BackInstrument:  Imager (EDC) 

Instrument details
Acronym Imager (EDC)
Full name Imager for EarthDaily Constellation
Purpose For land and ocean surface monitoring.
Short description
  • Multispectral imager with 10 VIS/NIR, 2 SWIR and 2 LWIR channels.
  • Complete spectral coverage from Coastal (443nm) through NIR (842nm) including three Red Edge bands
  • 8 bit radiometric data
Background
  • New development
Scanning Technique
  • Pushbroom with nadir view.
Resolution 5 metre
Coverage / Cycle 10 satellite constellation provides twice daily coverage at different overpass times. Swath width 240 km.
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency EarthDaily
Instrument Maturity Flown on operational programme
Utilization Period: 2025 to 2035
Last update: 2026-07-20
Detailed characteristics
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
  • High resolution optical imager
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • High-resolution multi-spectral VIS/IR imagers
  • High-resolution multi-spectral VIS/IR imager
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Coastlines
  • Fire fractional cover
  • Land cover
  • Ocean temperature
  • Snow cover
  • Vegetation type
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Biomass5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI
Cloud cover3 - highInfrequent coverage.Channels in VIS and the MWIR and TIR windows around 3.7 and 11 micrometers
Cloud drop effective radius3 - highAt cloud top.. Daylight only.. Infrequent coverage.Channels in VIS, NIR and the MWIR window around 3.7 micrometers (for differentiation)
Cloud ice effective radius3 - highAt cloud top.. Daylight only.. Infrequent coverage.Channels in VIS, NIR and the MWIR window around 3.7 micrometers (for differentiation)
Cloud optical depth4 - fairLow-density cloud only.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud top height4 - fairInfrequent coverage.TIR window channels around 11 micrometers to estimate cloud top height from its temperature
Cloud top temperature4 - fairInfrequent coverage.TIR window channels around 11 micrometers
Cloud type2 - very highInfrequent coverage.Channels in VIS, NIR and the MWIR and TIR windows around 3.7 and 11 micrometers
Earth surface albedo5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.VIS channels
Fire fractional cover*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.VIS and TIR channels
Fire radiative power1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.MWIR and TIR window channels around 3.7 and 11 micrometers
Fire temperature1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.MWIR and TIR window channels around 3.7 and 11 micrometers
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.VIS channels including Red at 700 nm
Fraction of vegetated land2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Glacier cover4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Long time for mapping.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Land cover*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Land surface temperature3 - highCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.MWIR and TIR window channels around 3.7 and 11 micrometers (high sensitivity to high temperature, cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction)
Leaf Area Index (LAI)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Infrequent coverage.VIS and NIR channels. LAI inferred from NDVI
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.VIS and NIR channels
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.VIS channels, range undersampled
Sea surface temperature2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.MWIR and TIR window channels (cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction)
Sea-ice concentration3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS, NIR (for contour enhancement), MWIR and TIR channels
Short-wave cloud reflectance5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.VIS and NIR channels. Unsuitable dynamic range (saturation)
Snow cover*4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Soil moisture at surface4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Infrequent coverage.VIS, NIR, MWIR and TIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness and thermal inertia
Soil type2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Low troposphere dominant.. Infrequent coverage.TIR channels in the 11 micrometers split window
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA5 - marginalSpectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed.. Infrequent coverage.VIS and NIR channels
Vegetation type*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Aerosol volcanic ash5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels