BackForwardInstrument:  MX-VNIR 

Instrument details
Acronym MX-VNIR
Full name Multi-spectral Visible Near Infrared
Purpose High-resolution imagery from geostationary orbit
Short description 6-channel VIS/NIR radiometer [see detailed characteristics below]
Background Complementary to MX-LWIR
Scanning Technique Mechanical, addressable everywhere in the disc with variable area coverage
Resolution 50 m at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Depending on the size of the scanned area. 30 min for the India region
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ISRO
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2021 to 2029
Last update: 2021-06-16
Detailed characteristics

Central wavelength

Spectral interval

SNR @ specified input

0.485 µm

0.45-0.52 µm

200 @ 100 % albedo

0.555 µm

0.52-0.59 µm

200 @ 100 % albedo

0.650 µm

0.62-0.68 µm

200 @ 100 % albedo

0.725 µm

0.71-0.74 µm

200 @ 100 % albedo

0.815 µm

0.77-0.86 µm

200 @ 100 % albedo

0.860 µm

0.845-0.875 µm

200 @ 100 % albedo
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
  • Biomass
  • Fire fractional cover
  • Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)
  • Fraction of vegetated land
  • Land cover
  • Leaf Area Index (LAI)
  • 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
Biomass*5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI
Cloud cover5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud optical depth4 - fairLow-density cloud only.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Earth surface albedo3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS channel with changing solar incidence angles as daylight progresses
Fire fractional cover*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS channels. Frequent sampling (GEO) enables early detection
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)*4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.VIS channels including Red at 700 nm
Fraction of vegetated land*2 - 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
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
Short-wave cloud reflectance5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.VIS and NIR channels. Unsuitable dynamic range (saturation)
Snow cover4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Frequent sampling (GEO) improves probability of cloud-free views
Soil moisture at surface5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness
Soil type2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA5 - marginalSpectral interpolation needed.VIS and NIR channels with changing solar incidence angles as daylight progresses
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 Column4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels Frequent sampling (GEO) for early detection of ash plums