Table 5:
A sample of recent or soon-to-launch Earth observing satellite missions capable of ocean color observations.
| Mission | Agency | Sensor | Launch | Bands† | Nadir pixel size (m) | Other Specifications |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High spatial resolution missions: O(100 km) swath | ||||||
| Landsat-8 Landsat-9 |
USGS/ NASA |
OLI OLI-II |
2013 2020 |
• 4 VIS | • 30 | • 16 day revisit |
| Sentinel 2A Sentinel 2B |
ESA | MSI | 2015 2017 |
• 4 VIS | • 10 | • 10 day revisit • 5 day revisit in constellation |
| HySpiri | NASA | VSWIR | TBD | • UV-SWIR • Contiguous (10 nm) |
• 60 | • 19 day revisit |
| EnMAP | DLR | EnMAP | 2017 | • UV-SWIR • Contiguous (6.5 nm) |
• 30 | • 4 day revisit |
| Geostationary missions | ||||||
| Geo-Kompsat 2B | KIOST | GOCI-II | 2019 | • 1 UV • 8 VIS |
• 250 local • 1000 global |
• Geostationary over NE Asia |
| Medium spatial resolution missions: O(1000 km) wide swath | ||||||
| Sentinel 3A Sentinel 3B |
ESA | OLCI | 2016 2018 |
• 8 VIS | • 300 coast • 1000 ocean |
• 4 day global coverage • 2 day global coverage in constellation |
| Oceansat-3 | ISRO | OCM-3 | 2018 | • 8 VIS | • 360 | • 2 day global coverage |
| Suomi-NPP JPSS-1 |
NOAA/ NASA |
VIIRS | 2011 2017 |
• 5 VIS | • 360 | • 1 day global coverage |
| GCOM-C | JAXA | SGLI | 2018 | • 1 UV • 6 VIS |
• 250 coast • 1000 ocean |
• 3 angle polarimetry • 2 day global coverage |
| PACE | NASA | OCI/ polarimter |
2022 | • 350–900 nm • Contiguous (5 nm) |
• 1000 | • Multi-angle polarimetry • 2 day global coverage |
†
For comparative purposes, SeaWiFS sensor launched in 1997 had six VIS bands