SPOT
French remote sensing program decided in 1978 by
the French government after a refusal of the ESA. Belgium and
Sweden participated. Data is commercialized by a private company:
Spot Image. Applications include geological, petroleum and mining
research, cartography, agricultural forcasting and survey of
natural disasters.
Geological mission: detection of geochemical and
structural anomalies through stereo imagery useful for oil and
mineral exploration
Agricultural mission: crop yield forecasting, flood damage
analysis, etc.
Cartographical mission: 1:50000 maps (1:25000 possible in
some cases)
Planning mission: land use monitoring e.g. urban/rural
boundary
Main Earth stations: Toulouse, France; Kiruna, Sweden; Prince
Albert and Gatinea, Canada; Ladkraban, Thailand; Hatoyama, Japan;
Islamabad, Pakistan; Hyderabad, India; Maspalamas, Spain and
Ryad, Saudi Arabia.
SPOT Homepage: http://www.spotimage.fr/home/system/introsat/welcome.htm
The SPOT Satelites:
SPOT 1, 2, & 3 Technical data (including orbital information):
http://www.spotimage.fr/home/system/introsat/seltec/welcome.htm
| Wavebands | Panchromatic (PAN): 0.51-0.73 µm (visible, near IR) Multispectral (XS): 0.50-0.59 µm (green) 0.61-0.68 µm (red) 0.79-0.89 µm (near IR) |
| Swath width | 60 km (each HRV) |
| Resolution | Panchromatic: 10 m Multispectral: 20 m |
HRVs are steerable to either side of the ground track (+/- 27°)
to provide re-visits and stereoscopic images
SPOT 4
SPOT 4 Homepage: http://spot4.cnes.fr/spot4_gb/index.htm
Technical Data: http://www.spotimage.fr/home/system/introsat/seltec/welcome.htm
Payload:
| Wavebands | 0.50-0.59 µm (green) 0.61-0.68 µm (red) 0.79-0.89 µm (near IR) 1.53-1.75 µm (mid-IR) |
| Swath width | 60 km (each HRV) |
| Resolution | Monospectral: 10 m Multispectral: 20 m |
CCD with 6000 points. Has the same on-board recorder as Helios 1A provided
by Enertec (2 x 120 Gbits). HRVs are steerable to either side of
the ground track (+/- 27°) to provide re-visits and stereoscopic
images
| Wavebands | 0.43-0.47 µm (blue) 0.61-0.68 µm (red) 0.78-0.89 µm (near IR) 1.58-1.75 µm (mid-IR) |
| Swath width | 2000 km |
| Resolution | 1.15 to 1.7 km |
SPOT 5
Mission description and Technical data: http://www.spotimage.fr/home/system/future/spot5/welcome.htm
SPOT Imagery:
http://www.spotimage.fr/home/proser/listscen/welcome.htm
Sample SPOT Images (Click SPOT) http://www.geog.nott.ac.uk/~mather/useful/sample_images.html#SPOT