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Landsat → Land resources
SPOT → High-resolution mapping
IRS → Indian natural-resource mapping
ASTER → Geology + thermal + DEM
QuickBird → Very high spatial resolution
MODIS → Daily global monitoring
GOES → Weather monitoring
AVHRR → Weather + vegetation + ocean
AVIRIS → Hyperspectral imaging


Highest spectral resolution: AVIRIS (224 narrow bands)

Highest spatial resolution in this list: QuickBird (~0.61 m PAN)

Highest temporal frequency: GOES (minutes)

Best broad global monitoring: MODIS

Indian sensors: IRS-LISS III and LISS IV

Hyperspectral: AVIRIS

Thermal + multispectral + DEM: ASTER


abbreviations

  • MSS – Multispectral Scanner System
  • TM – Thematic Mapper
  • ETM+ – Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus
  • GOES – Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite
  • AVHRR – Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer
  • HRV – High Resolution Visible
  • HRVIR – High Resolution Visible and Infrared
  • HRG – High Resolution Geometric
  • IRS – Indian Remote Sensing
  • LISS – Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor
  • ASTER – Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer
  • AVIRIS – Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer
  • MODIS – Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
  • PAN – Panchromatic
  • MS – Multispectral
  • TIR – Thermal Infrared
  • VNIR – Visible and Near Infrared
  • SWIR – Short-Wave Infrared

AVIRIS is an airborne sensor, not a satellite. GOES is a satellite series, while AVHRR is a sensor carried on NOAA satellites. Resolution can vary slightly by satellite generation and acquisition mode.


Satellite / Sensor Full form / abbreviation Launch year Operating agency / Country Spatial resolution Spectral resolution Radiometric resolution Temporal resolution Main purpose
Landsat-1 MSS Multispectral Scanner System 1972 NASA/USGS, USA 80 m 4 bands, 0.5–1.1 µm 6-bit 18 days
Land resources, vegetation, agriculture
Landsat TM Thematic Mapper 1982 NASA/USGS, USA 30 m MS; 120 m TIR 7 bands, 0.45–12.5 µm 8-bit 16 days
LULC, vegetation, geology, water
Landsat ETM+ Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus 1999 NASA/USGS, USA 30 m MS; 15 m PAN; 60 m TIR 8 bands, 0.45–12.5 µm 8-bit 16 days
Detailed land mapping, change detection
GOES Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite 1975 NOAA, USA ~0.5–2 km* Multispectral; modern ABI: 16 bands 12–14 bit* Minutes
Weather forecasting, storms, clouds
NOAA-AVHRR Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer 1978 (first NOAA satellite carrying it) NOAA, USA 1.1 km 5 bands, visible–thermal IR 10-bit ~1–2 observations/day
Weather, vegetation, SST, clouds
SPOT-1 HRV Satellite Pour l’Observation de la Terre – High Resolution Visible 1986 CNES, France 20 m MS; 10 m PAN 3 MS bands 8-bit 26 days
Land cover, agriculture, mapping
SPOT-2 HRV High Resolution Visible 1990 CNES, France 20 m MS; 10 m PAN 3 MS bands 8-bit 26 days
Land-use/land-cover mapping
SPOT-3 HRV High Resolution Visible 1993 CNES, France 20 m MS; 10 m PAN 3 MS bands 8-bit 26 days
Agriculture, forestry, mapping
SPOT-4 HRVIR High Resolution Visible and Infrared 1998 CNES, France 20 m MS; 10 m PAN 4 MS bands 8-bit 26 days
Vegetation, agriculture, natural resources
SPOT-5 HRG High Resolution Geometric 2002 CNES, France 10 m MS; 2.5–5 m PAN 4 MS bands 8-bit ~26 days
High-resolution mapping, urban/LULC
IRS-LISS III Indian Remote Sensing – Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor III 1995 (IRS-1C) ISRO, India 23.5 m; SWIR 70 m 4 bands 7-bit 24 days
Agriculture, vegetation, LULC
IRS-LISS IV Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor IV 2003 (Resourcesat-1) ISRO, India 5.8 m 3 bands, visible–NIR 10-bit* ~5 days with steering
Detailed LULC, urban and agricultural mapping
ASTER Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer 1999 NASA/METI, USA/Japan 15 m VNIR; 30 m SWIR; 90 m TIR 14 bands, 0.52–11.65 µm 8-bit VNIR/SWIR; 12-bit TIR ~16 days
Geology, minerals, vegetation, temperature, DEM
QuickBird QuickBird Earth-observation satellite 2001 DigitalGlobe/Maxar, USA 0.61 m PAN; 2.44 m MS 4 MS bands 11-bit ~1–3.5 days
Very-high-resolution urban, agriculture, disaster mapping
AVIRIS Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer 1987 NASA/JPL, USA ~20 m typical 224 bands, 0.38–2.51 µm 12-bit Flight dependent
Hyperspectral vegetation, minerals, water, environment
MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer 1999 (Terra); 2002 (Aqua) NASA, USA 250 m, 500 m, 1 km 36 bands, 0.405–14.4 µm 12-bit 1–2 days
Global vegetation, ocean, atmosphere, fires, climate
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