List of earth observation satellites
This is a list of Earth observation satellites . It only shows a small selection of the satellites that were actually launched.
Chronological overview (incomplete)
Contents: 1960 · 1970 · 1980 · 1990 · 2000 · 2010s · 2020s | ||||
Start date | mission | image | Organization (country) | comment |
---|---|---|---|---|
1960s | ||||
Apr 1, 1960 | TIROS | (UNITED STATES) | first weather satellite , (another 9 satellites until 1965) | |
Aug 28, 1964 | Nimbus 1 | NASA (USA) | (6 more satellites until 1978) | |
Aug 28, 1964 | Cosmos 44 | Soviet Union | Forerunner of the Meteor series. Another 9 satellites of the pre-series up to 1968) | |
Feb 3, 1966 | ESSA | ESSA (USA) | (another 12 satellites by 2004) | |
Feb. 1, 1969 | meteor | Soviet Union | further satellites to the present | |
1970s | ||||
Apr 8, 1970 | Nimbus 4 | NASA (USA) | Weather satellite (research) | |
July 23, 1972 | Landsat 1 | NASA (USA) | first exploration satellite for mapping | |
Dec 11, 1972 | Nimbus 5 | NASA (USA) | Weather satellite (research) | |
Jan. 22, 1975 | Landsat 2 | NASA (USA) | ||
Apr 9, 1975 | GEOS 3 | NASA (USA) | (Geodynamics Experimental Ocean Satellite) | |
June 12, 1975 | Nimbus 6 | NASA (USA) | Weather satellite (research) | |
Oct 16, 1975 | GOES-1 | NOAA (USA) | geostationary weather satellite (operational) | |
1976 | Cosmos 1076 | Soviet Union | ||
June 16, 1977 | GOES-2 | NOAA (USA) | geostationary weather satellite (operational) | |
Nov 23, 1977 | Meteosat-1 | EUMETSAT | ||
5th Mar 1978 | Landsat 3 | NASA (USA) | ||
Apr. 26, 1978 | Explorer 58 | NASA (USA) | (Applications Explorer Mission-1 / HCMM: Heat Capacity Mapping Mission) | |
June 16, 1978 | GOES-3 | NOAA (USA) | geostationary weather satellite (operational) | |
June 27, 1978 | Seasat | NASA (USA) | ||
Oct. 24, 1978 | Nimbus 7 | NASA (USA) | first satellite for global environmental monitoring | |
Feb. 18, 1979 | Explorer 60 | NASA (USA) | ( Applications Explorer Mission-2 (AEM-2) , SAGE) | |
1980s | ||||
1980 | Cosmos 1119 | Soviet Union | (Okean-E) | |
June 19, 1981 | Meteosat-2 | EUMETSAT | (Meteorological Satellite) | |
Aug 24, 1981 | NOAA-7 | NOAA (USA) | ||
July 16, 1982 | Landsat-4 | NASA (USA) | ||
28 Mar 1983 | NOAA-8 | NOAA (USA) | ||
1st Mar 1984 | Landsat 5 | NASA (USA) | ||
Dec 12, 1984 | NOAA-9 | NOAA (USA) | ||
March 12 1985 | Geosat | US Navy (USA) | (Geodetic Satellite) | |
Oct 24, 1985 | METEOR 3-01 | Soviet Union | ||
Feb. 22, 1986 | SPOT 1 | CNES (France) | (Système Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre) | |
17 Sep 1986 | NOAA-10 | NOAA (USA) | ||
Feb 16, 1987 | MOS 1a | NASDA (Japan) | (Marine Observation Satellite, also: Momo 1a) | |
17th Mar 1988 | IRS 1A | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite) | |
Apr 20, 1988 | Resurs -O1 | Soviet Union | ||
5th July 1988 | OKEAN 1 | Soviet Union | ||
July 26, 1988 | METEOR 3-02 | Soviet Union | ||
22 Sep 1988 | NOAA-11 | NOAA (USA) | ||
6th Mar 1989 | Meteosat-4 | EUMETSAT | ||
Oct. 24, 1989 | METEOR 3-03 | Soviet Union | ||
1990s | ||||
Jan. 22, 1990 | SPOT 2 | CNES (France) | (Système Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre) | |
Feb 7, 1990 | MOS 1b | NASDA (Japan) | (Marine Observation Satellite, also: Momo 1b) | |
2nd Mar 1991 | Meteosat-5 | EUMETSAT | (Meteorological Satellite) | |
17th July 1991 | ERS-1 | ESA | (European Remote Sensing Satellite) | |
Aug 29, 1991 | IRS 1B | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite) | |
Sep 15 1991 | UARS | NASA (USA) | (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite) | |
