Land Observation Satellites

Dr. M. M. Yagoub 

E-mail :myagoub@uaeu.ac.ae

E-mail: myagoub@hotmail.com

URL : http://faculty.uaeu.ac.ae/~myagoub

URL : http://www.angelfire.com/mo/yagoub

Type of Remote Sensing

Source Sun Object Transmitted by Remote sensing

System

Visible - Reflective infrared

Thermal infrared Microwave

Object Reflectance Thermal radiation(temperature, emissivity)

Backscatteringcoefficient

Visible Reflective infrared - Thermal infrared Microwave

0.4 m 0.7 m 1 mm

Electro-magneti

cSpectrum

10 m3.0 m

Sensor Optical Sensor System RADAR System

WavelengthRegion

Key characteristics of Optical Sensor

example

Spectral characteristics

SPOT (HRV/XS)

- Number of spectral bands

3 bands

- wavelength of each band

0.49 - 0.59 m

0.61 - 0.68 m

0.79 - 0.89 m

Spatial characteristics

- Image swath

60 km

- Spatial resolution

20 m

Tow major characteristics of image data acquired by optical sensor system are keys for applications.

Landsat

Landsat 1-3

• Launched in 1972 at an altitude of 912 Km

• Onboard sensors are Returned Beam Videcon (RBV) camera Multi Spectral Scanner (MSS) with 4 bands and resolution 80m

• Ground swath width 185 Km

• Temporal resolution 18 days

• End of operation 1983

Landsat -continue

Landsat 4-5

• Launched in 1982 at an altitude of 705 Km

• Onboard sensors are MSS (80m) and Thematic Mapper (TM) with 6 bands and resolution 30m and one band in the Infra-Red (IR) with a resolution of 120m

• Ground swath width 185 Km

• Temporal resolution 16 days

• Landsat 6: Launched in 1983 and failed

Landsat -continueLandsat 7

• Launched on 15 April 1999 at an altitude of 705 Km

• Onboard sensors are (TM 30m) and Enhanced Thematic Mpper plus (ETM+) with a resolution of 30m, 15m in panchromatic band and Thermal IR with 60m resolution (10.4-12.5 )

• Ground swath width 185 Km• Temporal resolution 16 days • Joint program between NASA, NOAA, and USGS

LANDSAT 7 Satellite & Orbital Characteristics

• Swath width 185 kilometers• Image Sidelap 7.3% (0° lat.) to 83.9% (80° lat.)• Repeat coverage interval 16 days (233 orbits)• Period of Revolution 98.8 minutes• Altitude 705 kilometers, near-circular• Sensor Type Opto-mechanical scanner• Quantization Best 8 of 9 bits• On-board data storage ~375 Gb (solid state)• Orbit Near-polar, sun-synchronous• Inclination 98.2 degrees• Equatorial crossing: Descending node: 10:00am +/- 15 min.

• View Nadir• Launch vehicle Delta II• Launch date April 15, 1999

Landsat 7 ETM+ Imagery• Researchers familiar with earlier Landsat 4 and 5 data will note the

addition of a 15-meter panchromatic band, two gain ranges, the improved 60-meter spatial resolution for the thermal band, and the addition of two solar calibrators that contribute to improved radiometric calibration accuracy

• Imagery is available from EROS Data Center DAAC in Level 0R (essentially raw data), 1R (radiometrically corrected 0R) and 1G (radiometrically and systematically corrected 0R) processing levels. During processing, the 0R image data undergo two-dimensional resampling according to user-specified parameters including output map projection, rotation angle, pixel size, and resampling kernel. Standard data are provided via CD, 8mm tape or electronically via FTP

Landsat summary

15/4/99

Sensors on LANDSAT

• MSS– 80 m resolution

• TM– 30 m resolution

VisibleB G R

Near IR Mid IR Thermal IR

41

63

74

52

VisibleB G R

Near IR Mid IR Thermal IR

1 4 5 7 62 3

LANDSAT Satellites

The first three LANDSATs

occupied spare Nimbus

platforms.

