Chapter VI: Polar Orbiters Or Geostationary?
Table of Contents
- Chapter VI: Polar Orbiters Or Geostationary?
- Polar orbiters or Geostationary?
Polar orbiters or Geostationary?
LST can be measured by sensors onboard polar orbiting or geostationary satellites. The first type provides long time series at a finer spatial resolution, and for many purposes the twice per day temporal frequency available from these systems is good enough. However, for many applications the LST diurnal cycle is mandatory, and it can only be obtained by geostationary satellites.
| Type of orbit | Advantages | Disadvantages |
| Geostationary | The high temporal frequency enables to capture the diurnal cycle of LST | Higher viewing angle - more atmospheric attenuation Larger pixel size & increasing with viewing angle - retrievals hard to validate Spatial coverage limited to the satellite disk - polar regions are not covered and constellation is required to cover the GEO-ring. |
| Polar | Long time series Global spatial coverage |
Low time frequency- lack of diurnal cycle |