CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY - ATSR-2 -
Full Name Along Track Scanning Radiometer - 2 Status No longer operational
Instrument Agencies UKSA, CSIRO Maturity
Instrument Type Imaging multi-spectral radiometers (vis/IR) and Multiple direction/polarisation radiometers Geometry Conical scanning
Instrument Technology Multi-channel/direction/polarisation radiometer Sampling Imaging
Data Access Open Access Data Format
Measurements and Applications Measurements of sea surface temperature, land surface temperature, cloud top temperature and cloud cover, aerosols, vegetation, atmospheric water vapour and liquid water content.
Resolution Summary IR ocean channels: 1 x 1 km, Microwave near-nadir viewing: 20 km instantaneous field of view
Swath Summary 500 km
Accuracy Summary Sea surface temperature to <0.5 K over 0.5 x 0.5 deg (lat/long) area with 80% cloud cover, Land surface temperature: 0.1 K
Waveband Summary VIS - SWIR: 0.65 µm, 0.85 µm, 1.27 µm, and 1.6 µm, SWIR-TIR: 1.6 µm, 3.7 µm, 11 µm and 12 µm, Microwave: 23.8 GHz, 36.5 GHz (bandwidth of 400 MHz)
VIS (~0.40 µm - ~0.75 µm)
NIR (~0.75 µm - ~1.3 µm)
SWIR (~1.3 µm - ~3.0 µm)
MWIR (~3.0 µm - ~6.0 µm)
TIR (~6.0 µm - ~15.0 µm)
MW (~0.1 cm - ~100 cm)
Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
CategoryParameter
AerosolsAerosol optical depth (column/profile)
Aerosol absorption optical depth (column/profile)
Albedo and reflectanceEarth surface albedo
Cloud type, amount and cloud top temperatureCloud type
Multi-purpose imagery (land)Land surface imagery
Multi-purpose imagery (ocean)Ocean imagery and water leaving spectral radiance
Radiation budgetShort-wave Earth surface bi-directional reflectance
Surface temperature (land)Land surface temperature
Surface temperature (ocean)Sea surface temperature
VegetationVegetation type
Thematic Links Global Climate Observing System Essential Climate Variables (GCOS ECVs)
ECVDescriptionProduct(s)ECV Inventory 3.0 Record(s)
Aerosols properties click here click here Record ID: 12066
Record ID: 12065
ATSR-2 / AATSR / SLSTR SU AOD record
ATSR-2 / AATSR / SLSTR SU AOD record
ATSR-2 / AATSR / SLSTR ORAC AOD record
find more ECV Inventory records
Albedo click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Land Surface Temperature click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Ocean Colour click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Sea Surface Temperature click here click here ESA Sea Surface Temperature Climate Chan...
ESA Sea Surface Temperature Climate Chan...
ESA Sea Surface Temperature Climate Chan...
ESA Sea Surface Temperature Climate Chan...
ESA SST CCI Analysis L4 Long-term produc...
find more ECV Inventory records
Instrument Missions
ERS-2 - European Remote Sensing satellite - 2 (1995 - 2011)