LANDSAT-4 and -5 is a

modified used modified TIROS

platform.

Multispectral

Scanner

(MSS)

Return Beam Vidicon

(RBV)

solar

array

solar

array

high gain

antenna

Thematic Mapper

(TM)

Multispectral

Scanner

(MSS)

LANDSAT Satellite Orbit

The groundtrack of a Sun-synchronous

satellite for a single day.

LANDSAT Satellite Orbit

LANDSAT World Reference System (WRS)

The standard worldwide reference system as defined for Landsat series.

The WRS indexes orbits (paths) and scene centers (rows) into a global grid

system comprising 233 paths by 248 rows.

185 km

1 2 3 4 5 70.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Wavelength in micron

6

10 11 12 13 Wavelength in micron

1 2 3 4 5 76 0.45 - 0.52 m 0 .52 - 0.60 m 0.63 - 0.69 m 0.76 - 0.90 m 1.55 - 1.75 m

2.08 - 2.35 m 10.4 - 12.5 m

LANDSAT Thematic Mapper (TM)

Visible

Blue

Visible

Green

Visible

Red

NearInfrare

d

Short Wave

Infrared

Short Wave

Infrared

ThermalInfrared

Band 123

Band 234

Band 145

Band 257

Color Composite Images of LANDSAT TM

Band combinations, Colors and Reflectance Spectra

UV Visible infrared (IR)

Electromagnetic Spectrum

GreenVegetation

DryVegetation

Soil

Ref

lect

ance

0.6

0.4

0.2

0.0

Wavelength (mm)0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5

Band 123

Band 234

1 2 3 4 5 7

LANDSAT TM

The SPOT orbit

• SPOT 1,2,3,4 launched in 1986, 90,93, 97 and SPOT 5 will be launched by 2001

• Altitude of 822 km, inclination 98 deg. (i.e near-polar orbit) (circular)

• The orbital plane have a constant angle relative to the Sun direction (sun-synchronous)

• Repeat access to any particular point at regular intervals (26 days) (Phased)

The SPOT payload

• The SPOT payload comprises two identical HRV (High Resolution Visible) imaging instruments, two tape recorders for image data, and a payload telemetry package for image transmission to ground receiving stations

• Each HRV offers an oblique viewing capability, the viewing angle being adjustable through +/- 27deg. relative to the vertical

• The unique characteristics of SPOT imagery is the ability to obtain Stereoscopic View which is important in 3D applications

HRV (High Resolution Visible) imaging instruments

HRV 2HRV 1

3 Km

60 Km

Orbit

117 Km

SPOT imaging

Imaging modes

• Two imaging modes are employed,

panchromatic (P) and multispectral (XS).

Both HRVs can operate in either mode, either

simultaneously or individually

• The panchromatic band covers 0.51

to 0.73 µm. This single channel

imaging mode supplies only black and white

images with a pixel of 10 m

Imaging modes -continue

• "XS" multispectral mode imaging is performed in three spectral bands. The bands used are band XS1 covering 0.50 to 0.59 µm (green), band XS2 covering 0.61 to 0.68 µ m (red) and band XS3 covering 0.79 to 0.89 µm (near infrared)

• By combining the data recorded in these channels, color composite images can be produced with a pixel size of 20 meters

