Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR)

"The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is a broad-band, four or five channel (depending on the model) scanner, sensing in the visible, near-infrared, and thermal infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. It is used to measure Earth surface temperature." (Xiong et al. 2018)
 

“AVHRRs are orbited on NOAA satellites in near-polar (∼98°), sun-synchronous orbits (meaning the satellite passes over a region at the same local solar time) at an altitude of about 830 km.
The AVHRR instrument was originally built by the ITT Industries in Fort Wayne, IN, and it has evolved over the years from AVHRR/1 series with four channels (0.63, 0.86, 3.7, and 11 μm) since 1978 on TIROS-N and NOAA-6/8/10 to AVHRR/2 series with an addition of the 12 μm channel since 1981 on NOAA-7/9/11/12/13/14 (Cracknell, 1997 in International Geophysics, 2000).”