KOMPSAT-3A
KOMPSAT-3A is a Korean Multi-purpose satellite that launched in March 2015 with a mission to obtain infrared and high-resolution images for applications such as environmental, agriculture, climate change, urban planning and disaster relief. Features a Korsch-type telescope design with a 55cm primary mirror aperture.
Technical specifications
What you can do with KOMPSAT-3A
Detail at 0.55m GSD
At 0.55m GSD, vehicles are countable, and building outlines, road furniture and single trees stay distinct. The panchromatic band carries that geometry, and the 2.20m GSD multispectral bands are pansharpened against it, so colour products hold the same detail.
Standard index bands
Blue, green, red and near-infrared cover the everyday products: true colour, colour infrared, and the indices built from red and near-infrared (NDVI) or green and near-infrared (NDWI). Those index rasters carry the 2.20m GSD multispectral sampling, not the 0.55m GSD panchromatic figure.
Mid-wave infrared
A mid-wave infrared band at 3.3-5.2 µm records emitted heat rather than reflected sunlight, so warm targets register where the reflective bands show nothing.
One satellite collecting
Collection rests on a single spacecraft, so opportunities arrive on its orbit rather than on demand. As stated by the supplier: 28 day revisit cycle. That is the cadence to plan against; a cloud-free result usually takes more than one opportunity.