BackForwardInstrument:  SeaWiFS 

Instrument details
Acronym SeaWiFS
Full name Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor
Purpose Ocean colour (chlorophyll, suspended sediments, yellow matter) and aerosol
Short description 8 VIS/NIR channels [see detailed characteristics below]
Background Follow-on of the Nimbus-7 CZCS
Scanning Technique Cross-track: 2048 pixel of 800 m s.s.p., swath 2800 km - Along-track: six 1.1-km lines/s - Possibility to tilt the instrument to see aft- or fore- along track by 20 degrees to avoid sunglint
Resolution 1.1 IFOV
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage every day, in daylight
Mass 45 kg Power 88 W Data Rate 2 Mbps

 

Providing Agency NASA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 1997 to 2010
Last update: 2012-09-13
Detailed characteristics
Central wavelength Bandwidth SNR at specified input radiance
412 nm 20 nm 499 @ 9.10 mW cm-2
443 nm 20 nm 674 @ 8.41 mW cm-2
490 nm 20 nm 667 @ 6.56 mW cm-2
510 nm 20 nm 640 @ 5.64 mW cm-2
555 nm 20 nm 596 @ 4.57 mW cm-2
670 nm 20 nm 442 @ 2.46 mW cm-2
765 nm 40 nm 455 @ 1.61 mW cm-2
865 nm 40 nm 467 @ 1.09 mW cm-2
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer
  • Moderate resolution optical imager
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Narrow-band or hyperspectral imagers
  • Narrow-band imager (for ocean colour)
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)
  • Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)
  • Ocean chlorophyll concentration
  • Ocean suspended sediments concentration
  • Oil spill cover
Evaluation of Measurements