Evaluation of Data Quality and Drought Monitoring Capability of FY-3A MERSI Data

FY-3A is the second Chinese Polar Orbital Meteorological Satellite with global, three-dimensional, quantitative, and multispectralcapabilities. Its missions include monitoring global disasters and environment changes. This study describes some basicparameters and major technical indicators of the FY-3A and evaluates data quality and drought monitoring capability ofthe Me dium-Res ol ut ion Image r (MERSI) onboard the FY-3A. Data obtained with the MERSI was compared with that of theMOD e rate-res olut ion Imag ing Sp ect roradiome te r(MODIS), imaged at the same time period and geographic zone. In addition,the Te mpe rature/Ve ge tat ion D roug ht Index (TVDI), a highly accurate and stable monitoring model, was used to monitor droughtcondition with MERSI and MODIS sensors. It is found in the study that the relative accuracy of data, obtained with these twodevices, was consistent with the acceptable overall accuracy of 93.8. Furthermore, spatial resolution of MERSI is superior ascompared to that of MODIS. Therefore, FY-3A MERSI can serve a reliable and new data source for drought monitoring.