SPOT’s Sensors

• Multispectral mode – 20 meter resolution– 3 channels

• Panchromatic mode– 10 meter resolution

VisibleB G R

Near IR Mid IR Thermal IR

1 2 3

1

SPOT

Stereo Pair

India’s IRS - 1C Satellite• One of a series of satellites• launched in 1995

– sunsynchronous orbit (10:30)– 817 km height

• Three Detectors– WiFS for low resolution/large area applications– LISS - 3 is similar to LANDSAT but with less

channels– PAN has the highest resolution of commercial

satellites

IRS-1C’s Sensors

• WiFS– whiskbroom– 188m resolution– 810 km swath– 5 day revisit

LISS - 3– pushbroom– 23.5m resolution

70 m for Mid IR

– 142 km swath– 24 day repeat

IRS 1C’s Sensors• PAN

– pushbroom that can be steered– 5.8 m resolution– 70 km swath– 24 day revisit

VisibleB G R

Near IR Mid IR Thermal IR

a b

2

1

3 54

IKONOS SatelliteThe IKONOS satellite was launched on September 24, 1999 into a sun-synchronous, near-polar, circular low-earth orbit with an altitude of 681 kilometres above the earth, inclination of 98.1 degrees, orbit time of 98 minutes, and swath width of 11 km. It simultaneously collects one-meter resolution black-and-white (panchromatic) images and four-meter resolution colour (multispectral) images. The revisit frequency of the satellite is 2.9 days at 1-meter resolution and 1.5 days at 1.5-meter resolution. Moreover, users can acquire IKONOS imagery according to programmed requests based on client's Area of Interest (AOI) co-ordinates. For more details refer to:http://www.spaceimaging.com

Band Wavelength Resolution

4 0.50 - 0.60m80m

5 0.60 - 0.70m80m

6 0.70 - 0.80m80m

7 0.80 - 1.10m80m

1 0.45 - 0.52m

30m2 0.52 - 0.60m

30m3 0.63 - 0.69m

30m4 0.76 - 0.90m

30m5 1.55 - 1.75m

30m6 10.40 - 12.50m

120m7 2.08 - 2.35m

30m 1 0.49 - 0.59m

20m2 0.61 - 0.68m

20m3 0.79 - 0.89m

20mPan 0.51 - 0.73m

10m 1 0.52 - 0.60m

18m2 0.63 - 0.69m

18m3 0.76 - 0.86m

18m4 0.76 - 0.86m

18m5 1.60 - 1.71m

18m6 2.01 - 2.12m

18m7 2.13 - 2.15m

18m8 2.27 - 2.40m

18m 1 0.58 - 0.68m

1.1km2 0.725 - 1.10m

1.1km3 3.55 - 3.93m

1.1km4 10.3 - 11.3m

1.1km5 11.5 - 12.5m

1.1km

g-ray X-ray UV V IR Microwave

Visible Infrared

LANDSAT (MSS)

LANDSAT (TM)

SPOT (HRV/XS)

JERS-1 (OPS)

NOAA (AVHRR)

SPOT (HRV/PAN)

0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 13.5

4 5 6 7

1 2 3 4 5 7 6

1 2 3

1 2

1 2 3

Band components of major optical sensors

Panchromatic

LANDSAT (MSS/TM)185 x 185 km

SPOT (HRV)60 x 60 km

JERS-1 (OPS)75 x 75 km

IRS-1C(PAN) 70 x 70 km

Earth Observation Satellites- Image coverage and spatial

resolution -

IRS-1C(PAN) 5.8 m

LANDSAT TM (Band 6)120 m

LANDSAT MSS80 m

LANDSAT TM (Band 1-5 & 7) 30 m

JERS-1 (OPS) 18 m

SPOT (HRV/XS) 20 m

SPOT (HRV/PAN) 10 m

IKONOS11 x 11 km IKONOS (PAN)

1m

Geometric characteristics of image data

IFOV (Instantaneous Field Of View) is defined

as the angle which corresponds to the

sampling unit. Information within an IFOV is

represented by a pixel in the image plane.

The maximum angle of view which a sensor

can detect the electromagnetic energy, is

called the FOV (Field OF View). The width on

ground corresponding to the FOV is called

the swath width.

The minimum detectable area, or distance on

the ground is called the ground resolution.

Sometimes the projected area on the ground

corresponding to a image pixel or IFOV also

called the ground resolution.

