BackForwardInstrument:  AVHRR/3 

Instrument details
Acronym AVHRR/3
Full name Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer / 3
Purpose Multi-purpose imagery
Short description
  • 6-channel radiometer covering VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR [see detailed characteristics below]
  • Monitoring and calibration information here
Background

Evolution of the AVHRR/2 flown on NOAA-7/9/11/12/13/14. SWIR channel added, transmitted in alternative to MWIR. Operations on NOAA-17 stopped in 2010
Scanning Technique

Cross-track: 2048 pixel of 800 m s.s.p., swath 2900 km - Along-track: six 1.1-km lines/s
Resolution 1.1 km s.s.p. IFOV
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage twice/day (IR) or once/day (VIS)
Mass 33 kg Power 27 W Data Rate 621.3 kbps

 

Providing Agency NOAA
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 1998 to 2027
Last update: 2024-09-23
Detailed characteristics
Central wavelength Spectral interval SNR or NEΔT @ specified input
0.630 µm 0.58 - 0.68 µm 9 @ 0.5 % albedo
0.862 µm 0.725 - 1.00 µm 9 @ 0.5 % albedo
1.61 µm 1.58 - 1.64 µm 20 @ 0.5 % albedo
3.74 µm 3.55 - 3.93 µm 0.12 K @ 300 K
10.80 µm 10.3 - 11.3 µm 0.12 K @ 300 K
12.00 µm 11.5 - 12.5 µm 0.12 K @ 300 K
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer
  • Moderate resolution optical imager
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • VIS/IR imagery; realisation of a Day/Night band [in SSO]
  • VIS/IR imager [in SSO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Cloud cover
  • Cloud optical depth
  • Cloud top height
  • Cloud top temperature
  • Cloud type
  • Leaf Area Index (LAI)
  • Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
  • Sea surface temperature
  • Sea-ice cover
Evaluation of Measurements