Feb 11, 1992 | JERS-1 | NASDA (Japan) | (Japanese Earth Resources Satellite, also: Fuyo) | |
Aug 10, 1992 | TOPEX / Poseidon | NASA (USA) / CNES (France) | ||
26 Sep 1993 | SPOT 3 | CNES (France) | (Système Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre) | |
Nov 20, 1993 | Meteosat-6 | EUMETSAT | (Meteorological Satellite) | |
Jan 25, 1994 | Meteor 3-06 | Russia | ||
Oct 15, 1994 | IRS P2 | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite) | |
Apr 3, 1995 | Orbview 1 / MicroLab-1 | Orbimage (USA) | first privately developed and operated earth observation satellite. (Optical Transient Detector OTD) | |
Apr 21, 1995 | ERS-2 | ESA | (European Remote Sensing Satellite) | |
Aug 31, 1995 | Yourself-1 | NSAU (Ukraine) | ||
Nov 4, 1995 | RADARSAT-1 | CSA (Canada) | ||
Dec 28, 1995 | IRS 1C | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite) | |
21 Mar 1996 | IRS P3 | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite) | |
Aug 17, 1996 | ADEOS-I | NASDA (Japan) | (also: Midori) | |
Aug 1, 1997 | Orbview-2 | Orbimage (USA) | also: Seastar, with SeaWiFS (Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor) | |
3rd Sep 1997 | Meteosat-7 | EUMETSAT | (Meteorological Satellite) | |
29 Sep 1997 | IRS 1D | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite) | |
Nov 27, 1997 | TRMM | NASA (USA) / NASDA (Japan) | (Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission) | |
Dec 24, 1997 | EarlyBird | |||
Feb 10, 1998 | Geosat Follow-On | US NAVY (USA) | ||
24 Mar 1998 | SPOT 4 | CNES (France) | (Système Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre) | |
Apr 15, 1999 | Landsat 7 | NASA (USA) | ||
May 26, 1999 | IRS P4 | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, also: Oceansat 1) | |
June 19, 1999 | QuikSCAT | NASA (USA) | (Quick Scatterometer) | |
July 17, 1999 | Okean O | Russia | ||
Sep 24 1999 | IKONOS | GeoEye Inc. (USA) | ||
Oct 14, 1999 | CBERS-1 | China / Brazil | (China-Brazil Earth-Resources Satellite) | |
Dec 18, 1999 | Terra | NASA (USA) | ||
Dec 21, 1999 | KOMPSat 1 | South Korea | (Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite, also: Arirang-2) | |
2000s | ||||
21 Sep 2000 | NOAA-16 | NOAA (USA) | ||
Dec 6, 2000 | EROS-A1 | ImageSat International (Israel / USA) | (Earth Resources Observation Systems) | |
Oct 18, 2001 | QuickBird -2 | DigitalGlobe (USA) | ||
Oct 22, 2001 | Proba-1 | ESA | (Project for On-Board Autonomy) | |
Dec 7, 2001 | Jason -1 | NASA (USA) / CNES (France) | ||
Dec 10, 2001 | METEOR 3M / Sage III | Russia / NASA (USA) | (Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment) | |
1st Mar 2002 | Envisat | ESA | ||
May 4, 2002 | Aqua | NASA (USA) | ||
May 4, 2002 | SPOT 5 | CNES (France) | (Système Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre) | |
May 15, 2002 | Hai Yuang | China | ||
June 24, 2002 | NOAA-17 | NOAA (USA) | ||
Aug 28, 2002 | Meteosat-8 (MSG-1) | EUMETSAT | (Meteosat Second Generation) | |
Sep 12 2002 | KALPANA-1 | ISRO (India) | (MetSat-1, Meteorological Satellite) | |
Dec 12, 2002 | ADEOS-II | NASDA (Japan) | (ADvanced Earth Observing Satellite, also: Midori II) | |
Jan. 12, 2003 | ICESat | NASA (USA) | (Ice, Cloud and Land Elevation Satellite) | |
June 2003 | Orbview 3 | Orbimage | ||
Aug 13, 2003 | SciSat-1 / ACE | CSA (Canada) | (Science Satellite / Atmospheric Chemistry Experiment) | |
Oct 17, 2003 | IRS P6 | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, also: Resourcesat 1) | |
Oct 21, 2003 | CBERS-2 | China / Brazil | (China-Brazil Earth-Resources Satellite) | |
