# MSU-GS Electro-L Imager
*sensor . products*

Multispectral geostationary imager flown on Electro-L satellites for full-disc visible and infrared meteorological imaging via HRIT/LRIT.

## Specifications
- **product status**: operational
- **manufacturer**: russian-space-systems
- **sensor**: {"measurement_principle":"passive","spec_disclosure":"estimated","instrument_family":"passive-optical","gsd_m":{"native":1000},"notes":"WMO OSCAR identifies MSU-GS as the Electro-L imager. Public summaries report visible/infrared imaging with approximately 1 km visible and 4 km infrared resolution.","spectral_band_count":10}
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-15
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: russian-space-systems
- **attributes**: {"product_status":"operational","manufacturer":"russian-space-systems","sensor":"{\"measurement_principle\":\"passive\",\"spec_disclosure\":\"estimated\",\"instrument_family\":\"passive-optical\",\"gsd_m\":{\"native\":1000},\"notes\":\"WMO OSCAR identifies MSU-GS as the Electro-L imager. Public summaries report visible/infrared imaging with approximately 1 km visible and 4 km infrared resolution.\",\"spectral_band_count\":10}","kind":"sensor","deployment_context":"orbital","description":"Multispectral geostationary imager flown on Electro-L satellites for full-disc visible and infrared meteorological imaging via HRIT/LRIT."}
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
The MSU-GS (also known as the Electro-L Imager) is a 10-channel multispectral radiometer operating aboard Russian Electro-L geostationary meteorological satellites for full-disc visible and infrared imaging.[^wmo-oscar-msu-gs][^eoportal-electro-l] The instrument carries four channels at 1 km ground sampling distance and six channels at 4 km ground sampling distance.[^wmo-oscar-msu-gs]

The four 1 km channels are centred at approximately 0.57, 0.72, and 0.86 micrometres in the visible and near-infrared, and at 3.75 micrometres in the mid-wave infrared.[^wmo-oscar-msu-gs] The six 4 km channels span water vapour absorption and thermal infrared spectral regions, with centres at approximately 6.35, 8.0, 8.7, 9.7, 10.7, and 11.7 micrometres.[^wmo-oscar-msu-gs] This channel configuration supports applications including sea surface temperature retrieval, atmospheric motion vector derivation, thermal anomaly detection, and vegetation monitoring.[^wmo-oscar-msu-gs]

MSU-GS uses a mechanical scanning mechanism with continuous east-west sweep and stepped north-south motion, with a full-disc scan period of 15 to 30 minutes.[^wmo-oscar-msu-gs] Instrument mass is approximately 106 kg with a power requirement of approximately 150 W.[^wmo-oscar-msu-gs] Imagery is disseminated via HRIT and LRIT protocols.[^eoportal-electro-l] The instrument has been flown on Electro-L N1, N2, N3, and N4.[^wmo-oscar-msu-gs][^wmo-electro-l-n4]

## Compositional position
- electro-l-n4 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> MSU-GS Electro-L Imager
- electro-l-n3 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> MSU-GS Electro-L Imager
- electro-l-n2 (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> MSU-GS Electro-L Imager

## Sources
- [wmo-oscar-msu-gs] | WMO OSCAR instrument record: MSU-GS | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/msu_gs | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-15
- [eoportal-electro-l] | Electro-L / GOMS-2, eoPortal | https://directory.eoportal.org/satellite-missions/electro-l | tier=community | accessed=2026-06-15
- [wmo-electro-l-n4] | WMO OSCAR satellite record: Electro-L N4 | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/electro_l_n4 | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-14

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/msu-gs
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)