Satellites
The Earth Scan Lab captures
telemetry
from several earth-orbiting satellites. The sensor systems
on-board the various spacecraft offer views in many spectral bands, and
span a spatial resolution
from 250m - 4km per data pixel.
Satellites can be classified as either polar orbiting
or geostationary
depending on their orbital behavior.
Many polar orbiting satellites are in a
sun-synchronous
orbit.
Among the satellites currently captured are:
GOES-12 (Geostationary)
The GOES-12 (East) satellite sits over the equator at 75 degrees west
longitude. It provides high temporal resolution
imagery at a spatial resolution of 4km, and is especially useful for
atmospheric applications. The ESL has developed
GOES SST algorithms
combined with SSH
data to study Loop Currents in the Gulf of Mexico.
The GOES imagery also helps us to track and study
hurricanes, tropical storms, and high velocity currents in the Gulf of Mexico.
The ESL utilizes GOES-12 imagery to assist the State of Louisiana in
emergency response to tropical storms.
more...
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Terra-1/Aqua-1 (EOS)
Terra-1/Aqua-1 are part of the EOS (Earth Observing System) fleet of NASA
satellites. These spacecraft carry, among others, the MODIS sensor, which provides a
wealth of earth observational data at 250m to 1km resolutions.
MODIS (Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer) has a broad reach of
applications, giving spectacular true color
images of land and water, as well as SST, ocean color, and numerous atmospheric products.
more...
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Ocean Color Satellites
The ESL captures both Orbview-2 and Oceansat-1. The two satellites
are very different systems, but both
capture the same eight spectral bands.
Oceansat-1
The Oceansat-1 spacecraft was built specifically for
analysis. The spacecraft orbit repeats its sub-track every other day,
providing consistent scan coverage of the earth. It is also capable of
providing true color
imagery.
more...
Recent OCM imagery is available.
Orbview-2
Orbview-2, a privately-launched commercial satellite, carries the SeaWiFS
instrument and gives eight channels used for ocean color applications.
The ESL uses Orbview-2 data to study the effects on ocean chlorophyll of
river discharges into the Gulf of Mexico.
more...
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Polar Operational Environmental Satellites
The POES NOAA Series polar orbiters includes a constellation of several satellites. The ESL captures five of these (NOAA-12, 14, 15, 16, 17)
(Spacecraft Status)
providing approximately 20 passes per day, and a view of
the entire US and Gulf of Mexico.
more...
Data captured at the ESL from the POES satellites provide
SST and reflectance imagery
used in
monitoring river and esturine processes
along the Louisiana coast.
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