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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 - Magnetic Field/Electric Field Instruments

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    EFI

    The Electric Field Instrument (EFI) aboard the Swarm satellites is the first 3D ionospheric imager in space.

  • Instrument - MAGNETOMETERS

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    ASM

    The Absolute Scalar Magnetometer on the Swarm satellites measures the strength of the magnetic field.

  • Instrument - MAGNETOMETERS

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    VFM

    The Vector Field Magnetometer (VFM) is the primary instrument carried aboard the Swarm satellites.

  • Instrument - Interferometric Radiometers

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    MIRAS

    The MIRAS instrument is a passive microwave 2-D interferometric radiometer onboard the SMOS satellite.

  • Instrument - Lidar/Laser Sounders

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    ALADIN

    ALADIN, on board Aeolus, is a Direct Detection Doppler Wind Lidar operated in the ultraviolet range.

  • Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers

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    AATSR

    The AATSR instrument aboard Envisat was primarily designed to measure Sea Surface Temperature.

  • Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers

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    CHRIS

    Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) provided data of spectral reflectances.

  • Instrument - Accelerometers

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    EGG

    The main objective of GOCE's EGG was to measure the three components of the Gravity-Gradient Tensor.

  • Instrument - Spectrometers

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    GOME

    The Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) was a nadir-scanning ultraviolet and visible spectrometer for global monitoring of atmospheric Ozone.

  • Instrument - Spectrometers

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    GOMOS

    GOMOS is a medium resolution spectrometer covering the wavelength range from 250 nm to 950 nm.

  • Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers

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    MERIS

    The MERIS instrument aboard Envisat was primarily dedicated to providing ocean colour measurements.

  • Instrument - Interferometers

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    MIPAS

    MIPAS was an atmospheric instrument carried aboard the Envisat satellite.

  • Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers

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    MWR (Envisat)

    The MWR instrument, on board Envisat mission, measured integrated atmospheric water vapour column and cloud liquid water.

  • Instrument - GPS

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    SSTI

    SSTI was a state-of-the-art GPS receiver on GOCE that was designed to operate in a low-Earth orbit.

  • Instrument - GPS

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    GPSR and LRR (Swarm)

    Each Swarm satellite is equipped with a Laser Retro-Reflector for external calibration and validation of the on-board GPS receiver.

  • Instrument - Accelerometers

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    ACC (Swarm)

    The Accelerometer measures the Swarm satellite’s non-gravitational acceleration in its respective orbit.

  • Instrument - Radar Altimeters

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    STR (Swarm)

    The Swarm Star Trackers retrieve information on the precise satellite orientation and attitude.

  • Instrument - Laser Ranging

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    LRR (Envisat)

    The LRR instrument aboard Envisat was used to accurately determine the orbital height of the satellite.

  • Instrument - Imaging Spectrometers/Radiometers

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    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 - Laser Ranging

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    LRR ERS

    The Laser Retro-Reflector (LRR), on board the ERS-1 and ERS-2 missions, was an optical device for accurate satellite tracking from the ground to support instrument data evaluation.