Instruments

INSTRUMENTS CURRENTLY FLYING OR FIRMLY PLANNED

The following table describes the instruments currently flying on meteorological satellites or firmly planned for future missions.
Click on an entry to access details of that instrument. (Note: These tables may need to be updated as the plans are evolving, the latest updated information can be found in Volume II of the Dossier on the GOS.)

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Acronym	Full name	Satellites	Utilisation
3MI	Multi-viewing, Multi-channel, Multi-polarization Imager	EPS-SG-A	2020-2035
AATSR/ATSR-2	Advanced Along-Track Scanning Radiometer (= ATSR-2)	ERS-1/2, Envisat	1991-2013
ABI	Advanced Baseline Imager	GOES-R and follow-on	2015-2028
ACRIM-III	Active Cavity Radiometer Irradiance Monitoring - III	SMM, UARS, ACRIMSat	1980-2012
AEISS	Advanced Electronic Image Scanning System	KOMPSAT-3	2012-2017
AHI	Advanced Himawari Imager	Himawari-8, Himawari-9	2014-2029
AIRS	Atmospheric Infra-Red Sounder	EOS-Aqua	2002-2009
ALADIN	Atmospheric Laser Doppler Instrument	ADM-Aeolus	2010-2012
ALI	Advanced Land Imager	NMP-EO-1	2000-2009
ALT	Radar Altimeter
ALTIKA	Ka-band Altimeter	SARAL	2010-2014
AMI-SAR	Active Microwave Instrument - SAR mode	ERS-1/2	1991-2011
AMI-SCAT	Active Microwave Instrument - Scat mode	ERS-1/2	1991-2011
AMR	Advanced Microwave Radiometer	Jason-2	2008-2015
AMSR-2	Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer - 2	GCOM-W 1/2/3	2012-2025
AMSR-E	Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer for EOS	EOS-Aqua	2002-2009
AMSU-A	Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit - A	NOAA 15 to 19 Metop 1 to 3 EOS-Aqua	1998-2014 2006-2020 2002-2009
AMSU-B	Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit - B	NOAA-15/16/17	1998-2008
AOPOD	Atmosphere Occultation and Precision Orbit Determination	Kompsat-5	2011-2016
APS	Aerosol Polarimetry Sensor	Glory (NPOESS 1 & 3)	2009-2012 2013-2027
Aquarius	Aquarius	SAC-D	2010-2015
ASAR	Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar – SAR mode	Envisat	2002-2013
ASCAT	Advanced Scatterometer	Metop 1 to 3	2006-2020
ASTER	Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection radiometer	EOS-Terra	1999-2009
ATLAS	Advanced Topographic Laser Altimeter	ICESat-2	2015-2020
ATLID	Atmospheric Lidar	Earth-CARE	2012-2015
ATMS	Advanced Technology Microwave Sounder	NPP, NPOESS 1 and 3	2010-2027
AVHRR/3	Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer	TIROS-N, NOAA 6 to 19 Metop 1 to 3	1978-2014 2006-2020
AVNIR 1/2	Advanced Visible and Near-Infrared Radiometer 1 and 2	ADEOS-1 ALOS	1996-1997 2006-2010
AWiFS	Advanced Wide Field Sensor	ResourceSat-1/2	2003-2013
BBR	Broad-Band Radiometer	Earth-CARE	2012-2015
BlackJack	BlackJack	CHAMP, GRACE, SAC-C	2000-2010
CALIOP	Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarisation	CALIPSO	2006-2009
CC	Cloud Camera	Glory	2010-2015
CCD	Charge Coupled Device Camera	INSAT-2E, INSAT-3A	1999-2012
CERES	Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System	TRMM, Terra, Aqua, NPP, NPOESS-1	1997-2020
COCTS	China Ocean Color and Temperature Sensor	HY-1A, B, C and D	2002-2016
COSI	Corea SAR Instrument	KOMPSAT-5	2011-2016
CPR	Cloud Profiling Radar for CloudSat	CloudSat	2006-2012
CPR	Cloud Profiling Radar for Earth-CARE	Earth-CARE	2013-2016
