BackForwardInstrument:  METimage 

Instrument details
Acronym METimage
Full name Meteorological Imager (Previous name: VII - Visible and Infrared Imager )
Purpose Multi-purpose imagery with enhanced capability for aerosol and cloud microphysics
Short description
  • 20 VIR/IR channels [see detailed characteristics below]
  • Monitoring and calibration information here
Background

Replacing AVHRR/3 on MetOp A/B/C
Scanning Technique

Derived from a whisk-broom scanner principle, the instrument records 24 image lines simultaneously during each scan across-track with a swath width of ±54 degrees. Swath width approx 2670 km
Resolution 0.5 km for all channels, at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage twice/day (long-wave channels) or once/day (short-wave channels)
Mass 262 kg Power 140 W Data Rate 20 Mbps

 

Providing Agency DLR
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2025 to 2047
Last update: 2024-09-23
Detailed characteristics

Channel

Central wavelength

Bandwidth

SNR or NE∆T at specified input

IFOV at s.s.p.

VII-4

443 nm

30 nm

221 @ 42 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-8

555 nm

20 nm

215 @ 22 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-12

668 nm

20 nm

66 @ 9.5 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-15

751.5 nm

10 nm

400 @ 28 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-16

762.7 nm

11.5 nm

400 @ 20 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-17

865 nm

20 nm

60 @ 6.04 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-20

914 nm

20 nm

250 @ 15 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-22

1240 nm

20 nm

75 @ 5.4 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-23

1375 nm

40 nm

300 @ 6 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-24

1630 nm

20 nm

300 @ 7.3 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-25

2250 nm

50 nm

110 @ 1 W m-2 sr-1 µm-1

500 m

VII-26

3.74 µm

0.18 µm

0.050 K @ 300 K

500 m

VII-28

3.959 µm

0.06 µm

0.074 K @ 300 K

500 m

VII-30

4.05 µm

0.06 µm

0.074 K @ 300 K

500 m

VII-33

6.725 µm

0.37 µm

0.215 K @ 238 K

500 m

VII-34

7.325 µm

0.29 µm

0.200 K @ 250 K

500 m

VII-35

8.54 µm

0.29 µm

0.050 K @ 300 K

500 m

VII-37

10.69 µm

0.50 µm

0.050 K @ 300 K

500 m

VII-39

12.02 µm

0.50 µm

0.050 K @ 300 K

500 m

VII-40

13.345 µm

0.31 µm

0.200 K @ 260 K

500 m
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
  • Biomass
  • Cloud cover
  • Cloud optical depth
  • Cloud top height
  • Cloud top temperature
  • Cloud type
  • Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)
  • Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)
  • Leaf Area Index (LAI)
  • Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
  • Sea surface temperature
  • Sea-ice cover
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
Aerosol column burden3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol effective radius3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR (including 760 nm for high-level aerosol), and SWIR channels
Aerosol mass mixing ratio3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol Optical Depth3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol type3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth), NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Biomass*4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI and LAI
Cloud cover*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels
Cloud drop effective radius3 - highAt cloud top.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels (for differentiation)
Cloud ice effective radius3 - highAt cloud top.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels (for differentiation)
Cloud optical depth*3 - highLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Cloud top height*2 - very highNo specific limitation.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 highNo specific limitation.TIR channels in window and water vapour band (for emissivity)
Cloud type*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels
Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.A few narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for a few water types, mainly in open ocean
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface3 - highCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Downward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface3 - highCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.MWIR and TIR channels including water vapour and CO2 bands
Earth surface albedo5 - marginalCloud sensitive.VIS channels
Fire fractional cover4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.VIS, MWIR and TIR channels
Fire radiative power2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.MWIR and TIR channels
Fire temperature2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.MWIR and TIR channels
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)*4 - fairCloud sensitive.VIS channels including Red at 700 nm
Land surface temperature3 - highCloud sensitive.MWIR and TIR window channels (high sensitivity to high temperature, cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction)
Leaf Area Index (LAI)*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)*3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS and NIR channels
Ocean chlorophyll concentration 5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.A few narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for a few water types, mainly in open ocean
Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.A few narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for a few water types, mainly in open ocean
Ocean suspended sediments concentration5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.A few narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for a few water types, mainly in open ocean
Oil spill cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS channels with narrow bandwidth
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)4 - fairCloud sensitive.VIS channels, range undersampled
Sea surface temperature*2 - very highCloud sensitive.MWIR and TIR window channels around 3.7 and 11 micrometers (cloud impact reduction, water vapour correction)
Sea-ice cover*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.VIS, NIR (for contour enhancement), SWIR (for discrimination from clouds), MWIR and TIR channels
Short-wave cloud reflectance4 - fairNo specific limitation.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Snow cover2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels, enabling screening snow from clouds
Soil moisture at surface4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Index only.VIS, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness and thermal inertia
Specific humidity3 - highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Middle troposphere only.TIR channels in the water vapour band around 6.3 micrometers
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)*2 - very highCloud sensitive.NIR and TIR channels around 940 nm, 6.3 micrometers and in the 11 micrometers split window
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA5 - marginalSpectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Upward long-wave irradiance at TOA4 - fairSpectral interpolation needed.MWIR and TIR channels in windows around 3.7 and 11 micrometers, and in water vapour and CO2 bands around 4,3, 6.3 and 15 micrometers
Aerosol volcanic ash3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level ashes
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels including 760 nm for high-level ashes
Wind (horizontal)4 - fairLimited to high latitudes.. Cloud or water vapour tracers needed.TIR channels in the 11 micrometers window and the 6.3 micrometers water vapour band
Upward long-wave irradiance at Earth surface3 - highHighly indirect.. Cloud sensitive.MWIR and TIR channels including water vapour and CO2 bands