0000000000133453
AUTHOR
Andreas Huth
Very high spectral resolution imaging spectroscopy: The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) mission
The Fluorescence Explorer (FLEX) mission has been recently selected as the 8th Earth Explorer by the European Space Agency (ESA). It will be the first mission specifically designed to measure from space vegetation fluorescence emission, by making use of very high spectral resolution imaging spectroscopy techniques. Vegetation fluorescence is the best proxy to actual vegetation photosynthesis which can be measurable from space, allowing an improved quantification of vegetation carbon assimilation and vegetation stress conditions, thus having key relevance for global mapping of ecosystems dynamics and aspects related with agricultural production and food security. The FLEX mission carries the…
The FLuorescence EXplorer Mission Concept-ESA's Earth Explorer 8
In November 2015, the FLuorescence EXplorer (FLEX) was selected as the eighth Earth Explorer mission of the European Space Agency. The tandem mission concept will provide measurements at a spectral and spatial resolution enabling the retrieval and interpretation of the full chlorophyll fluorescence spectrum emitted by the terrestrial vegetation. This paper provides a mission concept overview of the scientific goals, the key objectives related to fluorescence, and the requirements guaranteeing the fitness for purpose of the resulting scientific data set. We present the mission design at the time of selection, i.e., at the end of project phase Phase A/B1, as developed by two independent indus…