CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY - POLDER-P -
Full Name POLarization and Directionality of the Earth's Reflectances (PARASOL version) Status No longer operational
Instrument Agencies CNES Maturity
Instrument Type Multiple direction/polarisation radiometers Geometry
Instrument Technology Multi-channel/direction/polarisation radiometer Sampling Other
Data Access Data Format
Measurements and Applications Measures polarisation, and directional and spectral characteristics of the solar light reflected by aerosols, clouds, oceans and land surfaces.
Resolution Summary 5.5 x 5.5 km
Swath Summary 1600 km
Accuracy Summary Radiation budget, land surface, Reflectance: 2%
Waveband Summary VIS - NIR: 0.490 µm, 0.670 µm and 0.865 µm at 3 polarisations, and 0.49 µm, 0.565 µm, 0.763 µm, 0.765 µm, 0.91 µm, and 1.02 µm with no polarisation
VIS (~0.40 µm - ~0.75 µm)
NIR (~0.75 µm - ~1.3 µm)
Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
CategoryParameter
AerosolsAerosol optical depth (column/profile)
Albedo and reflectanceFraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)
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 search ECV Inventory records
Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR) click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Instrument Missions
PARASOL - Polarization and Anisotropy of Reflectances for Atmospheric Science coupled with Observations from a LIDAR (2004 - 2013)