Sensor · Spaceborne

Sentinel-4 UVN sounder

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

Ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared spectrometer hosted on MTG-S1 for hourly geostationary air-quality observations over Europe and northern Africa.

Sensor

Sentinel-4 UVN is a passive optical ultraviolet, visible and near-infrared imaging spectrometer hosted on Meteosat Third Generation Sounder satellites for geostationary atmospheric-composition observation. ^[1] ^[2] Its spectral set covers UV 305-400 nm, visible 400-500 nm and near-infrared 755-775 nm, with 600 UV channels, 600 visible channels and 300 near-infrared channels. ^[3] Spatial sampling is about 8 km over the reference area. ^[1] The observing concept provides hourly daytime coverage over Europe and part of North Africa for air-quality trace gases and aerosols, including ozone, nitrogen dioxide and sulphur dioxide. ^[1] ^[2] Sentinel-4 has demonstrated preliminary nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide, ozone and radiance imaging on MTG-S1; those products came from 8 October 2025 scenes and were labelled illustrative rather than operational. ^[4] Those October 2025 scenes support first-data maturity, not routine operational service.

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

UV-VIS nadir spectroscopyvia Meteosat Third Generation Sounder 1 (MTG-S1)
Sentinel-4 produced preliminary NO2, SO2 and ozone imagery from MTG-S1 in October 2025; images are illustrative and not operational-use products.

Capable, undemonstrated

None on record.

Topics this relates to

Air quality UV-VIS nadir spectroscopy(demonstrated)well suited

Shipping emissions UV-VIS nadir spectroscopy(demonstrated)well suited

Stratospheric ozone UV-VIS nadir spectroscopy(demonstrated)well suited

Geology and geohazards UV-VIS nadir spectroscopy(demonstrated)adequate

Industrial emissions UV-VIS nadir spectroscopy(demonstrated)adequate

Aerosol and cloud microphysical properties UV-VIS nadir spectroscopy(demonstrated)marginal

CO2 UV-VIS nadir spectroscopy(demonstrated)marginal

Sources

[1]Copernicus Sentinel-4, EUMETSATagency doc2026-06-16
[2]Sentinel-4 spectrometer, ESAagency doc2026-06-16
[3]WMO OSCAR instrument record: Sentinel-4agency doc2026-06-16
[4]First Copernicus Sentinel-4 images showcase Europe's hourly air pollution watch, EUMETSATagency doc2026-06-16

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/sentinel-4 Markdown twin → Field definitions → Suggest a correction →

How to cite this page

Plain text

Sentinel-4 UVN sounder. EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/sentinel-4 (CC BY 4.0)

BibTeX

@misc{eoatlas:products:sensor:sentinel-4,
  title = {Sentinel-4 UVN sounder},
  author = {{EO-Atlas}},
  publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
  url = {https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/sentinel-4}
}