The application of China's land observation satellites within the framework of Digital Earth and its key technologies

Figures & data

Figure 1.  The system of land observation satellites in China.

Table 1. China land observation satellites and the technical specifications of their payloads.

Platform	Satellite	Payload	Spectral ranges	Spatial resolution (m)	Swath width (km)	Revisit rate (days)	Application areas
Resource-series	ZY-1-01/02 (CBERS-01/02)	CCD	0.45–0.52 0.52–0.59 0.63–0.69 0.77–0.89 0.51–0.73	20	120	26	Agriculture, water, ecosystem and environmental monitoring, resource surveying, sustainable development
		IRMSS	0.50–0.90 1.55–1.75 2.08–2.35	78	120	26
			10.4–12.5	156
		WFI	0.63–0.69 0.77–0.89	258	890	5
	ZY-1-02B (CBERS-01/02)	CCD	0.45–0.52 0.52–0.59 0.63–0.69 0.77–0.89 0.51–0.73	20	113	26
		HR	0.5–0.8	2.36	27	104
		WFI	0.63–0.69 0.77–0.89	258	890	5
	ZY-3-01 Satellite	CCD	0.45–0.52 0.52–0.59 0.63–0.69 0.77–0.89	6	52	59/5	Surveying and mapping, agriculture, forest, resources surveys, urban planning and construction, traffic and national major projects
		Forward-looking camera	0.50–0.80	3.5	52	59/5
		Back-looking camera	0.50–0.80	3.5	52
		Panchromatic TDI CCD	0.50–0.80	2.1	51
Environment-series	HJ1-1A	CCD	0.43–0.52 0.52–0.60 0.63–0.69 0.76–0.9	30	700	4	Environment monitoring, pollution evaluation, disaster monitoring, prevention and postdisaster rescue work
		Hyperspectral	0.45–0.95	100	50	4
		imager	(110–128band)
	HJ1-1B	CCD	0.43–0.52 0.52–0.60 0.63–0.69 0.76–0.9	30	700	4
		Infrared multispectral camera	0.75–1.10 1.55–1.75 3.50–3.90	150	720	4
			10.5–12.5	300
	HJ-1C satellite	Synthetic aperture radar (SAR)	–	5 (single look, strip mode)/20 (4 looks, scan mode)	40 (strip mode)/100 (scan mode)	4

Figure 2.  CBERS Earth operation interface.

Figure 3.  3-D image of the western suburbs of Beijing.