BackForwardInstrument:  Sentinel-5 

Instrument details
Acronym Sentinel-5
Full name UVNS: Ultra-violet, Visible and Near-infrared Sounder
Purpose Atmospheric chemistry.  Tracked species: BrO, CH4, CO, CO2, H2O, HCHO, NO2, O2, O3, O4, OClO, SO2 and aerosol. Also, solar spectral irradiance
Short description

Pushbroom imaging spectrometer, 7 bands to cover the range 270-2400 nm, spectral resolution ranging from 0.25 to 1.0 nm. spectral oversampling factor 3 [see detailed characteristics below]

Monitoring and calibration information here
Background

Embarking Sentinel-5 on Metop Second Generation implements the Sentinel-5 component of Copernicus, the European Commission's Earth Observation Programme, previously known as GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security)
Scanning Technique

Cross-track: swath 2715 km
Resolution 7 km IFOV (degraded to 28 km for band 270-300 nm)
Coverage / Cycle Near-global coverage every day. Solar spectral irradiance measured once/day for at least two minutes
Mass 250 kg Power 220 W Data Rate 20 Mbps

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Demonstrated by simulations
Utilization Period: 2025 to 2047
Last update: 2024-09-23
Detailed characteristics

Band ID

Spectral range

Spectral resolution

SNR

UV-1

270-300 nm

1.0 nm

100 @ 270 nm

UV-2

300-370 nm

0.5 nm

1000 @ 320 nm

VIS

370-500 nm

0.5 nm

1500 @ 420 nm, for λ < 430 nm

1800 @ 460 nm for 430-460 nm

1500 @ 460 nm for λ > 460 nm

NIR-1

685-710 nm

0.4 nm

500 @ 710 nm

NIR-2

750-775 nm

0.4 nm

500 @ 750 nm

SWIR-1

1590-1675 nm

0.25 nm

250 @ 1675 nm

SWIR-2

2305-2385 nm

0.25 nm

120 @ 2385 nm
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
  • Cross-nadir shortwave (UV/VIS) sounder
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • UV/VIS/NIR sounders, nadir and limb
  • UV/VIS/NIR nadir sounder
  • Subcomponent 2
  • NIR/SWIR imaging spectroscopy
  • NIR/SWIR imaging spectrometer
  • Subcomponent 3
  • NIR spectrometer
  • NIR spectrometer
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • BrO
  • CH4 mole fraction
  • CO
  • CO
  • ClO
  • H2O
  • HCHO
  • HCHO Total Column
  • N2O mole fraction
  • NO
  • NO2
  • NO2 Total Column
  • O3
  • O3 Total Column
  • SO2
  • SO2 Total Column
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 burden2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol
Aerosol effective radius2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV, VIS, NIR (including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol) and SWIR spectrometry
Aerosol mass mixing ratio2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS, NIR (including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol) and SWIR spectrometry
Aerosol Optical Depth2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol
Aerosol type2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (for absorbing aerosol), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level aerosol
BrO*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. BrO lines around 300 nm
HCHO*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm
HCHO Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. HCHO lines around 350 nm
CH4 mole fraction*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.SWIR spectrometry. CH4 lines around 2.3 micrometers
ClO*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV Spectrometry. ClO lines around 300 nm
Cloud cover4 - fairDaylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectroscopy
Cloud drop effective radius4 - fairAt cloud top.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Cloud ice effective radius4 - fairAt cloud top.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Cloud optical depth2 - very highLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Cloud top height4 - fairDaylight only.NIR spectrometry to estimate the total-column O2 above the cloud top as measured around 760 nm
CO*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.SWIR spectrometry. CO lines around 2.3 micrometers
CO2 mole fraction3 - highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.SWIR spectrometry. CO2 lines around 1.6 and 2.1 micrometers
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Earth surface albedo4 - fairCloud sensitive.VIS spectrometry, range fully covered
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)2 - very highCloud sensitive.VIS spectrometry including Red at 700 nm
H2O*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Spectrometry in UV and VIS (several weak bands), and NIR and SWIR (strong bands around 940 nm and 1380 nm)
N2O mole fraction*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.SWIR spectrometry. N2O lines around 2.3 micrometers
NO*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. NO lines around 250 nm
NO2*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several lines in the ranges around 220 nm and 400 nm
NO2 Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Several NO2 lines
O3*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins) and 600 nm (Chappuis)
O3 Total Column*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry. Ozone lines in the bands around 260 nm (Hartley) and/or 340 nm (Huggins) and 600 nm (Chappuis)
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)2 - very highCloud sensitive.VIS spectrometry, range fully covered
PSC occurrence2 - very highCoarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV and VIS spectrometry
Short-wave cloud reflectance3 - highNo specific limitation.VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry. Unsuitable dynamic range (saturation)
SO2*2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Coarse vertical resolution.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm
SO2 Total Column*3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV spectrometry. SO2 lines around 350 nm
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA3 - highInformation on BRDF needed.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Upward spectral radiance at TOA4 - fairMissing all Long-waves.UV, VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry
Aerosol volcanic ash2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (specifically sensitive to ash), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level ash
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column2 - very highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.UV (specifically sensitive to ash), VIS, NIR and SWIR spectrometry including the 760 nm band for high-level ashl