July 15, 2004 | aura | NASA (USA) | ||
Dec 18, 2004 | PARASOL | CNES (France) | ||
Dec 24, 2004 | Yourself-1M | NSAU (Ukraine) | (False start) | |
Feb 26, 2005 | MTSAT-1R | Japan | (Multi-Functional Transport Satellite, also: Himawari 6) | |
May 5, 2005 | IRS P5 | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite, also: Cartosat-1) | |
Aug 26, 2005 | Monitor-E | Khrunichev / Roscosmos (Russia) | ||
Oct 8, 2005 | CryoSat | ESA | (False start) | |
Oct 27, 2005 | TopSat | |||
Dec 21, 2005 | Meteosat-9 (MSG-2) | EUMETSAT | (Meteosat Second Generation) | |
Jan. 24, 2006 | ALOS | JAXA (Japan) | (Advanced Land Observing Satellite, also: Daichi) | |
Feb. 18, 2006 | MTSAT-2 | Japan | (also: Himawari?) | |
Apr 25, 2006 | EROS-B | ImageSat International (Israel / USA) | (Earth Resources Observation Systems) | |
Apr 27, 2006 | YaoGan WeiXing-1 | China | (also: Remote Sensing Satellite 1, Jian Bing-5 (JB-5)) | |
Apr 28, 2006 | CALIPSO | NASA (USA / CNES (France) | (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observations) | |
Apr 28, 2006 | CloudSat | NASA (USA) | ||
May 24, 2006 | GOES-N | NOAA (USA) | (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) | |
July 26, 2006 | BelKA | Belarus | ( False start) (for example: Belaruski Kazmitschnui Aparat - Belarusian space apparatus) | |
July 28, 2006 | KOMPSat 2 | South Korea | (Korea Multi-Purpose Satellite, also: Arirang-2) | |
Aug 5, 2006 | Resurs-DK1 | Russia | ||
Oct 19, 2006 | MetOp-A | EUMETSAT / ESA | (Meteorological Operational satellite) | |
Dec 8, 2006 | Feng Yun-2D | China | ||
Jan. 10, 2007 | Cartosat-2 | ISRO (India) | (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite IRS-2A) | |
Apr 11, 2007 | Haiyang 1-B | China | ||
Apr 25, 2007 | AIM | NASA (USA) | (Aeronomy of Ice in the Mesosphere) | |
May 25, 2007 | Yaogan-2 | China | ||
June 7, 2007 | COSMO-SkyMed-1 | Italy | (Constellation of small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) | |
June 15, 2007 | TerraSAR | DLR / EADS Astrium (Germany) | ||
Sep 18 2007 | WorldView-1 | Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation (USA) | ||
19 Sep 2007 | CBERS-2B | China / Brazil | (China-Brazil Earth-Resources Satellite) | |
Nov 12, 2007 | Yaogan-3 | China | (also: Jian Bing-5 2, JB-5 2) | |
Dec 9, 2007 | COSMO-SkyMed-2 | Italy | (Constellation of small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) | |
Dec 14, 2007 | RADARSAT-2 | CSA (Canada) | ||
Apr 28, 2008 | Cartosat-2A | ISRO (India) | ||
May 27, 2008 | Feng Yun 3A | China | ||
June 20, 2008 | OSTM | NASA / NOAA (USA) / CNES (France) / EUMETSAT | (Ocean Surface Topography Mission, also: Jason – 2) | |
Aug 29, 2008 | RapidEye | RapidEye AG (Germany) | ||
6 Sep 2008 | GeoEye 1 | GeoEye (USA) | ||
6 Sep 2008 | Huanjing-1 | China | ||
Oct 1, 2008 | THEOS | Thailand | (Thailand Earth Observation System) | |
Oct 25, 2008 | COSMO-SkyMed-3 | Italy | (Constellation of small Satellites for Mediterranean basin Observation) | |
Dec 1, 2008 | YaoGan WeiXing-4 | China | ||
Jan. 21, 2009 | GOSAT | JAXA (Japan) | (Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite, also: IBUKI) | |
Feb 24, 2009 | OCO | NASA (USA) | (Orbiting Carbon Observatory) (failure) | |
June 27, 2009 | GOES-O | NOAA (USA) | (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) | |
Sep 7 2009 | Meteor-M 1 | Russia | ||
23 Sep 2009 | OceanSat-2 | ISRO (India) | ||
Oct 8, 2009 | WorldView-2 | Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation (USA) | ||
Nov 2, 2009 | SMOS | ESA | (Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity) | |
