BackForwardInstrument:  PMS-3 

Instrument details
Acronym PMS-3
Full name Panchromatic and Multi-spectral CCD Camera - 3
Purpose High resolution land observation
Short description 5-channel VIS/NIR radiometer (1 channel panchromatic) [see detailed characteristics below]
Background Follow-on of PMS-2 flown on GF-2. Resolution improved
Scanning Technique Pushbroom, 12 km swath stearable along-track (±30°) and across-track (±45°), within a Field-of-Regard of about 800 km
Resolution 0.5 m (panchromatic), 2 m (multispectral)
Coverage / Cycle Depending on strategic pointing, down to 3 days
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency CAST
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2017 to 2029
Last update: 2023-11-27
Detailed characteristics

Central wavelength

Spectral interval

SNR @ specified albedo

0.485 μm

0.45-0.52 μm

….. @ ….. % albedo

0.555 μm

0.52-0.59 μm

….. @ ….. % albedo

0.660 μm

0.63-0.69 μm

….. @ ….. % albedo

0.830 μm

0.77-0.89 μm

….. @ ….. % albedo

N/A  (PAN)

0.45-0.90 μm

….. @ ….. % 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 4
  • High-resolution optical observation constellation (commercial)
  • High-resolution optical observation constellation (commercial)
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Biomass
  • Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)
  • Fraction of vegetated land
  • Land cover
  • Leaf Area Index (LAI)
  • Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
  • 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 albedo5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.VIS channels
Fire fractional cover2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS channels with high resolution for boundary 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; and panchromatic channel with high resolution, for glacier boundary detection
Glacier topography4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Long time for mapping.. Daylight only.VIS and panchromatic channels with cross- and along-track steering capability for stereoscopy both in-orbit and between orbits
Ice sheet topography4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Long time for mapping.. Daylight only.VIS and panchromatic channels with cross- and along-track steering capability for stereoscopy both in-orbit and between orbits
Land cover*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Land surface topography4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Long time for mapping.. Daylight only.VIS and panchromatic channels with cross- and along-track steering capability for stereoscopy both in-orbit and between orbits
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-ice cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR (for contour enhancement) channels
Short-wave cloud reflectance5 - marginalInfrequent coverage.VIS and NIR channels. Unsuitable dynamic range (saturation)
Snow cover4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Infrequent coverage.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and panchromatic (higher resolution) channels
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.. 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