EO·Atlas
InfraRed Sounder (IRS)
Geostationary hyperspectral infrared sounder carried by MTG-S1 for temperature, humidity, wind-profile and atmospheric-constituent retrieval.
InfraRed Sounder (IRS) is ESA's passive optical hyperspectral infrared sounder for Meteosat Third Generation Sounder satellites, including MTG-S1.[1][2] The instrument is an imaging Fourier transform interferometer operating in two infrared channels: MWIR from 4440-6250 nm and LWIR from 8260-14700 nm.[1] Each dwell contains 1960 spectral channels, with ground sampling of 4.0 km at the sub-satellite point.[1] IRS scans the Earth disc through local-area-coverage latitude belts, with the Europe belt revisited every 30 minutes and the full-disc belt pattern completed over six hours.[1] Its role is atmospheric temperature, humidity, wind-profile and atmospheric-constituent sounding, not land imaging.[1][2] MTG-S1 launched on 2025-07-01, and IRS utilization spans 2026 to 2046 with planned flights on MTG-S1 and MTG-S2.[1][2] The instrument is capable of atmospheric sounding workflows and atmospheric-motion-vector derivation from its geostationary infrared observations.[1]
Compositional position
None on record.
- Atmospheric limb soundingpending review
IRS is a hyperspectral infrared sounder for temperature, humidity, wind-profile and trace-gas sounding; MTG-S1 is in commissioning with routine service expected after commissioning.
- Atmospheric motion vectors (AMV)pending review
WMO identifies wind-profile derivation by tracking water-vapour features as an IRS purpose; routine mission service remains in commissioning.
- [1]WMO OSCAR instrument record: InfraRed Soundercommunity2026-06-16
- [2]EUMETSAT MTG-S1 and Copernicus Sentinel-4 overviewagency doc2026-06-16