Nov 2, 2009 | Proba-2 | ESA | (Project for On-Board Autonomy) | |
2010s | ||||
4th Mar 2010 | GOES-P | NOAA (USA) | (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) | |
Apr 8, 2010 | CryoSat-2 | ESA | ||
June 21, 2010 | TanDEM-X | DLR / EADS Astrium (Germany) | ||
Jan. 20, 2011 | Elektro-L 1 | Russia | (also: GOMS) | |
4th Mar 2011 | Glory | NASA (USA) | (failed) | |
June 10, 2011 | SAC-D | NASA (USA) / CONAE (Argentina) | ||
17 Aug 2011 | Yourself-2 | NSAU (Ukraine) | ||
Oct 12, 2011 | Megha-Tropiques | CNES (France) / ISRO (India) | ||
Oct 28, 2011 | Suomi NPP | NASA (USA) | (National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project) | |
Dec 17, 2011 | Pléiades-1A | CNES / Astrium (France) | (The very-high-resolution constellation) | |
17th May 2012 | GCOM-W | JAXA (Japan) | (Global Change Observation Mission-Water) | |
Sep 9 2012 | SPOT 6 | Astrium | (The high-resolution constellation) | |
Dec 2, 2012 | Pléiades-1B | CNES / Astrium (France) | (The very-high-resolution constellation) | |
11th Mar 2013 | Landsat 8 (LDCM) | NASA (USA) | (Landsat Data Continuity Mission) | |
July 25, 2013 | INSAT-3D | ISRO (India) | (Indian geostationary multi-function satellite) | |
Dec 9, 2013 | CBERS-3 | China / Brazil | (China-Brazil Earth-Resources Satellite; could not reach orbit) | |
Feb. 27, 2014 | GPM | NASA (USA) / JAXA (Japan) | (Global Precipitation Measurement) | |
Apr 3, 2014 | Sentinel-1A | EU / ESA | ||
Oct 7, 2014 | Himawari 8 | Japan | Weather satellite | |
7th Dec 2014 | CBERS-4 | China / Brazil | (China-Brazil Earth-Resources Satellite) | |
Jan. 31, 2015 | SMAP | NASA (USA) | (Soil Moisture Active Passive) | |
Nov 19, 2016 | GOES 16 (GOES-R) | NOAA (USA) | (Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite) | |
7th Mar 2017 | Sentinel-2 | EU / ESA | ||
April 25, 2018 | Sentinel-3 | EU / ESA | ||
22 Aug 2018 | ADM-Aeolus | ESA | (Atmospheric Dynamics Mission) | |
Sep 15 2018 | ICESat-2 | NASA (USA) | (Ice, Cloud, and Land Elevation Satellite) | |
Oct 29, 2018 | CFOSat | |||
June 12, 2019 | Radarsat Constellation | Canada | ||
22 Mar 2019 | PRISM | ASI (Italy) | PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa | |
Dec 20, 2019 | CBERS-4A | China / Brazil | (China-Brazil Earth-Resources Satellite) | |
2020s | ||||
around 2020 | EnMAP | GFZ / DLR (Germany) | (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) | |
approx. 2021 | MTG-I | EUMETSAT | (Meteosat Third Generation Imaging) | |
approx. 2022 | EarthCARE | ESA / JAXA | 7. Earth Explorer Mission | |
approx. 2022 | Biomass | ESA | 8. Earth Explorer Mission | |
April 2022 | SWOT | NASA (USA) / CNES (France) | First global survey of the Earth's surface water |
Sorting by remote sensing instrument
Non-imaging active systems
Microwave altimeter (altimeter): remote sensing of the sea surface
- April 9, 1975 - GEOS 3 (first satellite altimeter)
- June 28, 1978 - Seasat (until October 10, 1978)
- Mar. 12, 1985 - Geosat
- July 17, 1991 - ERS-1 (until March 10, 2000), (Altimeter = main measuring device)
- August 10, 1992 - TOPEX / Poseidon (until January 18, 2006), (Altimeter = main measuring device)
- April 21, 1995 - ERS-2 (Altimeter = main measuring device)
- February 10, 1998 - GFO (Geosat Follow-On) successor to Geosat
- December 7, 2001 - Jason-1 (successor to TOPEX / Poseidon) , (Altimeter = main measuring device)
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat (successor to ERS)
- Jun 20, 2008 - Jason -2
- April 8, 2010 - CryoSat-2
Laser altimeter
