Table 1.
List of the more commonly used spaceborne sensors in water quality assessments.
| Category | Satellite—Sensor | Launch Date | Spectral Nands (nm) | Spatial Resolution (m) | Swath Width (km) | Revisit Interval (Day) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Resolution | Digital Globe WorldView-1 | 18 September 2007 | Pan | 0.5 | 17.7 | 1.7 |
| Digital Globe WorldView-2 | 8 October 2009 | 8 (400–1040)-1 Pan (450–800) | 1.85–0.46 | 16.4 | 1.1 | |
| NOAA WorldView-3 | 13 August 2014 | 8 (400–1040)-1 Pan( 450–800)-8 SWIR (1195–2365) | 1.24–3.7–0.31 | 13.1 | 1–4.5 | |
| Digital Globe Quickbird | 18 October 2001 | 4 (430–918)-1 Pan (450–900) | 2.62–0.65 | 18 | 2.5 | |
| GeoEye Geoeye-1 | 6 September 2010 | 4 (450–920)-1 Pan (450–800) | 1.65–0.41 | 15.2 | <3 | |
| GeoEye IKONOS | 24 September 1999 | 4 (445–853)-1 Pan (526–929) | 3.2–0.82 | 11.3 | ~3 | |
| SPOT-5 HRG | 4 May 2002 | 3 (500–890)-1 Pan (480–710)-1 SWIR (1580–1750) | 2.5 and 5–10–20 | 60 | 2–3 | |
| CARTOSAT | 5 May 2005 | Pan (500–850) | 2.5 | 30 | 5 | |
| ALOS AVNIR-2 | 24 January 2006 | 4 (420–890)-1 Pan (520–770) | 2.5–10 | 70 | 2 | |
| Moderate Resolution | Landsat-8 OLI/TIRS | 11 February 2013 | 5 (430–880)-1 Pan (500–680)-2 SWIR (1570–2290)-1 cirrus cloud detection (1360–1380)-2 TIRS (10,600–12,510) | 30–15–100 | 170 | 16 |
| Landsat-7 ETM+ | 15 April 1999 | 6 (450–1750)-1 Pan (520–900)-1 (2090–2350)-1 (1040–1250) | 30–15–60 | 183 | 16 | |
| Landsat-5 TM | 1 March 1984 | 5 (450–1750)-1 (2080–2350)-1 (1040–1250) | 30–120 | 185 | 16 | |
| Landsat-5 MSS | 1 March 1984 | 4 (450–1750)-1 Pan (1040–1250) | 80 | 185 | 18 | |
| EO-1 Hyperion | 21 November 2000 | 242 (350–2570) | 30 | 7.5 | 16 | |
| EO-1 ALI | 21 November 2000 | 9(433–2350)-1 Pan (480–690) | 10–30 | 185 | 16 | |
| Terra ASTER | 18 December 1999 | 3 VNIR (520–860)-6 SWIR (1600–2430)-5 TIR (8125–11,650) | 15–30–90 | 60 | 16 | |
| PROBA CHRIS | 22 October 2001 | 19 in the VNIR range (400–1050) | 18–36 | 14 | 7 | |
| HICO | 10 September 2009 | 128 (350–1080) | 100 | 45–50 | 10 | |
| Regional-Global Resolution | Terra MODIS | 18 December 1999 | 2 (620–876)-5 (459–2155)-29 (405–877 and thermal) | 250–500–1000 | 2330 | 1–2 |
| Envisat-1 MERIS | 1 March 2002 | 15 (390–1040) | 300–1200 | 1150 | daily | |
| OrbView-2 SeaWiFS | 1 August 1997 | 8 (402–885) | 1130 | 2806 | 16 | |
| NIMBUS-7 CZCS | 24 October 1978 | 6 (433–12,500) | 825 | 1556 | 6 | |
| ERS-1 ATSR-1 | 17 June 1991 | 1 SWIR (1600), 1 MWIR (3700), 2 TIR (10,850–12,000), Nadir-viewing Microwave Sounder with channels at 23.8 and 35.6 GHz | 1000 (MW sounder: 20 km) | 500 | 3–6 | |
| ERS-2 ATSR-2 | 22 April 1995 | 3 VIS-NIR (555–865), 1 SWIR (1600), 1 MWIR (3700), 2 TIR (10,850–12,000) | 1000 | 500 | 3–6 | |
| ENVISAT AATSR | 1 March 2002 | 3 VIS-NIR (555–865), 1 SWIR (1600), 1 MWIR (3700), TIR (10,850–12,000) | 1000 | 500 | 3–6 | |
| Suomi NPP VIIRS | 28 October 2011 | 5 I-bands (640–1145), 16 M-bands (412–12,013), DNB (500–900) | 375–750 | 3060 | 1–2 times a day | |
| NOAA-16 AVHRR | 21 September 2000 | 6 (650–1230) | 1100–4000 | 3000 | 9 |