Reference · Remote Sensing · Satellite Data
Satellite Data Reference
A consolidated reference for free satellite and remote sensing data sources.
Covers 16 sensors across optical, SAR, hyperspectral, lidar, thermal, atmospheric, and elevation datasets. Each entry includes spatial resolution, revisit cadence, archive depth, data latency, and access portals.
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Showing 16 of 16 sensors
Sentinel-2
ESA / Copernicus
Free
opticalmultispectral
Resolution10m (4 bands), 20m (6 bands), 60m (3 bands)
Revisit / Cadence5-day with single satellite; ~2-3 days with Sentinel-2A/2B/2C constellation
Archive Start2015
LatencyHours after acquisition
CoverageGlobal
Grid / Tile SystemMGRS
FormatsGeoTIFF, JPEG2000, COG
Potential Use Cases
VegetationLand CoverChange DetectionAgricultureUrban MappingWater Bodies
Data Portals
Sentinel-1
ESA / Copernicus
Free
SARC-band
Resolution5m (Stripmap), 20x22m (IW mode, most common), 25x100m (Extra Wide)
Revisit / Cadence6-day with Sentinel-1A/1C constellation (1C reached full ops May 2025). IW mode is the standard acquisition.
Archive Start2014
LatencyWithin 24 hours
CoverageGlobal (priority areas more frequent)
Grid / Tile SystemMGRS
FormatsGeoTIFF, NetCDF, SAFE
Potential Use Cases
Flood MappingDeformation MonitoringShip DetectionIce MonitoringUrban ChangeDisaster Response
Data Portals
Sentinel-3
ESA / Copernicus
Free
opticalthermalocean-color
Resolution300m (OLCI full res), 500m (SLSTR VNIR/SWIR), 1km (SLSTR thermal)
Revisit / Cadence~2-day global coverage from Sentinel-3A and 3B combined
Archive Start2016
LatencyHours
CoverageGlobal
Grid / Tile SystemCustom (geographic coordinates)
FormatsNetCDF, GeoTIFF
Potential Use Cases
Sea Surface TemperatureOcean ColorVegetation MonitoringCloud PropertiesAtmospheric Aerosols
Data Portals
Sentinel-5P / TROPOMI
ESA / Copernicus
Free
atmosphericspectrometer
Resolution7x7km standard; 7x3.5km in high-resolution mode
Revisit / CadenceDaily global coverage with 2,600km swath
Archive Start2017
LatencyHours (near real-time products available)
CoverageGlobal
Grid / Tile SystemCustom (geographic coordinates)
FormatsNetCDF, HDF5
Potential Use Cases
Air QualityAtmospheric CompositionPollution MonitoringNO2MethaneOzone
Data Portals
Landsat 8
USGS / NASA
Free
opticalmultispectralthermal
Resolution30m (OLI multispectral), 15m (panchromatic), 100m resampled to 30m (TIRS thermal)
Revisit / Cadence16-day solo; combined with Landsat 9 offset by 8 days = 8-day effective revisit
Archive Start2013
LatencyHours to 1-2 days
CoverageGlobal
Grid / Tile SystemWRS-2 (Path/Row)
FormatsGeoTIFF, COG
Potential Use Cases
Change DetectionLand CoverAgricultureUrban MappingWater BodiesThermal AnalysisFire Mapping
Data Portals
Landsat 9
USGS / NASA
Free
opticalmultispectralthermal
Resolution30m (OLI-2 multispectral), 15m (panchromatic), 100m resampled to 30m (TIRS-2 thermal)
Revisit / Cadence16-day solo; combined with Landsat 8 offset by 8 days = 8-day effective revisit
Archive Start2021
LatencyHours to 1-2 days
CoverageGlobal
Grid / Tile SystemWRS-2 (Path/Row)
FormatsGeoTIFF, COG
Potential Use Cases
Change DetectionLand CoverAgricultureUrban MappingWater BodiesThermal AnalysisFire Mapping
Data Portals
HLS - Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2
NASA
Free
opticalmultispectralharmonized
Resolution30m (Sentinel-2 resampled to match Landsat grid)
Revisit / Cadence~2-3 day global revisit combining Landsat 8/9 and Sentinel-2A/2B/2C
Archive Start2015
LatencyDays
CoverageGlobal land (excluding Antarctica)
Grid / Tile SystemMGRS
FormatsGeoTIFF, COG
Potential Use Cases
Vegetation DynamicsAgricultureLand CoverChange DetectionTime Series
Data Portals
MODIS (Terra & Aqua)
NASA
Free
opticalmultispectralthermal
Resolution250m (bands 1-2), 500m (bands 3-7), 1000m (bands 8-36)
Revisit / Cadence1-2 day global revisit. Terra crosses equator ~10:30 AM, Aqua ~1:30 PM local time.
Archive Start1999
LatencyHours to near real-time (NRT products available)
CoverageGlobal
Grid / Tile SystemMODIS Sinusoidal Tile Grid (h/v tile IDs)
FormatsHDF4, HDF-EOS, GeoTIFF (via LP DAAC)
Potential Use Cases
Fire DetectionVegetation IndicesLand Surface TemperatureSnow CoverOcean ColorAtmospheric Aerosols
Data Portals
GOES-16 / GOES-18 / GOES-19
NOAA
Free
opticalthermalgeostationary
Resolution0.5km (band 2 visible), 1km (bands 1,3-6 visible/NIR), 2km (bands 7-16 infrared)
Revisit / CadenceFull disk every 10 min; CONUS/PACUS every 5 min; mesoscale every 30-60 sec. Geostationary - not a revisit orbit.
