Aerosol column burden | 4 - fair | Limited coverage (only above 40° North). Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels with changing solar incidence angles as daylight progressesIS, NIR and SWIR channels with changing solar incidence angles as daylight progresses |
Aerosol Optical Depth | 4 - fair | Limited coverage (only above 40° North). Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels with changing solar incidence angles as daylight progresses |
Biomass | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI and LAI |
Cloud cover* | 1 - primary | Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels |
Cloud drop effective radius | 3 - high | At cloud top.. Daylight only.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels (for differentiation) |
Cloud ice effective radius | 3 - high | At cloud top.. Daylight only.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels (for differentiation) |
Cloud optical depth* | 3 - high | Low-density cloud only.. Daylight only.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Cloud top height* | 2 - very high | Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | TIR channels in window and water vapour band (for emissivity) for temperature; and in CO2 band for atmospheric column above cloud top |
Cloud top temperature* | 2 - very high | Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | TIR channels in window and water vapour band (for emissivity) |
Cloud type* | 1 - primary | Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels |
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Downward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | MWIR and TIR channels including water vapour and CO2 bands |
Earth surface albedo | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS channel with changing solar incidence angles as daylight progresses |
Earth surface short-wave bidirectional reflectance | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS and NIR channels with changing solar incidence angles as daylight progresses |
Fire fractional cover | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, MWIR and TIR channels. Frequent sampling (From Molniya orbit) enables early detection |
Fire radiative power | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | MWIR and TIR channels. Frequent sampling enables early detection |
Fire temperature | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | MWIR and TIR channels. Frequent sampling enables early detection |
Land surface temperature | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | 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.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS and NIR channels |
O3 Total Column | 5 - marginal | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | TIR channel(s). Ozone lines in band around 9.7 micrometers. Frequent sampling enables monitoring diurnal variations |
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) | 5 - marginal | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS channels, range undersampled |
Sea surface temperature | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | MWIR and TIR window channels around 3.7 and 11 micrometers (cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction) |
Short-wave cloud reflectance | 4 - fair | Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Snow cover | 2 - very high | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels enabling screening snow from clouds. Frequent sampling improves probability of cloud-free views |
Soil moisture at surface | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North). Index only. | VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness and thermal inertia, that are accurately measured by frequent sampling |
Specific humidity | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Middle troposphere only.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | 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 | 5 - marginal | Spectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA | 4 - fair | Spectral interpolation needed.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | MWIR and TIR channels in windows around 3.7 and 11 micrometers, and in water vapour and CO2 bands around 6.3 and 15 micrometers |
Upward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | MWIR and TIR channels in windows around 3.7 and 11 micrometers, and in water vapour and CO2 bands around 6.3 and 15 micrometers |
Aerosol volcanic ash | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column | 1 - primary | Cloud sensitive.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | TIR channel(s). Frequent sampling enables early detection of ash plumes |
Wind (horizontal)* | 2 - very high | Cloud or water vapour tracers needed.. Limited coverage (only above 40° North) | VIS channel(s) and TIR channels around 6.3 and 11 micrometers, and 13.3 micrometers for more accurate height assignment. Frequent sampling enables inference from cloud or water vapour pathces motion |
Sea-ice cover | 1 - primary | Cloud sensitive. | VIS, NIR (for contour enhancement), SWIR (for discrimination from clouds), MWIR and TIR channels |