THE FOUR

RESOLUTIONS FOR
DIFFERENT
SATELLITES

NAME :-DAGMAWIT MOLLALIGN

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Introduction
There are four types of resolution when discussing satellite imagery in remote sensing: spatial, spectral,
temporal, and radiometric.

 spatial resolution is defined as the pixel size of an image representing the size of the surface area (i.e.
m2) being measured on the ground, determined by the sensors' instantaneous field of view (IFOV);

 spectral resolution is defined by the wavelength interval size (discrete segment of the Electromagnetic
Spectrum) and number of intervals that the sensor is measuring;

 temporal resolution is defined by the amount of time (e.g. days) that passes between imagery
collection periods for a given surface location

 Radiometric resolution is defined as the ability of an imaging system to record many levels of
brightness (contrast for example) and to the effective bit-depth of the sensor (number of grayscale levels)
and is typically expressed as 8-bit (0–255), 11-bit (0–2047), 12-bit (0–4095) or 16-bit (0–65,535).

The  resolution of satellite images varies depending on the instrument used and the altitude of the
satellite's orbit. For example, the Landsat archive offers repeated imagery at 30 meter resolution for the
planet, but most of it has not been processed from the raw data. Landsat 7 has an average return period of
16 days. For many smaller areas, images with resolution as high as 41 cm can be available.

1. Landsat
Landsat is the oldest continuous Earth observing satellite imaging program. Optical Landsat imagery
has been collected at 30 m resolution since the early 1980s. It represented the first unmanned satellite
specifically designed to acquire data about earth resources on a systematic, repetitive, medium resolution,
multispectral basis .

Beginning with Landsat 5, thermal infrared imagery was also collected (at coarser spatial resolution
than the optical data). The Landsat 7 and Landsat 8 satellites are currently in orbit. Landsat 9 is planned.

LANDSATs had a multispectral scanner (MSS) as the primary sensor, while the following two satellites
added a higher resolution scanner called the Thematic Mapper (TM). The MSS has 80 m spatial resolution
and images in the visible and near infrared region while the TM has 30 m spatial resolution and images
across a broader portion of the spectrum (visible through thermal infrared).

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After more than two decades of success, the LANDSAT program realized its first unsuccessful mission
with the launch failure ofLandsat-6 on October 5, 1993. The sensor included on-board was the Enhanced
Thematic Mapper (ETM). To provide continuity with Landsat -4 and -5 the ETM incorporated the same
seven spectral bands and the same spatial resolutions as the TM. The ETMs major improvement over the
TM was addition of an eighth panchromatic band operating in 0.50 to 0.90μm ranges a spatial resolution of
15m.Landsat-7 includes two sensors: the Enhanced Thematic Mapper plus (ETM+) and the High Resolution
Multispectral Stereo Imager(HRMSI).

2. SPOT
The French SPOT system was first launched in 1986, and a total of four satellites with three different
sensors have been launched. The earliest device, the HRV, is similar to Landsat MSS in spectral resolution,
consisting of green, red, and near-infrared bands. It has a narrower swath (60 km vs MSS 185 km), but
higher spatial resolution (20 m vs. MSS 56 x 79 m). It can also work in a panchromatic mode to achieve 10 x
10 m resolution – a significant achievement in 1984.

SPOT-1, -2 and -3 have identical orbits and sensor systems,SPOT-4 includes the additional 20m-
resolution band in the mid-infrared portion of the spectrum (between 1.58 and 1.75μm).This band is
intended to improve vegetation monitoring and mineral discriminating capabilities of the data.
Furthermore, mixed 20m and 10mdata sets will be co-registered on-board instead of during ground
processing .This will be accomplished by replacing the panchromatic band of SPOT-1, -2and -3 (0.49 to 0.73
μm) with red band from these systems (0.61 to 0.68μm). This band will be used to produce both 10m black
and white images and 20m multispectral data. Another change in SPOT-4 is the addition of a separate wide-
field-of-view, sensor called the Vegetation SPOT-5 is the latest in Frances series of Earth observing satellites

SPOT 4 carries an updated HRVIR instrument that adds a mid-infrared band to allow some of the TM
capabilities dependent on that spectral range.

