The NOAA Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites (also known as the POES project) are equipped with the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor. The project has origins dating back to the 1970s, with NOAA-15 being the oldest operational satellite currently in orbit. The AVHRR sensor measures 5 spectral bands of reflectance from the earth's surface ranging from the visible red band to 12 micrometers. By combining these bands in various ways scientists are able to study vegatation on land, surface temperatures of the ocean, and atmospheric conditions. The Earth Scan Lab has captured AVHRR data longer than any other satellite-sensed dataset.

The GOES-13 (East) satellite orbits 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 rapidly changing atmospheric applications. The ESL has developed GOES SST algorithms which, when combined with SSH data, allow us to study the Gulf of Mexico's currents throughout the year. The GOES imagery also helps us to track and study hurricanes and tropical storms from the African coast all the way to the continental United States. The ESL utilizes GOES-13 imagery to assist the State of Louisiana in emergency response to tropical storms and to provide information on a storm's location and changes in real-time through our web site, news media sources, and social media. On January 8, 2018, GOES-13 was powered down. It had been operational since April 2010. It can be reactivated if one of NOAA’s other operational or backup satellites experiences trouble.

The Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) equipped satellites are part of the EOS (Earth Observing System) fleet of NASA satellites. The sensor is onboard NASA's Aqua-1 and Terra-1 polar orbiters, and it captures 36 spectral bands from the blue part of the spectrum through infrared. The data we capture from Aqua-1 and Terra-1 has many applications such as giving spectacular, high resolution and large scale true color images of land and water as well as sea surface temperature maps, ocean color information, and numerous atmospheric products. At the ESL we have used MODIS data to track vegetation health, ocean currents, sediment transport, support hypoxia cruise missions, track oil slicks, and study tropical storm activity.

The Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (NPP) is the continuation of NASA's Earth Observing System (EOS) and is the product of years of collaboration between NASA, NOAA, and the Department of Defense. The satellite is equipped with five sensors: VIIRS, CriS, CERES, ATMS and OMPS. The Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is the next generation scanning radiometer and a follow on to NASA's MODIS sensor. ATMS and CriS are sounders producing high-resolution 3D temperature, moisture and pressure profiles. OMPS is a hyper spectral instrument used for ozone assessment. CERES is a three channel radiometer used to measure reflected and emitted radiation of the Earth and profile clouds. Together these instruments provide a thorough, high resolution view of ocean, land and atmospheric conditions.

The Ocean Color Monitor (OCM) is carried aboard the Oceansat-1 polar orbiting satellite. This satellite operates in a near-polar sun synchronous orbit. OCM is a solid state camera operating in eight narrow spectral bands. The camera is used to collect data on chlorophyll concentration, detect and monitor phytoplankton blooms and obtain data on atmospheric aerosols and suspended sediments in the water. OCM is an 8-channel sensor (whose spectral bands match that of the Orbview-2) SeaWiFS sensor, supplementing both true-color and ocean color views for that sensor. Oceansat-1 stopped transmitting on August 8, 2010, and the ESL has not yet captured data from ISRO's follow-on, Oceansat-2.