[remote sensing]
Also known by the acronym AVHRR. A sensor on National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) polar-orbiting satellites for measuring visible, shortwave, mediumwave, and longwave (thermal) radiation reflected or emitted from vegetation, cloud cover, shorelines, water, snow, and ice. AVHRR data is often used for weather prediction, sea surface, and vegetation mapping. The highest AVHRR resolution is 1.1 km per pixel at nadir; the swath is 2399.5 km.