.430 μm (30 m)

B11: 8.125–8.475 μm (90 m)

B12: 8.475–8.825 μm (90 m)

B13: 8.925–9.275 μm (90 m)

B14: 10.250–10.950 μm (90 m)

B15: 10.950–11.650 μm (90 m)

Data needs to be purchased for commercial purposes;

Educational use and NASA-supported research permitted

vegetation, ecosystem dynamics, hazard and disaster monitoring, change detection, earth science, land cover analysis

^[20][21][22]

Sentinel-2 MSI

ESA

705 km

Sun-synchronous

10 m

20 m

60 m

185 km

Every 5 days (combined satellite constellation)

Equator at ~010h30 (local time)

since June 23, 2015

B1: ~442.7 nm (60 m) (Coastal Aerosol)

B2: ~492.4 nm (10 m) (Blue)

B3: ~559.8 nm (10 m) (Green)

B4: ~664.6 nm (10 m) (Red)

B5: ~704.1 nm (20 m) (Red Edge)

B6: ~740.5 nm (20 m) (Red Edge)

B7: ~782.8 nm (20 m) (Red Edge)

B8: ~832.8 nm (10 m) (NIR)

B8a: ~864.7 nm (20 m) (Narrow NIR)

B9: ~945.1 nm (60 m) (Water Vapor)

B10: ~1373.5 nm (60 m) (SWIR - Cirrus)

B11: ~1613.7 nm (20 m) (SWIR)

B12: ~2202.4 nm (20 m) (SWIR)

Free access, use and redistribution;

oceanography, aerosols, bathymetry, vegetation types, peak vegetation, biomass content analysis, moisture analysis, thermal mapping, mineral deposit identification

^[23][24]