- January 12, 2003 - ICESat , Geoscience Laser Altimeter System (GLAS)
LIDAR: exploration of clouds and aerosols
- April 28, 2006 - CALIPSO , Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization (CALIOP)
- 2008 - ADM-Aeolus , Atmospheric Laser Doppler Lidar Instrument (ALADIN)
- 2012 - EarthCARE , Backscatter Lidar (ATLID)
Scatterometer: Research into air movements over the sea
- Jun. 27, 1978 - Seasat
- July 17, 1991 - ERS-1 , Active Microwave Instrument (AMI)
- April 21, 1995 - ERS-2 , Active Microwave Instrument (AMI)
- Sept. 15, 1996 - ADEOS-I , NSCAT - NASA scatterometer
- June 19, 1999 - QuikSCAT , (SeaWinds)
- December 12, 2002 - ADEOS-II , (SeaWinds)
- October 19, 2006 - MetOp-A , Advanced Scatterometer (ASCAT)
Active imaging systems
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR)
- June 28, 1978 - Seasat (until October 10, 1978)
- July 25, 1987 - Kosmos 1870 (Almaz-T2 / Resurs-R)
- March 31, 1991 - Almaz 1 (Almaz-T3 / Resurs-R)
- July 17, 1991 - ERS-1 (until March 10, 2000), Active Microwave Instrument (AMI)
- February 11, 1992 - JERS-1 (until 1998)
- April 21, 1995 - ERS-2 , Active Microwave Instrument (AMI)
- Nov. 4, 1995 - RADARSAT-1
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat , Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR)
- June 15, 2007 - TerraSAR
Imaging passive systems
Hyperspectral scanners (spectrometers with approx. 15 to 200 spectral bands)
- December 18, 1999 - Terra , MODIS (= Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), 36 spectral bands
- November 21, 2000 - EO-1 , Hyperion, 220 spectral bands
- October 22, 2001 - Proba-1 , CHRIS, 60 spectral bands
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat , MERIS (MEdium Resolution Imaging Specrometer), 15 spectral bands
- May 4, 2002 - Aqua , MODIS (= Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer), 36 spectral bands
- 2012 - Prism, 235 spectral bands
- 2014 - EnMAP , 200 spectral bands
- 2015 - HyspIRI, 210 spectral bands
Multispectral line scanner for measuring ocean color (global)
- Oct. 24, 1978 - Nimbus-7 , Coastal Zone Color Scanner (CZCS) to 1986
- March 21, 1996 - IRS P3 , Modular Optical Scanner (MOS) until 2004
- August 17, 1996 - ADEOS-I (Midori), Ocean Color and Temperature Scanner (OCTS) until 1997
- August 1, 1997 - Orbview-2 (Seastar) , Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor (SeaWiFS)
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat , MEdium Resolution Imaging Specrometer (MERIS)
- May 4, 2002 - Aqua, Moderate-Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
- approx. 2012 - Sentinel-3 , Ocean and Land Color Instrument (OLCI)
- approx. 2013 - NPOESS , Visible / Infrared Imager / Radiometer Suite (VIIRS)
Examples by research topic
Investigation of the earth's radiation budget
- Oct. 24, 1978 - Nimbus 7 , Earth Radiation Budget Instrument (ERB)
- October 5, 1984 - Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) , Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)
- December 12, 1984 - NOAA-9 , Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)
- September 17, 1986 - NOAA-10 , Earth Radiation Budget Experiment (ERBE)
- January 25, 1994 - Meteor 3-06, ScaRaB
- November 27, 1997 - TRMM , Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)
- December 18, 1999 - Terra , Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)
- May 4, 2002 - Aqua, Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CERES)
- August 28, 2002 - Meteosat-8 (MSG-1) , Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB)
