# INSAT-3DS Sounder
*sensor . products*

Geostationary atmospheric sounder on INSAT-3DS with 18 infrared channels and one visible channel for temperature and humidity profiles, atmospheric stability indices, water vapour content, and total column ozone.

## Specifications
- **product status**: operational
- **manufacturer**: isro
- **sensor**: {"measurement_principle":"passive","spectral_range_nm":{"min":695,"max":14710},"instrument_family":"passive-optical","gsd_m":{"native":10000},"bit_depth":13,"spectral_band_count":19}
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-16
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: isro
- **attributes**: {"product_status":"operational","manufacturer":"isro","sensor":"{\"measurement_principle\":\"passive\",\"spectral_range_nm\":{\"min\":695,\"max\":14710},\"instrument_family\":\"passive-optical\",\"gsd_m\":{\"native\":10000},\"bit_depth\":13,\"spectral_band_count\":19}","kind":"sensor","deployment_context":"orbital","description":"Geostationary atmospheric sounder on INSAT-3DS with 18 infrared channels and one visible channel for temperature and humidity profiles, atmospheric stability indices, water vapour content, and total column ozone."}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
INSAT-3DS Sounder is the mission's geostationary atmospheric sounder, not the six-channel INSAT-3DS Imager [^mosdac-insat-3ds-payloads][^isro-insat-3ds-imaging]. It provides 18 infrared channels and one visible channel for cloud and Earth context, supporting temperature and humidity profiles, atmospheric stability indices, water-vapour content, and total column ozone [^mosdac-insat-3ds-payloads][^wmo-insat-sounder]. Spectral coverage runs from about 0.695 um in the visible channel to 14.710 um in the longwave infrared channels; rounded wavelength and sensitivity values across the broader INSAT Sounder family do not change the 3DS-specific 18-IR-plus-VIS configuration [^mosdac-insat-3ds-payloads][^wmo-insat-sounder][^wmo-insat-3ds]. Ground sampling is 10 km, full-frame sounding cadence is 3 hours, and the 6000 km by 6000 km sounding area is listed at 160 minutes; the 3DS sounder uses 13-bit measurements [^mosdac-insat-3ds-payloads]. On 2024-03-07 the 3DS meteorological payloads began imaging and sounding with nominal parameters, giving the sounder an operational basis for geostationary profile retrieval workflows [^isro-insat-3ds-imaging].

## Compositional position
- insat-3ds (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> INSAT-3DS Sounder

## Sources
- [mosdac-insat-3ds-payloads] | MOSDAC INSAT-3DS payloads | https://www.mosdac.gov.in/insat-3s-payloads | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [isro-insat-3ds-imaging] | ISRO INSAT-3DS begins imaging the Earth | https://www.isro.gov.in/INSAT-3DS_imaging_Earth.html | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [wmo-insat-sounder] | WMO OSCAR instrument record: INSAT Sounder | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/sounder_insat | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16
- [wmo-insat-3ds] | WMO OSCAR satellite record: INSAT-3DS | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/insat_3ds | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-16

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/insat-3ds-sounder
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)