0000000000082851
AUTHOR
U. Del Bello
FLEX: ESA's Earth Explorer 8 candidate mission
In this paper we present the scientific objectives of the FLEX mission and the underlying rationale. It sketches the basic ideas of the new measurement concept, which is making use of the tandem configuration of FLEX with GMES/Sentinel-3, and outlines the most important instrument and system requirements. We will describe the envisaged instrument configuration that is in line with the measurement objectives, and which is supported by the latest results of the scientific investigations.
On the demands on imaging spectrometry for the monitoring of global vegetation fluorescence from space
Vegetation fluorescence when measured from space contributes only a tiny fraction of the signal coming on top of the reflected radiance by the Earth surface and the atmosphere. As a consequence, imaging spectrometers have to provide sufficient throughput and radiometric accuracy to enable accurate global monitoring of the daily to seasonal variations of the Earth's vegetation breath, which is particularly challenging if ground resolutions of a few hundred meters are targeted. Since fluorescence retrieval algorithms have to make corrections for atmospheric effects, it is necessary to provide sufficient spectral resolution, so that signal alterations due to the main parameters such as surface…