List of Earth observation satellites
This is the list of earth observation satellites.
The year in brief ( incomplete)
Sort by remote sensing instrument
Nonimaging active systems
Mikrowellenaltimeter ( altimeter): Remote sensing of the sea surface
- April 9, 1975 - GEOS 3 (first satellite altimeter )
- June 28, 1978 - Seasat (until 10 October 1978)
- March 12, 1985 - Geosat
- 17 July 1991 - ERS-1 (up to 10 March 2000 ), ( Altimeter = main meter )
- August 10, 1992 - TOPEX / Poseidon (until 18 January 2006), ( Altimeter = main meter )
- April 21, 1995 - ERS -2 ( Altimeter = main meter )
- February 10, 1998 - GFO ( Geosat Follow -On ) successor of Geosat
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat (successor of ERS)
- December 7, 2001 - Jason -1 (successor of TOPEX / Poseidon ), ( Altimeter = main meter )
- June 20, 2008 - Jason -2
- April 8, 2010 - CryoSat -2
Laser Altimeter
LIDAR: study of clouds and aerosols
- 28 April 2006 - CALIPSO, Cloud - Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization ( calioP )
- 2008 - ADM -Aeolus, Atmospheric Laser Doppler Lidar Instrument ( ALADIN )
- 2012 - Earth Care, backscatter lidar ( ATLID )
Scatterometer ( scatterometer ): study of air movement over the sea
- June 27, 1978 - Seasat
- July 17, 1991 - ERS -1 Active Microwave Instrument ( AMI)
- April 21, 1995 - ERS -2, Active Microwave Instrument ( AMI)
- September 15, 1996 - Adeos, NSCAT - NASA scatterometer
- June 19, 1999 - QuikSCAT, ( SeaWinds )
- December 12, 2002 - ADEOS -II ( SeaWinds )
- October 19, 2006 - MetOp -A, Advanced Scatterometer ( ASCAT )
Imaging active systems
Synthetic aperture radar (SAR )
- June 28, 1978 - Seasat (until 10 October 1978)
- July 25, 1987 - Kosmos 1870 ( Almaz-T2/Resurs-R )
- March 31, 1991 - Almaz 1 ( Almaz-T3/Resurs-R )
- July 17, 1991 - ERS -1 ( to 10 March 2000), Active Microwave Instrument ( AMI)
- February 11, 1992 - JERS -1 ( to 1998 )
- April 21, 1995 - ERS -2, Active Microwave Instrument ( AMI)
- November 4, 1995 - RADARSAT -1
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar ( ASAR )
- June 15, 2007 - TerraSAR
Imaging passive systems
Hyperspectral Scanner ( spectrometer with approximately 15 to 200 spectral bands )
Multispektrallinienscanner to measure ocean color ( global)
- October 24, 1978 - Nimbus -7 Coastal Zone Color Scanner ( CZCS ) to 1986
- March 21, 1996 - IRS P3 Modular Optical Scanner ( MOS) to 2004
- August 17, 1996 - I ADEOS ( Midori ), Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner ( OCTS ) to 1997
- August 1, 1997 - OrbView -2 ( Seastar ), Sea -viewing Wide Field -of-view Sensor ( SeaWiFS )
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat 's Medium Resolution Imaging Specrometer ( MERIS )
- May 4, 2002 - Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer - ( MODIS)
- About 2012 - Sentinel -3, Ocean and Land Colour Instrument ( OLCI )
- About 2013 - NPOESS, Visible / Infrared Imager / Radiometer Suite ( VIIRS )
Examples investigation by topic
Investigation of the radiation budget of the Earth
- October 24, 1978 - Nimbus 7 Earth Radiation Budget instrument (ERB )
- October 5, 1984 - Earth Radiation Budget Satellite ( ERBS ), Earth Radiation Budget Experiment ( ERBE )
- December 12, 1984 - NOAA -9 Earth Radiation Budget Experiment ( ERBE )
- September 17, 1986 - NOAA -10, Earth Radiation Budget Experiment ( ERBE )
- January 25, 1994 - Meteor 3-06, Scarab
- November 27, 1997 - TRMM, Clouds and the Earth 's Radiant Energy System ( CERES )
- December 18, 1999 - Terra, Clouds and the Earth 's Radiant Energy System ( CERES )
- May 4, 2002 - Aqua, Clouds and the Earth 's Radiant Energy System ( CERES )
- August 28, 2002 - Meteosat -8 ( MSG -1), Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB )
- December 21, 2005 - Meteosat -9 ( MSG -2), Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB )
Investigation of the ozone layer
- November 20, 1975 - Explorer 55 ( Atmosphere Explorer -E) Backscatter UV Spectrometer
- October 24, 1978 - Nimbus 7 Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer ( TOMS ) / Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument ( SBUV )
- October 6, 1981 - SME (Solar Mesosphere Explorer)
- March 28, 1983 - Advanced Tiros N / NOAA 8, Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer ( SBUV ), ( also on subsequent NOAA satellites )
- September 12, 1991 - Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite ( UARS )
- August 15, 1991 - METEOR 3-05, Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer ( TOMS )
- April 21, 1995 - ERS -2, Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment ( GOME )
- July 2, 1996 - Earth sample, Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer ( TOMS )
- August 17, 1996 - I ADEOS ( Midori ), Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer ( TOMS )
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat, Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars ( GOMOS )
- August 13, 2003 - SCISAT
- July 15, 2004 - Aura Ozone Monitoring Instrument ( OMI )
- October 19, 2006 - MetOp -A, Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment -2 ( GOME -2)
Investigation of the aerosol density of the atmosphere
Chemical composition of the upper atmosphere
- October 24, 1978 - Nimbus 7 Stratospheric Aerosol Mission ( SAM II)
- February 18, 1979 - Applications Explorer Mission -2 ( AEM -2), Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment ( SAGE )
- October 5, 1984 - Earth Radiation Budget Satellite ( ERBS ), SAGE II
- September 12, 1991 - Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite ( UARS )
- December 18, 1999 - Terra, Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere sensor ( MOPITT )
- December 10, 2001 - Sage III / METEOR 3M - SAGE III
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat, Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography ( SCIAMACHY )
Other parameters
- Global precipitation rate: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission ( only tropical ), Global Precipitation Measurement
- Salinity of the near-surface sea water: Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity, Aquarius
- Soil moisture: Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity
- Global lightning detection: MicroLab -1, Optical Transient Detector ( OTD ); TRMM Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS ); GOES -R Geostationary Lightning Mapper ( GLM ); Lightning Mapper Sensor (LMS )