CEOS EO HANDBOOK – INSTRUMENT SUMMARY - AVHRR/2 -
Full Name Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer/2 Status No longer operational
Instrument Agencies NOAA Maturity
Instrument Type Imaging multi-spectral radiometers (vis/IR) Geometry Cross-track scanning
Instrument Technology Multi-purpose imaging Vis/IR radiometer Sampling Imaging
Data Access Data Format
Measurements and Applications Measurements of land and sea surface temperature, cloud cover, snow and ice cover, soil moisture and vegetation indices. Data also used for volcanic eruption monitoring. Multi-purpose imagery. 4-channel radiometer covering VIS, NIR, MWIR and TIR, respectively. Digitised version of VHRR (Very High Resolution Radiometer) previously flown on NOAA 2 to 5; 4 channels instead of 2.
Resolution Summary 1.1 km IFOV s.s.p. (at Instantaneous Field of View at subsatellite point)
[Best Resolution: 1100m]
Swath Summary 2900km
[Max Swath: 2900 km]
Accuracy Summary
Waveband Summary VIS: 0.58 - 0.68 µm, NIR: 0.725 - 1.1 µm, MWIR: 3.55 - 3.93 µm, TIR: 10.3 - 11.3 µm, 11.5 - 12.5 µm
VIS (~0.40 µm - ~0.75 µm)
NIR (~0.75 µm - ~1.3 µm)
MWIR (~3.0 µm - ~6.0 µm)
TIR (~6.0 µm - ~15.0 µm)
Instrument Measurements
Measurements Overview
CategoryParameter
Cloud type, amount and cloud top temperatureCloud imagery
Multi-purpose imagery (land)Fire fractional cover
Radiation budgetUpward long-wave irradiance at TOA
Snow cover, edge and depthSnow cover
Surface temperature (ocean)Sea surface temperature
VegetationNormalized Differential Vegetation Index (NDVI)
Thematic Links Global Climate Observing System Essential Climate Variables (GCOS ECVs)
ECVDescriptionProduct(s)ECV Inventory 3.0 Record(s)
Earth Radiation Budget click here click here Record ID: 11941
Record ID: 11940
Record ID: 10376
Record ID: 10374
Fire click here click here FireCCILT10 - ESA Fire Climate Change In...
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...
AVHRR Pathfinder version 5.3 level 3 col...
find more ECV Inventory records
Snow click here click here NOAA Climate Data Record (CDR) of Northe...
Instrument Missions
NOAA-7 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - 7 (1981 - 1986)
NOAA-9 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - 9 (1984 - 1998)
NOAA-11 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - 11 (1988 - 2004)
NOAA-12 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - 12 (1991 - 2005)
NOAA-13 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - 13 (1993 - 1993)
NOAA-14 - National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration - 14 (1994 - 2005)