Multispectral Scanner

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The Multispectral Scanner (MSS) is one of the Earth's observing sensors introduced in the Landsat program. A Multispectral Scanner was placed aboard each of the first five Landsat satellites. [1]

Contents

The scanner was designed at Hughes Aerospace by Virginia Norwood. Her design called for a six band scanner, but the first one launched had only four bands. For her work on the design Norwood is called "The Mother of Landsat." [2]

MSS technical specifications

Sensor typeSpatial ResolutionSpectral RangeNumber of BandsTemporal ResolutionImage SizeSwath
opto-mechanical68 m X 83 m (or 57 m)0.5 - 1.1 μm4, 5 (Landsat 3 only)18 days (L1-L3), 16 days (L4 & L5)185 km X 185 km185 km

Notes

  1. "The Landsat Program - Technical Details". Archived from the original on 2007-01-26. Retrieved 2007-05-05. : "The Multispectral Scanner System", NASA Official: Darrel Williams Website Curator: Laura Rocchio Site last updated: December 2, 2008
  2. Pennisi, Elizabeth (10 September 2021). "Meet the Landsat pioneer who fought to revolutionize Earth observation". Science. 373 (6561): 1292. doi:10.1126/science.acx9080. S2CID   239215521.