CEOS EO HANDBOOK – MEASUREMENT INSTRUMENTS
Measurements > Snow and Ice >
Sea ice cover, edge and thickness >
Glacier cover


Measurement Definition*: Fraction of a land area covered by permanent ice - Physical unit [ % ], Accuracy unit [ % ]

Thematic Links
InstrumentStatus/
Accuracy
Instrument DescriptionMeasurement TechnologyTimeline
AWiFS
Advanced Wide Field Sensor
Operational
Vegetation and crop monitoring, resource assessment (regional scale), forest mapping, land cover/ land use mapping, and change detection.n/a
CSG SAR
COSMO-SkyMed di Seconda Generazione SAR
Operational
All-weather images of ocean, land and ice for monitoring of land surface processes, ice, environmental monitoring, risk management, environmental resources, maritime management, Earth topographic mapping.Imaging radar (SAR)
ETM+
Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus
Operational
Measures surface radiance and emittance, land cover state, and change (e.g., vegetation type). Used as multi-purpose imagery for land applications.High resolution optical imager
OLI
Operational Land Imager
Operational
Measures surface radiance, land cover state, and change (e.g., vegetation type). Used as multi-purpose imagery for land applications.High resolution optical imager
OLI-2
Operational Land Imager 2
Operational
Measures surface radiance, land cover state, and change (e.g., vegetation type). Used as multi-purpose imagery for land applications.High resolution optical imager
SAR (RADARSAT-2)
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) C band
Operational
All-weather images of ocean, ice and land surfaces. Used for monitoring of coastal zones, polar ice, sea ice, sea state, geological features, vegetation and land surface processes.Imaging radar (SAR)
SAR (RCM)
Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) C band
Operational
All-weather, C-band data to support ecosystem monitoring, maritime surveillance and disaster management.Imaging radar (SAR)
SAR 2000
Synthetic Aperture Radar - 2000
Operational
All-weather images of ocean, land and ice for monitoring of land surface processes, ice, environmental monitoring, risk management, environmental resources, maritime management, Earth topographic mapping.Imaging radar (SAR)
SAR-L
L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
Operational
Land, ocean, emergencies, soil moisture, interferometry, others.Imaging radar (SAR)
TIRS
Thermal Infrared Sensor
Operational
Measures longwave thermal infrared surface emittance, land cover state, and change. Used as multipurpose imagery for land applications.n/a
TIRS-2
Thermal Infrared Sensor 2
Operational
Measures longwave thermal infrared surface emittance, land cover state, and change. Used as multipurpose imagery for land applications. TIRS-2 will adhere to the Landsat 8 TIRS instrument performance specifications but will be built to NASA Class-B instrument standards (including a 5-year design life).n/a
WSAR
WSAR
Operational
High resolution radar measurements of land and ocean features.Imaging radar (SAR)
X-Band SAR
X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
Operational
High resolution images for monitoring of land surface and coastal processes and for agricultural, geological and hydrological applications.Imaging radar (SAR)
PLATiNO TIR
PLATiNO TIR
Being developed
Developed by Leonardo and SITAEL, PLATiNO-2 TIR will acquire images that will be used to provide valuable services for territories control and protection such as monitoring waters, glaciers, pollutants, state of crops and vegetation, energy consumption in urban areas. PLATiNO-2 is also equipped with the magnetically shielded HT 100, an improved version of SITAEL electric thruster, making PLATiNO-2 one of the first missions in the world to observe the Earth in the Thermal Infrared from a very lown/a
LandIS
Landsat Next Instrument Suite
Proposed
Measures surface radiance, land cover state and change (e.g., vegetation type), and longwave termal infrared surface emittance. Used as multi-purpose imagery for land applications.High resolution optical imager
L-Band SAR
L-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar
Proposed
Global observation of dynamic processes in the bio-, cryo-, geo- and hydrosphere.Imaging radar (SAR)
SWIR
Short Wave Infra Red
No longer considered
 n/a
* Description adapted from WMO.