Summary of current and future terrestrial civilian hyperspectral spaceborne systems

This paper provides an overview of current and future civilian hyperspectral spaceborne systems for terrestrial applications. For this purpose, a brief history of hyperspectral mission initiatives is given together with the spectral and spatial characteristic of current systems in orbit today. Future sensor systems are divided into missions, which are under development and in a planning stage. The latter category provides a good cross section of sensor systems to come, but is probably not a complete list of hyperspectral instruments considered by the various space agencies.