Table 1 Potential space-borne sensors for remote sensing of water resources
Resolution
Satellite/
sensor
Period of
operation
Spatial
(m)
Spectral (no. bands) (Vis/RE/
NIR/SWIR/TIR)
a
(no.)
Radiometric
(bits)
Temporal
(days)
Swath
width (km)
Image
cost ($)
Limitations
Landsat class
Landsat 5
1984–2012
30/120
3/0/1/2/1 (7)
8
16
180
Free
Spectral, temporal
Landsat 7
1999–present 30/60
3/0/1/2/1 (7)
8
16
180
Free
Spectral, temporal
Landsat 8
2013–present 30/100
4/0/1/2/2 (10)
12
16
180
Free
Spectral, temporal
Spot-5
2002–present 10/20
3/0/1/0/0 (4)
8
26 nadir,
2–3
60
$
Spectral, cost
Spot-6
2012–present 6
3/0/1/0/0 (4)
12
26 nadir, 2 60
$$
Spectral, cost
Spot-7
2014–present 6
3/0/1/0/0 (4)
12
26 nadir, 2 60
$$
Spectral, cost
RapidEye
2008–present 5
3/1/1/0/0 (5)
12
5.5 nadir, 1 77
$
Spectral, cost
High resolution
IKONOS
1999–present 3.2
3/0/1/0/0 (4)
11
3.5
11.3
$$
Spectral, cost
QuickBird
2001–present 2.44
3/0/1/0/0 (4)
11
3
16.5
$$
Spectral, cost
GeoEye-1
2008–present 1.65
3/0/1/0/0 (4)
11
26 nadir,
4–5
15.2
$$
Spectral, cost
WorldView-2 2009–present 1.85
5/1/2/0/0 (8)
11
1.1 off
nadir
16.4
$$$
Cost, swath
WorldView-3 2014–present 1.24/
3.7/30
9/1/5/13/0 (28)
11
4.5 off
nadir
66
(5 strips)
$$$$
Cost
(continued)
Remote Sensing for Regional Lake Water Quality Assessment: Capabilities and. . .
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