Space instruments for oceanography

A number of major space programs (including Tiros, Nimbus, Seasat, and to a somewhat lesser extent GOES and Landsat) have earth observatory sensors on board that have been used to measure oceanographic parameters. Some of the more recent sensors are specifically designed for the measurement of certain oceanographic parameters while other earlier instruments have, by the nature of the radiation that they measure, been able to be used in oceanographic studies. This paper briefly describes each instrument, dwelling more heavily on the newer instruments as an introduction to the detailed paper in this and the next session. A brief overview is also presented in this paper on the oceanographic parameters versus the measurable quantity (radiation) and some of the problems of radiometric calibration at the spacecraft level and the impact on the parameter of interest.