The reception in Brazil the first images of the satellite CBERS 04A occurred on December 27, 2019. After a week of testing with all satellite subsystems and the sequence of maneuvers to put it into its nominal orbit, the three CBERS cameras 04A were connected on Brazil for 11 minutes from 10h56 to 11h07, local time in Brasilia. INPE’s ground station in Cuiaba, MT, received and recorded the raw data from WPM cameras, MUX and WFI, which were processed in São José dos Campos, SP.

The following figures show three examples with images of Brazil, of the satellite cameras.

Primeiras Imagens Cbers 04A - 01
WFI image – Composition of real colors, 55 m spatial resolution, cut 330 km by 200 km (Cuiaba, MT, below left; Manso reservoir above center)
Primeiras Imagens Cbers 04A - 02
MUX picture – breakdown in true color, 16 m spatial resolution, trimming 30 km by 20 km (cities of Garden and Guia Lopes da Laguna, MS)
Primeiras Imagens Cbers 04A - 03
Image WPM – panchromatic band, 2 m spatial resolution, clipping 5 km by 3 km (city of Primavera do Leste, MT)

Next we see examples of the first images received in China. The following image is the logo WPM camera, which carried out a merger between the panchromatic band and the multispectral bands, which give it the color.

Primeiras Imagens Cbers 04A - 04
WPM picture – breakdown in true color, panchromatic band (2 m) plus multispectral bands (8 m), cut 2 km by 2 km (Lhasa, Tibet province)
Primeiras Imagens Cbers 04A - 05
MUX picture – breakdown in true color, spatial resolution of 16 m, trimming 20 km by 11 km (area of ​​Aksu, Xinjiang province)
Primeiras Imagens Cbers 04A - 06
WFI image – Composition of real colors, spatial resolution of 55 m, clipping 620 km by 180 km (Qinghai Lake, Qinghai Province).

From now starts the commissioning phase of the CBERS 04A, is expected to last about three months. During this phase will be evaluated radiometric and geometric quality of the three cameras images. All necessary adjustments in both the processing software and the configuration parameters of each camera will be made during this period in order to generate images of products with the best quality possible. This phase will end with a technical discussion for approval of the final report of the commission by a team of experts. The CBERS 04A will then be declared operational.