FOV

IFOV

Ground resolution

Swath width

IRS-1C (5.8m)SPOT Pan (10 m)

LANDSAT TM (30 m)

KVR-1000 (2m)

Comparison of

LANDSAT,SPOT, IRS-1C,

and

Russian KVR-1000

IKONOS 0.84 m resolution Image over the Diet Building, Tokyo, Japan

COMMERCIAL SPACEBORNE INSTRUMENTS FOR EARTH REMOTE SENSING

MSS (80m)TM (30m)

HRV-X (20m)HRV-P (10m)

SAR (30m)LISS-3 (21-23m)Pan (5.2-5.8m)

SAR (10-100m) HRV-X (20m)HRV-P (10m)

Visible infraredNear infraredSW infraredTIR infrared

Visible infrared Microwave Visible infrared Microwave Visible infrared

Visible infraredNear infraredSW infraredTIR infrared

Land use and cover, biomass, geologic,

ice sheet andglacier mapping

Land use and cover, biomass, geologic,

ice sheet andglacier mapping

Oceanographic Studies,

Interferometry

Land use and cover, biomass, geologic,

ice sheet andglacier mapping.

Land use and cover, biomass, geologic,

ice sheet andglacier mapping.

http://www.spotimage.fr

1984 - Feb 1986 -Jan 1990 -

May 1991 -Apr 1995 -

Dec 1995 -Sep 1997 -

Nov 1995 - Mar 1998 - Apr 1999 -

Landsat-5 SPOT-1, 2

ERS-1, 2 IRS-1C, 1D RADARSAT SPOT-4 Landsat-7

SENSORS

RESOLUTIONS

WAVELENGTHS

APPLICATIONS

WEB SITE

LAUNCH DATE ORMISSION

DURATION

http://www.rsi.ca/http://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/landsat/landsat.html

http://earth1.esrin.esa.it/ http://www.nrsa.gov.in http://www.spotimage.frhttp://geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/landsat/landsat.html

Land use and cover, biomass, geologic,

ice sheet andglacier mapping.

TM (30m)Panchromatic (15m)

MappingMonitoring,

DEM, Interfermetry.

HIGH RESOLUTION INSTRUMENTS FOR EARTH REMOTE SENSING

High SpatialResolution (2~15m)

Camera Type

Multispectral (4m)Panchromatic (1m)

Panchromatic (1m)Multispectral (4m) Panchromatic (1m)

Multispectral (4m)

VisibleVisible

Near InfraredVisible

Near InfraredVisible

Near InfraredVisible

Mapping,GIS resource

Mapping and Survering gass and pil,agriculture and fresty,

natinal security,mineral exploration

Mapping and Surveying gas and oil,

agriculture and forestry,national security,

mineral exploration

Mapping,GIS resource

1981 - Sep 1999 - 2000 20001998 -

SPIN-2 IKONOS-1b ORBVIEW-3

QUICBIRDKOMETA

SENSORS

RESOLUTIONS

WAVELENGTHS

APPLICATIONS

WEB SITE

LAUNCH DATE ORMISSION

DURATION

http://www.orbimage.com/

http://www.spin-2.com/http:/geo.arc.nasa.gov/

sge/health/sensor/sensors/ikonos.html

http://yyy.tksc.nasda.go.jp/Home/This

/This_j/adeos2_j.htmlhttp://www.orbimage.com/

MappingGIS resources

KVR-1000 (2m)TK-350 (10m)Camera Type

Mapping and Surveying gas and oil,

agriculture and forestry,national security,

mineral exploration

High SpatialResolution (0.5m)

VisibleNear Infrared

Mapping,GIS resource

2003

IKONOS-2/3

http:/geo.arc.nasa.gov/sge/health/sensor/sensors/

ikonos.html

VisibleNear Infrared

2000

ORBVIEW-4

http://www.orbimage.com/

Mapping and Surveying gas and oil,

agriculture and forestry,national security,

mineral exploration.

Panchromatic (1m)Multispectral (4m)Hyperspectral (8m)