The Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) is an instrument on board the NOAA Polar Pathfinder satellite series. It was first launched on board TIROS-N on 13 October 1978. It has since been launched on NOAA satellites 6 through 18. The AVHRR instrument has gone through three revisions from a 4-channel radiometer in 1978 to a 5-channel radiometer (AVHRR/2) in 1981 and finally to a 6-channel radiometer in 1998 (AVHRR/3). The six channels range in wavelength from the visible (0.58 μm) to the thermal (12.5 μm). The thermal bands allow for measurements to be taken day or night. AVHRR/3 is a cross-track scanning system with a swath width of 2700 km and an Instantaneous Field of View (IFOV) of 1.1 km at nadir.

The AVHRR instrument provides measurements for a broad range of environmental factors including weather, clouds, snow, ice, and sea surface temperature.

NSIDC archives and distributes AVHRR Polar Pathfinder twice-daily data in 1.25 km, 5 km, and 25 km resolutions. Please see the AVHRR Data at NSIDC Web site to order data and to obtain guide documentation.