BackForwardInstrument:  OCS 

Instrument details
Acronym OCS
Full name Ocean Colour Scanner
Purpose Ocean colour and aerosol
Short description 8 narrow-band channels [see detailed characteristics below]
Background New development
Scanning Technique Pushbroom, swath 3000 km
Resolution 1 km IFOV at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Global coverage each day, in daylight
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency Roscosmos
Instrument Maturity Backed by strong heritage
Utilization Period: 2013 to 4
Last update: 2022-07-18
Detailed characteristics
Central wavelength Bandwidth SNR @ specified input spectral radiance
412 nm 20 nm 500 @ …….. W m-2 sr-1 μm-1
443 nm 20 nm 500 @ …….. W m-2 sr-1 μm-1
490 nm 20 nm 500 @ …….. W m-2 sr-1 μm-1
520 nm 20 nm 500 @ …….. W m-2 sr-1 μm-1
565 nm 20 nm 500 @ …….. W m-2 sr-1 μm-1
670 nm 20 nm 500 @ …….. W m-2 sr-1 μm-1
750 nm 20 nm 500 @ …….. W m-2 sr-1 μm-1
865 nm 40 nm 500 @ …….. W m-2 sr-1 μm-1
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

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Aerosol column burden3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol effective radius3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol mass mixing ratio3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol Optical Depth3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Aerosol type3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS (with narrow bandwidth) and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level aerosol
Biomass5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI
Cloud cover5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud optical depth4 - fairLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud top height5 - marginalDaylight only.NIR channels to estimate the total-column O2 above the cloud top as measured around 760 nm
Cloud type5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)*4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwith VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.VIS and NIR channels
Earth surface albedo5 - marginalCloud sensitive.VIS channels
Fire fractional cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.. Daylight only.VIS channels
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS channels including Red at 700 nm
Leaf Area Index (LAI)4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. LAI inferred from NDVI
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS and NIR channels
Ocean chlorophyll concentration *4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwith VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean
Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)*4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwith VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean
Ocean suspended sediments concentration*4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwith VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean
Oil spill cover*5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS channels with narrow bandwidth
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS channels, range accurately sampled
Short-wave cloud reflectance5 - marginalNo specific limitation.VIS and NIR channels
Snow cover4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Soil moisture at surface5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA5 - marginalSpectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed.VIS and NIR channels
Aerosol volcanic ash3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level ashes
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column3 - highCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels including 760 nm for high-level ashes
Sea-ice cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR (for contour enhancement) channels