Temporal Resolution

Synonyms

Revisit period

Definition

Temporal resolution is defined as the amount of time needed to revisit and acquire data for the exact same location. When applied to remote sensing, this amount of time depends on the orbital characteristics of the sensor platform as well as sensor characteristics. The temporal resolution is high when the revisiting delay is low and vice-versa. Temporal resolution is usually expressed in days.

Main Text

The temporal resolution of a satellite sensor may vary from hours to days. It depends on if the platform orbit is geostationary or not. Moreover, a sun‐synchronous orbit follows sun illumination and allows image acquisition at the same time of the day for a location. This characteristic is particularly important for visible‐infrared sensors as it makes every image usable (i. e. avoiding image acquisitions during the night) and it, therefore, maximizes the temporal resolution of the sensor. In the case of airborne platforms, the temporal resolution is...