CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY - HRV -
Full Name High Resolution Visible Status No longer operational
Instrument Agencies CNES Maturity
Instrument Type High resolution optical imagers Geometry Cross-track scanning
Instrument Technology High resolution optical imager Sampling Imaging
Data Access Data Format
Measurements and Applications 2 HRV instruments provide 60 x 60 km images for a range of land and coastal applications.
Resolution Summary 10 m (panchromatic) or 20 m
[Best Resolution: 10m]
Swath Summary 117 km (i.e. 60 km + 60 km with 3 km overlap) - steerable up to ±27 deg off-track
[Max Swath: 117 km]
Accuracy Summary
Waveband Summary VIS: B1:0.5 - 0.59 µm, B2:0.61 - 0.68 µm, NIR: B3:0.79 - 0.89 µm, Panchromatic: VIS 0.51 - 0.73 µm
VIS (~0.40 µm - ~0.75 µm)
NIR (~0.75 µm - ~1.3 µm)
Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
CategoryParameter
Albedo and reflectanceEarth surface albedo
Landscape topographyLand surface topography
Multi-purpose imagery (land)Fire fractional cover
Land surface imagery
Sea ice cover, edge and thicknessIceberg fractional cover
Iceberg height
Surface temperature (land)Fire temperature
VegetationVegetation type
Land cover
Thematic Links Global Climate Observing System Essential Climate Variables (GCOS ECVs)
ECVDescriptionProduct(s)ECV Inventory 3.0 Record(s)
Albedo click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Fire click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Land cover click here click here search ECV Inventory records
Instrument Missions
SPOT-1 - Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre - 1 (1986 - 2001)
SPOT-2 - Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre - 2 (1990 - 2009)
SPOT-3 - Satellite Pour l'Observation de la Terre - 3 (1993 - 1996)