Sensor · Spaceborne

InfraRed Sounder (IRS)

Missions → Meteosat Third Generation Sounder 1 (MTG-S1) (Commissioning)

Geostationary hyperspectral infrared sounder carried by MTG-S1 for temperature, humidity, wind-profile and atmospheric-constituent retrieval.

Sensor

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]

Operator pricing

Pricing not publicly listed by operator

Supply chain position

carried by Meteosat Third Generation Sounder 1 (MTG-S1)

Methods this sensor implements

Demonstrated

None on record.

Capable, undemonstrated

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.
Hyperspectral infrared nadir soundingpending review
oscar-irs: 1960 channels per dwell; eumetsat-irs-preop-repost: pre-operational data to all users 2026-07-30; esa-mtg-s1-commissioning: commissioning closed 2026-07-02.

Topics this relates to

Atmospheric Wind Observation Atmospheric motion vectors (AMV)(capable-pending-review)well suited

Weather nowcasting Atmospheric motion vectors (AMV)(capable-pending-review)well suited

Atmospheric profiling Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)well suited

Air quality Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)adequate

Cloud properties Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)adequate

CO2 Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)marginal

Earth radiation budget Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)marginal

Greenhouse gas inventory Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)marginal

Methane (CH4)Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)marginal

Sea surface temperature Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)marginal

Stratospheric ozone Hyperspectral infrared nadir sounding(capable-pending-review)marginal

Sources

[1]WMO OSCAR instrument record: InfraRed Soundercommunity2026-06-16
[2]EUMETSAT MTG-S1 and Copernicus Sentinel-4 overviewagency doc2026-06-16

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/irs Markdown twin → Field definitions → Suggest a correction →

How to cite this page

Plain text

InfraRed Sounder (IRS). EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/irs (CC BY 4.0)

BibTeX

@misc{eoatlas:products:sensor:irs,
  title = {InfraRed Sounder (IRS)},
  author = {{EO-Atlas}},
  publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
  url = {https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/irs}
}