Remote Sensing Project
NOAA AVHRR data
The L-band reception facility receives data from the NOAA series of
meteorological satellites.
These spacecraft are primarily designed for
meteorological applications but the data is also useful in other areas.
The main instrument on board is the Advanced Very High Resolution
Radiometer (AVHRR) which has 2 channels in the visible part of the spectrum,
one in the near infra-red and 2 in the thermal infra-red. A range of
products can be made from these data, including:
- Estimated Sea Surface Temperature (SST)
- The data from the thermal infra-red channels can be used to estimate the
surface temperature of oceans covered by each satellite pass. Images of
sea-surface temperature show the ocean structure and can be used to infer
ocean currents. These images are commonly viewed in colour, with red used
for the warmest areas and down through the spectrum to blue for the
coolest areas.
- Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
- The data from the visible channels can be used to calculate a quantity
that is related to the amount of actively growing vegetation that is
present on the ground. This index is widely used to monitor pastoral
areas and drought conditions (see for example
ERIN).
Data from the NOAA satellites is processed by the Remote Sensing Facility
and made available to a range of users on a cost-recovery basis.
Products can be supplied as paper copy, digital data on exabyte tape or
direct access by network or phone line.
A map of AVHRR coverage area from Hobart.
For more information contact
marine-remote-sensing@csiro.au
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A map of AVHRR coverage area from Hobart.