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* | 4 - fair | No specific limitation. | TIR window channels to estimate cloud top height from its temperature |
Cloud top temperature* | 4 - fair | No specific limitation. | TIR window channels |
Cloud type* | 1 - primary | No specific limitation. | VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels |
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Highly indirect. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
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)* | 4 - fair | 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 |
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR) | 4 - fair | Cloud sensitive. | VIS channels, range undersampled |
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) |
Sea-ice cover* | 1 - primary | Cloud sensitive. | VIS, NIR (for contour enhancement), SWIR (for discrimination from clouds), MWIR and TIR channels |
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 |
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV) | 3 - high | Cloud sensitive.. Low troposphere dominant. | NIR and TIR channels around 940 nm and in the 11 micrometer split window |
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA | 5 - marginal | Spectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Aerosol volcanic ash | 5 - marginal | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column | 5 - marginal | Cloud sensitive.. Daylight only. | VIS, NIR and SWIR channels |
Wind (horizontal) | 5 - marginal | Limited to high latitudes.. Cloud or water vapour tracers needed. | TIR channel(s) around 11 micrometers window |