CrIS	Cross-track Infrared Sounder	NPP, JPSS 1 and 2	2011-2025
DPR	Dual-frequency Precipitation Radar	GPM-core	2013-2018
ERM	Earth Radiation Measurement	FY-3 A to G	2008-2024
ETM+	Enhanced Thematic Mapper +	Landsat-7	1999-2012
FCI	Flexible Combined Imager	Meteosat Third Generation “I”	2015 —>
GEO-MW	Microwave Sounder in Geostationary Orbit	FY-4 M A/B and follow-on
Geoton	Panchromatic and multispectral radiometer	Resurs-DK	2006-2011
GERB	Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget	Meteosat 8 to 11 (MSG)	2002-2020
GLAS	Geoscience Laser Altimeter System	ICESat	2003-2009
GLM	Geostationary Lightning Mapper	GOES-R and follow-on	2016—>
GMI	GPM Microwave Imager	GPM-core GPM-constellation GPM-Brazil	2013-2018 2014-2019 2014-2019
GOCI	Geostationary Ocean Color Imager	COMS-1/2	2009-2021
GOME	Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment	ERS-2	1995-2011
GOME-2	Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment - 2	Metop 1 to 3	2006-2020
GOMOS	Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars	Envisat	2002-2013
GRAS	GNSS Receiver for Atmospheric Sounding	Metop 1 to 3	2006-2020
GUVI	Global Ultra-Violet Imager	TIMED	2011-2014
HIRDLS	High-Resolution Dynamics Limb Sounder	EOS-Aura	2004-2009
HiRI	High-Resolution Imager	Pléiades-1/2	2010-2016
HIRS-3/4	High-resolution Infra Red Sounder	TIROS-N, NOAA 6 to 19 Metop-1A/B	1978-2014 2006-2016
HRG	Haute Résolution Géométrique	SPOT-5	2002-2013
HRPC	High-Resolution Panchromatic Camera	CBERS-2B	2007-2010
HRS	Haute Résolution Stéréoscopique	SPOT-5	2002-2013
HRTC	High Resolution Technological Camera	SAC-C	2000-2010
HRV	Haut Résolution dans le Visible	SPOT-1/2/3	1986-2008
HRVIR	Haute Résolution dans le Visible et l’Infra-Rouge	SPOT-4	1998-2012
HSB	Humidity Sounder for Brazil	EOS-Aqua	2002-2009
HSC	High Sensitivity Camera	SAC-D	2010-2015
Hyperion	Hyperion	NMP EO-1	2000-2009
IASI	Infrared Atmospheric Sounding Interferometer	Metop 1 to 3	2006-2021
IGOR	Integrated GPS Occultation Receiver	COSMIC (6 satellites) TerraSAR X & X2, TanDEM-X Megha-Tropique TacSat-2	2006-2011 2007-2018 2009-2014 2006-2008
IIR	Imaging Infrared Radiometer	CALIPSO	2006-2009
IIS	Interferometric Infrared Sounder	FY-4 O A/B and follow-on	2014-2035
IMAGER	GOES Imager	GOES 8 to 15	1994-2020
IMAGER	INSAT Imager	INSAT-3D	2011-2019
IMAGER	MTSAT Imager	MTSAT-2	2010-2015
IMAGER FO	COMS Follow-On Imager	COMS-2	2014-2021
IMAGER FO	MTSAT Follow-On (Himawari-8,9) Imager	MTSAT-3 and follow-on	2014 —>
IRAS	Infrared Atmospheric Sounder	FY-3 A to G	2008-2024
IRFS-2	IR Sounding Spectrometer	Meteor-M N2	2009-2014
IRMSS	Infrared Multispectral Scanner	CBERS-1,2,3,4	1999-2007, 2011-2019
IRS	Infrared Sounder	Meteosat Third Generation “S”	2017 —>
JAMI	Japanese Advanced Meteorological Imager	MTSAT-1R	2005-2010
JMR	Jason Microwave Radiometer	Jason-1	2001-2009
KMSS	High-resolution VIS/IR Radiometer	Meteor-M N1 and N2	2008-2014
LAC	LEISA (Linear Etalon Imaging Spectrometer Array) Atmospheric Corrector	NMP EO-1	2000-2009
LI	Lightning Imager	Meteosat Third Generation “I”	2017-2038
LIS	Lightning Imaging Sensor	TRMM, GPM Br	1997-2009 2014-2018
LISS-3	Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor - 3	IRS-1C/1D, ResourceSat-1/2	1995-2009 2003-2013
LISS-4	Linear Imaging Self-Scanning Sensor - 4	ResourceSat 1/2	2003-2013
