EO·Atlas
Visual and Infrared Multispectral Sensor
Visual and infrared multispectral sensor listed by WMO OSCAR and CEOS GF-5 mission materials as a GF-5 payload; detailed public specifications were not available in reviewed tier-1/2 records.
GF-5 VIMS is the Earth-observation Visual and Infrared Multispectral Sensor, not the Cassini planetary instrument that shares the acronym. VIMS is a Gaofen-5 payload.[1][2] It is a 12-band multispectral instrument spanning visible, near-infrared, shortwave-infrared, middle-infrared, and thermal-infrared coverage from 0.45 to 12.5 micrometres.[3] Spatial resolution is 20 m for the VNIR/SWIR bands and 40 m for the MIR/TIR bands, with a 60 km swath.[3] The original GF-5 VIMS instance is inactive after an estimated end of life of at least 2020, while product-family availability should be treated separately from any single spacecraft instance when checking access or lineage.[1] Buyer-relevant applications include land-surface temperature and emissivity retrieval, thermal-infrared surface observation, thermal-anomaly screening, and multispectral land or environmental monitoring.[3]
Compositional position
None on record.
- Land-surface temperature - emissivity retrievalpending review
VIMS is recorded as a visual/infrared multispectral sensor similar to ASTER, fitting thermal land-surface retrieval when TIR channels are present.
- Thermal anomaly detectionpending review
VIMS visual/infrared multispectral payload plausibly supports thermal anomaly screening; detailed public band spec not reviewed.
- [1]WMO OSCAR satellite record: GF-5agency doc-2026-06-16
- [2]Mission Overview GaoFen-5, CEOS AC-VC-12 presentationagency doc2016-10-132026-06-16
- [3]Image Simulation for GF-5 Visual and Infrared Multispectral Sensorpeer reviewed-2026-06-16