Pléiades

Satellite Description

Pléiades is an environment-focused constellation (consisting of two satellites, referred to as 1A and 1B) from CNES of France, which were launched on 17 December 2011 (Pléiades 1A) and 2 December 2012 (Pléiades 1B). The Pléiades system is designed for a range of very-high-resolution (VHR) remote sensing applications in the field of cartography, agriculture, forestry, hydrology, and geological prospecting. The constellation remains operational.

Observation Scenario

•  Swath width: 20 km

•  Orbit: Sun-synchronous

•  Altitude: 694 km

Sensor Characteristics

The High Resolution Imager (HiRI) on board the Pléiades constellation delivers very-high optical resolution (0.5 m resolution) with a swath of 20 km.

• •  Panchromatic (Pan): 480 – 820 nm; TDI is only used for Pan data
• •  Multispectral (MS):
  • •  Band 0 (blue): 450 – 530 nm
  • •  Band 1 (green): 510 – 590 nm
  • •  Band 2 (red): 620 – 700 nm
  • •  Band 3 (NIR): 775 – 915 nm

Spatial Resolution

0.5 m for Pan, 2 m for MS bands

Temporal Resolution

26 days

Data Products

Data is available in both panchromatic and multispectral modes with the following processing levels:

• •  Primary: The Primary product is the processing level closest to the natural image acquired by the sensor. This product restores perfect collection conditions: the sensor is placed in rectilinear geometry, and the image is clear of all radiometric distortion.
• •  Standard Ortho: The Ortho product is a georeferenced image in Earth geometry, corrected from acquisition and terrain off-nadir effects.
• •  Tailored Ortho: Aside from the Standard Ortho product, when different specifications are needed, a custom orthorectification, with a more precise 3D model provided by the client or acquired for the purpose, can be provided on demand.

Archive Availability

ESA is offering, for scientific research and application development, access to full archive and new tasking data from Pléiades mission upon submission and acceptance of a project proposal. The following collection is available:

•  •  https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/catalog/pleiades-full-archive-and-tasking

ESA offers registered users access through the Online Dissemination server to the Pléiades ESA archive. The dataset consists of coverage that ESA has collected during this mission and the dataset continues to grow as new products are added.

•  •  https://earth.esa.int/eogateway/catalog/pleiades-esa-archive

For commerical access to imagery see:

•  •  Pléiades on the Airbus website

Data Continuity

The Pleiades Neo constellation provides continuity. See the Pleiades Neo page for further information.