Gaofen-2
80 cm multispectral, Chinese national EO satellite
When to use
- Sub-meter Chinese archive going back to 2014
- Cost-effective alternative to commercial Western providers
When it's the wrong fit
- Sub-50 cm needs
- Customers with regulatory restrictions on Chinese data
Processing levels
Five processing levels. Levels 1–3 are applied by default on every order; pansharpening (4) runs automatically when the sensor has a panchromatic band; mosaicking (5) runs automatically when the AOI spans multiple scenes. Specify any level explicitly if you need to override the default.
| L | Output | What's applied | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Raw | Digital numbers (sensor counts) with no calibration or geometric correction. Delivered as unprojected GeoTIFF with sensor metadata. | On request |
| 1 | Orthorectified | Geometric correction onto a DEM. Every pixel sits at its true ground position. Customer-supplied GCPs accepted at no extra cost. | Default |
| 2 | Surface reflectance | TOA radiometric correction plus atmospheric correction. Output is the actual fraction of light reflected by the ground, comparable across dates, sensors, and sun angles. | Default |
| 3 | Pansharpened | Gram-Schmidt fusion of panchromatic and multispectral bands. Spectral ratios preserved for downstream analytics. | Default |
| 4 | Mosaicked | Seamless multi-scene composite over the AOI with ML cloud/cirrus masking and custom seam-line path-finding. Applied automatically when the AOI spans more than one scene. | Default* |
*Mosaicking applies when the AOI spans more than one scene. Single-scene orders skip it.
Water masks, tree masks, glint handling, lidar-aligned reflectance, aquatic atmospheric correction, region-tuned models — anything your downstream pipeline requires. Quoted with the order.
DSM (digital surface model) and DTM (digital terrain model), priced per area. This sensor supports stereo capture, required for elevation products.
Specifications
| General | |
| Provider | CNSA / China RESDC |
| Country | China |
| System type | Satellite |
| Product type | Multispectral |
| Availability | Tasking and catalog |
| Available since | 2014 |
| Sensor | |
| Resolution | Panchromatic: 80 cm · Multispectral: 3.2 m |
| Bit depth | 10-bit |
| Swath width | 45 km |
| Off-nadir range | Up to 25° |
| Constellation | 1 satellite (Gaofen-2) |
| Orbit | Sun-synchronous, 631 km |
| Revisit | Every 5 days — in practice 5–10 days |
| Acquisition modes | Mono, Stereo |
| Reference | |
| CRS | WGS84 |
| Positional accuracy | ~25 m CE90 |
| Processing levels | Custom (full Geopera pipeline applied) |
| Tasking and catalog conditions | |
| Minimum AOI width | tasking 5 km wide · catalog 5 km wide |
| Minimum charge area | tasking 100 km² · archive 25 km² |
| Geographic restrictions | Chinese ground station coverage. |
Live tracking
See all Geopera's satellites →Gaofen-2 positions propagated from fresh TLEs in your browser. Satellites rendered at true orbital altitude, oriented nadir-pointing. The emerald rectangles on the ground are each sensor's current swath footprint.
Spectral bands
| Band | Designation and wavelength |
|---|---|
| Panchromatic | 450-890 nm |
| Blue | 450-520 nm |
| Green | 520-590 nm |
| Red | 630-690 nm |
| NIR | 770-890 nm |
Delivery manifest
Each order delivers as a single archive containing the following files.
gaofen-2_[order_id].zip
├── data/ 5 band files, GeoTIFF, 10-bit
├── metadata.xml acquisition parameters, calibration coefficients
├── metadata.txt human-readable summary
├── masks/ cloud
└── overviews/ JPEG quicklook
Compare with
Closest alternatives by resolution and product type.
| Spec | Gaofen-2 | TripleSat | Jilin-1 GF03D | BJ3A |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Resolution | 80 cm | 80 cm | 75 cm | 50 cm |
| Provider | CNSA / China RESDC | 21AT | Chang Guang Satellite Technology (CGST) | 21AT (Twenty-First Century Aerospace Technology) |
| Country | China | China (operated internationally) | China | China |
| Type | Multispectral | Multispectral | Multispectral | Multispectral |
| Availability | Tasking + catalog | Tasking + catalog | Tasking + catalog | Tasking + catalog |
Spectral indices
105 spectral indices are compatible with Gaofen-2. The most-used: NDVI,EVI,NDWI,SAVI,NDRE,GNDVI,MSAVI. See the full spectral profile for the complete list and band mappings.
Ready to order Gaofen-2?
Browse the catalog, place a tasking order, or request a custom processing pipeline through the Geopera portal. We respond to quote requests within one business day.