- December 21, 2005 - Meteosat-9 (MSG-2) , Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget (GERB)
Investigation of the ozone layer
- Nov. 20, 1975 - Explorer 55 (Atmosphere Explorer-E), Backscatter UV Spectrometer
- Oct. 24, 1978 - Nimbus 7 , Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) / Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet instrument (SBUV)
- Oct. 6, 1981 - SME ( Solar Mesosphere Explorer )
- Mar. 28, 1983 - Advanced Tiros N / NOAA 8, Solar Backscatter Ultraviolet Radiometer (SBUV) , (also on subsequent NOAA satellites)
- September 12, 1991 - Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)
- August 15, 1991 - METEOR 3-05 , Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS)
- April 21, 1995 - ERS-2 , Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME)
- July 2, 1996 - Earth Probe , Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS)
- August 17, 1996 - ADEOS I (Midori), Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS)
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat , Global Ozone Monitoring by Occultation of Stars (GOMOS)
- August 13, 2003 - SCISAT
- July 15, 2004 - Aura , Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI)
- October 19, 2006 - MetOp-A , Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment-2 (GOME-2)
Investigation of the aerosol density of the atmosphere
- Oct. 13, 1978 - TIROS-N, Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)
- October 24, 1978 - Nimbus 7 , Total Ozone Mapping Spectrometer (TOMS) (other satellites with TOMS see above)
- June 23, 1981 - NOAA-7 , Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR-2) (another 10 satellites with AVHRR by 2002)
- July 17, 1991 - ERS-1 , Along Track Scanning Radiometer (ATSR)
- April 21, 1995 - ERS-2 , Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer (AATSR)
- August 17, 1996 - ADEOS I (Midori), POLDER (first satellite sensor especially for measurements of aerosols) / OCTS
- Dec 18, 1999 - Terra , CERES, MISR, MODIS
- December 12, 2002 - ADEOS-II (Midori-II), Global Imager (GLI)
Chemical composition of the upper atmosphere
- Oct. 24, 1978 - Nimbus 7 , Stratospheric Aerosol Mission (SAM II)
- Feb. 18, 1979 - Applications Explorer Mission-2 (AEM-2) , Stratospheric Aerosol and Gas Experiment (SAGE)
- October 5, 1984 - Earth Radiation Budget Satellite (ERBS) , SAGE II
- September 12, 1991 - Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS)
- December 18, 1999 - Terra , Measurements Of Pollution In The Troposphere sensor (MOPITT)
- December 10, 2001 - Sage III / METEOR 3M - SAGE III
- March 1, 2002 - Envisat , Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY)
Other parameters
- Global Precipitation Rate : Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (tropics only), Global Precipitation Measurement
- Salt content of near-surface sea water: Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity , Aquarius
- Soil moisture: Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity
- global lightning detection: MicroLab-1, Optical Transient Detector (OTD) ; TRMM , Lightning Imaging Sensor (LIS) ; GOES-R , Geostationary Lightning Mapper (GLM) ; Lightning Mapper Sensor (LMS)
See also
Web links
- Astrium satellite data portfolio
- Lexicon of remote sensing
- ESA's eduspace
- ESA Earth Observation Handbook
- science @ nasa-earth (english)
- Overview at Gunter's Space Page (English)
- Regional Planetary Image Facility (RPIF) table: Missions to Earth
- NASA Earth Observatory Homepage:
- List of earth observation satellites at ESA eoPortal
- EARSC - European Association of Remote Sensing Companies