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INSTRUMENTS
Explore the many instruments the European Space Agency use to observe the Earth. ESA offer data from a wide range of optical, radar, atmospheric, altimetric and gravimetric instrumentation.
Instrument - Scatterometers
SAR (ERS)
The Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instrument aboard ERS-1 and ERS-2 was capable of high precision change detection of surface heights.
Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers
MWR (ERS)
The microwave radiometer (MWR) instrument on board the ERS-1 and ERS-2 missions provided measurements of the integrated atmospheric water vapour column and cloud liquid water content.
Instrument - Radar Altimeters
RA (ERS)
The Radar Altimeter (RA) was a Ku-band (13.8 GHz) nadir-pointing active microwave sensor, on board ERS-1 and ERS-2 missions, designed to measure echoes from ocean and ice surfaces.
Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers
Vegetation (VGT)
The main PROBA-V payload is the Vegetation sensor (VGT): a multispectral pushbroom spectrometer.
Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers
Thermal Infra-Red Sensor (TIRS)
TIRS on Landsat-8 mission is a thermal imager that supplements observations from the OLI (Operational Land Imager) instrument.
Instrument - Spectrometers
SCIAMACHY
SCIAMACHY was an instrument on board the Envisat satellite that measured atmospheric chemistry.
Instrument - Radar Altimeters
RA-2
The RA-2 instrument aboard Envisat acquired radar altimetry data over ocean, land and ice surfaces.
Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers
MWR (Envisat)
The MWR instrument, on board Envisat mission, measured integrated atmospheric water vapour column and cloud liquid water.
Instrument - Imaging Radars
SAR (JERS-1)
The JERS-1 mission had a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) on board.
Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers
MERIS
The MERIS instrument aboard Envisat was primarily dedicated to providing ocean colour measurements.
Instrument - Cameras
HRC
The High Resolution Camera (HRC) is a black and white camera with a miniaturised telescope on the PROBA-1 mission.
Instrument - Spectrometers
GOMOS
GOMOS is a medium resolution spectrometer covering the wavelength range from 250 nm to 950 nm.
Instrument - Spectrometers
GOME
The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) was a nadir-scanning ultraviolet and visible spectrometer for global monitoring of atmospheric Ozone.
Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers
CHRIS
Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) provided data of spectral reflectances.
Instrument - Imaging Radars
ASAR
ASAR ensures continuity with the image mode (SAR) and the wave mode of the ERS-1/2 AMI.
Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers
AATSR
The AATSR instrument aboard Envisat was primarily designed to measure Sea Surface Temperature.
Instrument - Lidar/Laser Sounders
ALADIN
ALADIN, on board Aeolus, is a Direct Detection Doppler Wind Lidar operated in the ultraviolet range.
Instrument - Interferometric Radiometers
MIRAS
The MIRAS instrument is a passive microwave 2-D interferometric radiometer onboard the SMOS satellite.
Instrument - Radar Altimeters
SIRAL
SIRAL (SAR Interferometer Radar Altimeter) is the primary instrument onboard ESA's CryoSat mission.