   SPOT satellites in orbit (Spot 5, 6, 7) provide very high resolution images – 1.5 m for Panchromatic
channel, 6m for Multi-spectral (R,G,B,NIR). Spot Image also distributes multi resolution data from other
optical satellites .The high resolution of SPOT’s panchromatic data are particularly well suited to urban and
cartographic applications. .

 Landsat TM and SPOT strikes a balance between spatial, spectral and temporal resolution that has met
the needs of land managers and scientists

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3. IKONOS

IKONOS The IKONOS-2 satellite was launched in September 1999 and has been delivering commercial
data since early 2000. IKONOS is the first of the next generation of high spatial resolution satellites. IKONOS
data records 4channels of multispectral l[R, G, B, NIR ] data at 4-meter resolution and one panchromatic
channel with 1-meter resolution. This means that IKONOS is first commercial satellite to deliver near
photographic quality imagery of anywhere in the world from space. Radiometric Resolution: Data is
collected as 11 bits per pixel (2048 gray tones). Timings of collecting / receiving IKONOS data and satellite
orbit characteristics vary considerably depending on accuracy of product, extent and area.

IKONOS imagery is being used for national security, military mapping, air and marine transportation, and
by regional and local governments.

4. QuickBird

A sensor with even higher spatial resolution, Quickbird , was launched in October 2001, with 0.61 m
resolution in the panchromatic ,and 2.44 m resolution for multispectral [R, G, B, NIR] images

Digital Globe’s QuickBird satellite continues to offer sub-meter resolution imagery with high geolocational

Accuracy. With global collection of panchromatic and multispectral imagery, QuickBird is designed to
support a wide range of geospatial applications. QuickBird is currently operating at an altitude of 400 km
and will continue in a gradual descent until its end of mission life at an altitude of 300 km.
5. Rapid Eye

Black Bridge, previously known as RapidEye, operates a constellation of five satellites, launched in August
2008, the Rapid Eye constellation contains identical multispectral sensors which are equally calibrated.
Therefore, an image from one satellite will be equivalent to an image from any of the other four, allowing
for a large amount of imagery to be collected (4 million km² per day), and daily revisit to an area. Each
travel on the same orbital plane at 630 km, and deliver images in 5 meter pixel size. RapidEye satellite
imagery is especially suited for agricultural, environmental, cartographic and disaster management
applications. RapidEye’s satellites are the first commercial satellites to include the Red-Edge band, which is
sensitive to changes in chlorophyll content.

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6. IRS

iRS The Indian Remote Sensing Satellite was the next logical step towards the National operational
satellites that directly generates resources information in a variety of application areas such as forestry,
geology, agriculture and hydrology

IRS-P4 (Oceansat-1)IRS-P4 carries an Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) and a Multi-frequency Scanning
Microwave Radiometer (MSMR), launched on May 26 1999.OCM has 8 narrow spectral bands operating in
visible and near-infrared bands (402-885 nm) with a spatial resolution of 350 m and swath of 1500 km s. IRS
P4 OCM thus provides highest spatial resolution compared to any other contemporary satellites in the
international arena during this time frame. The MSMR with its all-weather capability is configured to have
measurements at 4frequencies (6.6, 10.6, 18 & 26 GHZ) with an overall swath of 1500 km. The spatial
resolution is 120, 80, 40 and 40 kms for the frequency bands of 6.6, 10.6, 18 and 26 GHz. MSMR will also be
in a way a unique sensor as no other passive microwave radiometer is operational in the civilian domain
today and will be useful for study of both physical oceanographic and meteorological parameters.

7. GeoEye

GeoEye's GeoEye-1 satellite was launched on September 6, 2008.[8] The GeoEye-1 satellite has the

high resolution imaging system and is able to collect images with a ground resolution of 0.41 meters
(16 inches) in the panchromatic or black and white mode. It collects multispectral or color imagery at 1.65-
meter resolution or about 64 inches.

8.  WorldView-2 

Provides high resolution commercial satellite imagery with 0.46 m spatial resolution (panchromatic
only).[9] The 0.46 meters resolution of WorldView2's panchromatic images allows the satellite to distinguish
between objects on the ground that are at least 46 cm apart. Similarly Digital Globe’s Quick Bird satellite
provides 0.6 meter resolution (at NADIR) panchromatic images.

9.  WorldView-3

 Satellite provides high resolution commercial satellite imagery with 0.31 m spatial resolution. WVIII also
carries a short wave infrared sensor and an atmospheric sensor.