LM	Lightning Mapper	FY-4 O A/B and follow-on	2012 —>
MADRAS	Microwave Analysis & Detection of Rain & Atmospheric Structures	Megha-Tropiques	2009-2014
MCSI	Multiple Channel Scanning Imager	FY-4 O A/B and follow-on	2012 —>
MERIS	Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer	Envisat	2002-2013
MERSI	Medium Resolution Spectral Imager	FY-3 A to G	2008-2024
MHS	Microwave Humidity Sounding	NOAA-18/19 Metop 1 to 3	2005-2014 2006-2020
MI	Meteorological Imager	COMS-1	2009-2016
MI-FO	Meteorological Imager Follow-on	COMS-2A	2017-2024
MIPAS	Michelson Interferometer for Passive Atmospheric Sounding	Envisat	2002-2013
MIRAS	Microwave Imaging Radiometer using Aperture Synthesis	SMOS	2009-2014
MIS	Conical-scanning Microwave Imager/Sounder	NPOESS 2 to 4	2016-2029
MISR	Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer	EOS-Terra	1999-2008
MLS	Microwave Limb Sounder	UARS, EOS-Aura	1991-2009
MMRS	Multispectral Medium Resolution Scanner	SAC-C	2000-2010
MODIS	Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer	EOS Terra/Aqua	1999-2009
MOPITT	Measurement Of Pollution In The Troposphere	EOS Terra	1999-2008
MSC	Multi-Spectral Camera	KOMPSAT-2	2006-2011
MSI	Multi-Spectral Imager for Earth-CARE	Earth-CARE	2012-2015
MSI	Multi-Spectral Imager for Sentinel-2	Sentinel-2 A and B	2012-2021
MSMR	Multi-frequency Scanning Microwave Radiometer	OceanSat 1 and 2	1999-2013
MSS	Multi-Spectral Scanner	Landsat 1 to 5	1972-2010
MSS-BIO	Polyzonal scanning system of bioefficiency of sea water areas	Meteor-M N3	2010-2015
MSU-GS	Elektro-GOMS Imager	Elektro-L N1, N2, N3	2008-2022
MSU-MR	VIS/IR Imaging Radiometer	Meteor-M N1 and N2	2008-2014
MTVZA	Imaging/Sounding Microwave Radiometer	Meteor-M N1 and N2	2008-2014
MUXCAM	Multispectral Camera	CBERS-3,4	2011-2019
MVIRI	Meteosat Visible Infra-Red Imager	Meteosat 1 to 7	1977-2008
MVISR	Multichannel Visible Infrared Scanning Radiometer	FY-1 A to D	1988-2008
MWHS	Micro-Wave Humidity Sounder	FY-3 A to G	2008-2024
MWI-P	Micro-wave Imager for Precipitation	EPS-SG-B	2021-2035
MWR	Micro-Wave Radiometer (for ERS and Envisat)	ERS-1/2, Envisat	1991-2013
MWR	Micro-Wave Radiometer (for Sentinel-3)	Sentinel-3	2012-2020
MWR	Micro-Wave Radiometer (for SAC-D)	SAC-D	2010-2015
MWRI	Micro-Wave Radiation Imager	FY-3 A to G	2008-2024
MWS	Micro-wave Sounder	EPS-SG-A	2020-2035
MWTS	Micro-Wave Temperature Sounder	FY-3 A to G	2008-2024
NIRST	New Infrared Scanner Technology	SAC-D	2010-2015
OCM	Ocean Color Monitor	OceanSat-1/2	1999-2013
OCO	Orbiting Carbon Observatory	OCO	2008-2010
OLCI	Ocean and Land Colour Imager	Sentinel-3 A and B	2012-2022
OLI	Operational Land Imager	LDCM	2012-2018
OLS	Operational Linescan System	DMSP-1,20	1976-2020
OMI	Ozone Monitoring Instrument	EOS Aura	2004-2009
OMPS	Ozone Mapping and Profiler Suite	NPP, NPOESS 1 & 3	2010-2027
PALSAR	Phased-Array L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar	ALOS	2006-2010
PAN	Panchromatic Camera	IRS 1C and 1D, CartoSat-1, CartoSat-2/2A, CartoSat-3	1995-2015
PAN + MS	Panchromatic + Multispectral Radiometers	Monitor-E	2005-2010
POAM	Polar Ozone and Aerosol Measurement	SPOT-3/4	1993-2012
POLDER	Polarization and Directionality of the Earth’s Reflectances	PARASOL	2004-2008
Poseidon 2/3	Poseidon 2/3	JASON 1/2	2001-2015
PR	Precipitation Radar	TRMM	1997-2009
