| Aerosol column burden | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol |
| Aerosol effective radius | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol |
| Aerosol mass mixing ratio | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR (including 760 nm for high-level aerosol) and SWIR channels |
| Aerosol Optical Depth | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | UV (for absorbing aerosol),VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol |
| Aerosol type | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol |
| Biomass | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI and LAI |
| Cloud cover* | 1 - primary | No specific limitation. | VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels |
| Cloud drop effective radius | 3 - high | At cloud top.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels (for differentiation) |
| Cloud ice effective radius | 3 - high | At cloud top.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels (for differentiation) |
| Cloud optical depth* | 3 - high | Low-density cloud only.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
| Cloud top height* | 3 - high | No specific limitation. | TIR channels in window and water vapour band (for emissivity) to estimate cloud top height from its temperature |
| Cloud top temperature* | 2 - very high | No specific limitation. | TIR channels in window and water vapour band (for emissivity) |
| Cloud type* | 1 - primary | No specific limitation. | VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels |
| Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)* | 1 - primary | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone |
| Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
| Downward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect. | MWIR and TIR channels including the water vapour band |
| Earth surface albedo | 5 - marginal | Cloud sensitive. | VIS channels |
| Fire fractional cover | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution. | VIS, MWIR and TIR channels |
| Fire radiative power | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution. | MWIR and TIR channels |
| Fire temperature | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution. | MWIR and TIR channels |
| Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR) | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive. | VIS channels including Red at 700 nm |
| Land surface temperature | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive. | MWIR and TIR window channels (high sensitivity to high temperature, cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction) |
| Leaf Area Index (LAI) | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
| Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive. | VIS and NIR channels |
| Ocean chlorophyll concentration * | 1 - primary | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone |
| Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)* | 1 - primary | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone |
| Ocean suspended sediments concentration* | 1 - primary | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone |
| Oil spill cover* | 5 - marginal | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | VIS channels with narrow bandwidth |
| Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive. | VIS channels, range accurately sampled |
| Sea surface temperature* | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive. | MWIR and TIR window channels around 3.7 and 11 micrometers (cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction) |
| Short-wave cloud reflectance | 4 - fair | No specific limitation. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
| Snow cover | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels, enabling screening snow from clouds |
| Soil moisture at surface | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Index only. | VIS, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness and thermal inertia |
| Specific humidity | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Middle troposphere only. | TIR channels in the water vapour band around 6.3 micrometers |
| Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)* | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive. | TIR channels around 6.3 micrometers and in the 11 micrometers split window |
| Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA | 4 - fair | Spectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed. | UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
| Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA | 5 - marginal | Spectral interpolation needed. | MWIR and TIR channels in windows around 3.7 and 11 micrometers, and in the water vapour band around 6.3 micrometers |
| Upward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect. | MWIR and TIR channels in windows around 3.7 and 11 micrometers, and in the water vapour band around 6.3 micrometers |
| Aerosol volcanic ash | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR channels, including 760 nm for high-level ashes |
| Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | UV (specifically sensitive to ash), VIS, NIR and SWIR channels, including 760 nm for high-level ashes |
| Wind (horizontal) | 4 - fair | Limited to high latitudes.. Cloud or water vapour tracers needed. | TIR channels in the 11 micrometers window and the 6.3 micrometers water vapour band |
| Sea-ice cover* | 1 - primary | Cloud sensitive. | VIS, NIR (for contour enhancement), SWIR (for discrimination from clouds), MWIR and TIR channels |
Instrument: GLI