BackForwardInstrument:  SLSTR 

Instrument details
Acronym SLSTR
Full name Sea and Land Surface Temperature Radiometer
Purpose Multi-purpose VIS/IR imagery, with emphasis on very accurate surface temperature for climate
Short description

11-channels with dual viewing directions for accurate atmospheric corrections. Channels 3.74 and 10.85 µm are duplicated for fire detection [see detailed characteristics below]

Monitoring and calibration information here
Background

Evolution of ATSR-2 on ERS-2 and AATSR on Envisat
Scanning Technique

Conical oblique, with cross-nadir swath of 1400 km, aft-viewing swath for dual-view of 740 km
Resolution IFOV: 0.5 km for VIS/NIR/SWIR, 1.0 km for MWIR/TIR
Coverage / Cycle Global in 1 day (MWIR/TIR) or 2 days (VIS/NIR/SWIR); dual-view: 2 days (MWIR/TIR) or 4 days (VIS/NIR/SWIR)
Mass 150 kg Power 100 W Data Rate 64 Mbps

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2016 to 2037
Last update: 2024-09-23
Detailed characteristics

Central wavelength

Bandwidth

SNR or NEΔT @ specified input

0.555 µm

20 nm

25 @ 0.5 % albedo

0.659 µm

20 nm

25 @ 0.5 % albedo

0.865 µm

20 nm

21 @ 0.5 % albedo

1.375 µm

15 nm

25 @ 0.5 % albedo

1.61 µm

60 nm

37 @ 0.5 % albedo

2.25 µm

50 nm

27 @ 0.5 % albedo

3.74 µm

380 nm

0.056 K @ 270 K

3.74 µm (fire)

380 nm

0.680-0.016 K @ 285-500 K

10.85 µm

900 nm

0.029 K @ 270 K

10.85 µm (fire)

900 nm

0.079-0.035 K @ 230-400 K

12.0 µm

1000 nm

0.021 K @ 270 K
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
  • IR dual-angle view imagers
  • IR dual-angle view imager
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Cloud cover
  • Cloud optical depth
  • Cloud top height
  • Cloud top temperature
  • Cloud type
  • 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
Biomass4 - 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 and different viewing angles (for differentiation).
Cloud ice effective radius3 - highAt cloud top.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR, SWIR and MWIR channels with different viewing angles (for differentiation).
Cloud optical depth*2 - very highLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels with different viewing angles
Cloud top height*4 - fairNo specific limitation.TIR window channels to estimate cloud top height from its temperature
Cloud top temperature*4 - fairNo specific limitation.TIR window channels
Cloud type*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.VIS, NIR, SWIR, MWIR and TIR channels
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface3 - highCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels
Earth surface albedo1 - primaryCloud sensitive.VIS channels with many viewing angles to account for anisotropic reflectivity
Earth surface short-wave bidirectional reflectance1 - primaryCloud sensitive.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels with a few different viewing angles
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
Land surface temperature1 - primaryCloud sensitive.MWIR and TIR window channels with different viewing angles for atmospheric 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
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)1 - primaryCloud sensitive.VIS channels, range undersampled; a few different viewing angles for irradiance reconstruction
Sea surface temperature*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.MWIR and TIR window channels around 3.7 and 11 micrometers with different viewing angles for atmospheric correction
Sea-ice cover*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.VIS, NIR (for contour enhancement), SWIR (for discrimination from clouds), MWIR and TIR channels
Short-wave cloud reflectance2 - very highNo specific limitation.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels with multi-viewing capability to account for anisotropical reflectance
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
Integrated Water Vapour (IWV)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Low troposphere dominant.TIR channels in the 11 micrometers split window
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA4 - fairSpectral interpolation needed.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels with multi-viewing capability to account for anisotropical reflectance
Aerosol volcanic ash1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels viewing under a few different angles
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS, NIR and SWIR channels with a few different viewing angles
Wind (horizontal)5 - marginalLimited to high latitudes.. Cloud or water vapour tracers needed.TIR channel(s) around 11 micrometers window