Archive Start2016
LatencyMinutes (near real-time)
CoverageWestern Hemisphere. GOES-19 = GOES East (75.2 degW). GOES-18 = GOES West (137.2 degW). GOES-16 backup at 104.7 degW. GOES-19 became GOES East on April 7, 2025.
Grid / Tile SystemGOES Fixed Grid (geostationary projection, EPSG:4326 after processing)
FormatsNetCDF-4, GeoTIFF (derived)
Potential Use Cases
Weather ForecastingHurricane TrackingFire DetectionLightning DetectionFlood MonitoringConvection Monitoring
Data Portals
VIIRS (Suomi NPP / NOAA-20 / NOAA-21)
NOAA / NASA
Free
opticalthermalday-night-band
Resolution375m (I-bands, 5 bands), 750m (M-bands, 16 bands), 750m (Day-Night Band / DNB)
Revisit / CadenceGlobal coverage ~twice daily per satellite; 3 satellites (S-NPP, NOAA-20, NOAA-21) give 6+ daily passes
Archive Start2012
Latency20-80 min to ground reception; typically >1 hour total
CoverageGlobal
Grid / Tile SystemEqual-Area (EQC) / Sinusoidal
FormatsHDF5, NetCDF
Potential Use Cases
Fire DetectionNighttime LightsSea Surface TemperatureIce MappingAtmospheric AerosolsVegetation
Data Portals
ALOS-2 / PALSAR-2
JAXA (Japan)
Free / Paid
SARL-band
Resolution1-3m (Spotlight), 3-10m (Stripmap), 60-100m (ScanSAR wide)
Revisit / Cadence14-day exact repeat orbit; off-nadir pointing reduces revisit for some areas
Archive Start2014
LatencyDays
CoverageGlobal
Grid / Tile SystemCustom (UTM / geographic)
FormatsCEOS, GeoTIFF, NetCDF
Free research access via JAXA ALOS RA (Research Announcement) program and ASF DAAC. Some commercial acquisition modes are paid.
Potential Use Cases
Forest StructureDeformation MonitoringAgricultureDisaster ResponseWetlandsChange Detection
Data Portals
SRTM DEM
NASA / NGA
Free
SARelevationDEM
Resolution~30m (1 arc-second) globally; ~90m (3 arc-second) also available
Revisit / CadenceSingle acquisition - data collected February 11-22, 2000. Static dataset.
Archive Start2000
LatencyStatic archive
CoverageLand surfaces 56 degS to 60 degN (~80% of Earth's land area)
Grid / Tile System1x1 degree geographic tiles
FormatsGeoTIFF, HGT (SRTM native), HDF
Potential Use Cases
Terrain AnalysisHydrologyViewshedSlope AspectGeoreferencingDEM
Data Portals
Copernicus DEM (GLO-30 / GLO-90)
ESA / Airbus (TanDEM-X source)
Free
SARelevationDEM
ResolutionGLO-30 = ~30m global (free); GLO-90 = ~90m global (free); EEA-10 = 10m over Europe
Revisit / CadenceDerived from TanDEM-X acquisitions 2011-2015. Static dataset.
Archive Start2011
LatencyStatic archive
CoverageGlobal (GLO-30 has minor restrictions in 2 countries; GLO-90 unrestricted)
Grid / Tile System1x1 degree geographic tiles
FormatsGeoTIFF, COG
Potential Use Cases
Terrain AnalysisHydrologyUrban PlanningFlood ModelingInfrastructureDEM
Data Portals
ICESat-2
NASA
Free
lidarphoton-counting
Resolution17m ground footprint per shot; 0.7m along-track sampling; 3.3km across-track beam separation
Revisit / Cadence91-day exact repeat orbit. Very narrow swath - spatial coverage builds up over repeat cycles.
Archive Start2018
LatencyDays to weeks
Coverage88 degS to 88 degN (ISS-equivalent inclination); stronger polar coverage than GEDI
Grid / Tile SystemAlong-track (custom reference ground tracks)
FormatsHDF5
Potential Use Cases
Ice Sheet ElevationSea Ice ThicknessForest Canopy HeightWater Surface ElevationBathymetryTerrain
Data Portals
GEDI
NASA / University of Maryland
Free
lidarfull-waveform
Resolution25m footprint diameter; 8 parallel ground tracks; 60m along-track spacing; ~600m across-track track separation
Revisit / CadenceMounted on ISS - non-repeating ground track due to ISS precession. Coverage builds up stochastically. Coverage 51.6 degN-51.6 degS only.
Archive Start2019
LatencyDays to weeks
Coverage51.6 degN to 51.6 degS (ISS orbital inclination - no high-latitude coverage)
Grid / Tile SystemAlong-track (custom)
FormatsHDF5
Potential Use Cases
Forest Canopy HeightAboveground BiomassCarbon StocksTerrain ElevationVegetation Structure
Data Portals
EnMAP
DLR / GFZ (Germany)
Free
hyperspectraloptical
Resolution30m spatial resolution across all 224 spectral bands
Revisit / Cadence27-day exact repeat; up to 4-day off-nadir revisit with +/-30 deg pointing
Archive Start2022
LatencyDays
CoverageGlobal (on-request acquisition)
Grid / Tile SystemUTM
FormatsGeoTIFF, ENVI
Potential Use Cases
Mineral MappingVegetation BiochemistrySoil AnalysisWater QualityGeologyAgriculture
Data Portals