PRISM	Panchromatic Remote-sensing Instrument for Stereo Mapping	ALOS	2006-2010
RA, RA-2	Radar Altimeter	ERS-1/2, Envisat	1991-2013
RAD	Micro-Wave Radiometer	HY-2A	2011-2016
Radiomet	Radio-occultation sounder	Meteor-M N2 and N3	2009-2015
ROSA	Radio Occultation Sounder of the Atmosphere	OceanSat-2, SAC-D	2008-2015
SAPHIR	Sondeur Atmospherique du Profil d’Humidite Intertropicale par Radiometrie	Megha-Tropiques	2009-2014
SAR	Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-band)	RadarSat 1/2	1995-2015
SAR-2000	Synthetic Aperture Radar 2000 (X-band)	COSMO-SkyMed	2007-2016
SAR-C	Synthetic Aperture Radar (C-band)	Sentinel-1 A and B	2011-2019
SAR-L	Synthetic Aperture Radar (L-band)	SAOCOM 1/2	2011-2020
SAR-X	Synthetic Aperture Radar (X-band)	TerraSAR X & X2, TanDEM-X	2007-2018
SBUV/2	Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet / 2	NOAA 9 to 19 except 12/15	1984-2014
ScaRaB	Scanner for Radiation Budget	Megha-Tropiques Meteor-3-7, Resurs-O1-4	2009-2014 1994-1999
SCAT	Scatterometer	OceanSat-2	2008-2013
SCIAMACHY	Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography	Envisat	2002-2013
SeaWiFS	Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor	Orbview-2/SeaStar	1997-2009
SeaWinds	SeaWinds	QuickSCAT (GCOM-W 2/3)	1999-2008 2016-2025
Severjanin	X-band Synthetic Aperture Radar	Meteor-M N1, N2 and N3	2008-2015
SEVIRI	Spinning Enhanced Visible Infra-Red Imager	Meteosat 8 to 11 (MSG)	2002-2020
SGLI	Second-generation Global Imager	GCOM-C 1/2/3	2014-2027
SIM	Spectral Irradiance Monitor	SORCE	2003-2009
SIRAL	SAR Interferometer Radar Altimeter	CryoSat-2	2009-2012
SLSTR	Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer	Sentinel-3 A and B	2012-2022
SOUNDER	Sounder (on GOES)	GOES 8 to 15	1994-2016
SOUNDER	Sounder (on INSAT)	INSAT-3D	2008-2015
SOUNDER FO	Sounder (on MTSAT Follow-on)	MTSAT-3 and follow-on	2014 —>
SRAL	SAR Radar Altimeter	Sentinel-3 A and B	2012-2022
SSM/I	Special Sensor Microwave – Imager	DMSP F-8/10/11/13/14/15	1987-2008
SSMIS	Special Sensor Microwave – Imager/Sounder	DMSP F 16 to 20	2003-2016
S-VISSR	Stretched Visible-Infrared Spin Scan Radiometer	FY-2 A to G	1997-2017
TANSO-CAI	Thermal And Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observations - Cloud and Aerosol Imager	GOSAT	2008-2013
TANSO-FTS	Thermal And Near infrared Sensor for carbon Observations - Fourier Transform Spectrometer	GOSAT	2008-2013
TES	Tropospheric Emission Spectrometer	EOS-Aura	2004-2009
TIM	Total Irradiance Monitoring	SORCE, Glory	2003-2012
TM	Thematic Mapper	Landsat-4/5	1982-2010
TMI	TRMM Microwave Imager	TRMM	1997-2009
TOU/SBUS	Total Ozone Unit & Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Sounder	FY-3 A to G	2008-2024
TSIS	Total Solar Irradiance Sensor	NPOESS 1 & 3	2013-2027
UVS	Ultra-Violet Sounder	Meteosat Third Generation “S” hosting the Sentinel-4 mission	2017 —>
Végétation	Végétation	SPOT-4/5	1998-2013
VHRR (in GEO)	Very High Resolution Radiometer	INSAT-1A to 3A, Kalpana-1	1982-2013
VIIRS	Visible/Infrared Imager Radiometer Suite	NPP, NPOESS 1 to 4	2010-2029
VIRR	Visible and Infrared Radiometer	FY-3 A to G	2008-2024
VIRS	Visible and Infrared Scanner	TRMM	1997-2009
WFC	Wide-Field Camera	CALIPSO	2006-2009
WiFS	Wide-Field Sensor	IRS-P3, IRS-1C/1D	1995-2009
WindSat	WindSat	Coriolis	2003-2009