The Earth Explorer `Land Surface Processes and Interactions Mission´

The Earth Explorer Missions of the European Space Agency´s new `Living Planet´ Programme for Earth Observation are research/demonstration missions with the emphasis on advancing understanding of different processes, which help govern the Earth Systems. One of the four Earth Explorer Missions which was subjected to a Phase A study is the Land Surface Processes and Interactions Mission (LSPIM). The primary focus of this mission are land surfaces processes and their interactions with the atmosphere. It focusses on the measurement of surface characteristics such as albedo, reflectance, BRDF and surface temperature which are linked to the process driving bio/geophysical and biochemical variables. To fulfill the mission requirements a hyperspectral imager is proposed as the LSPIM core instrument. The LSPIM hyperspectral spectrometer will provide contiguous spectral coverage in more than 150 bands within the VIS/NIR/SWIR spectral region and a spectral resolution between 12 and 15 nm. Further, TIR observations will be performed by a radiometer in two wavebands. A spatial resolution of 50 m×50 m with a swath width of 50 km will be provided. This mission will also have a depointing capability for BRDF observations along-track and areal access across track. It is the purpose of this paper to outline the planned spaceborne mission and demonstrate first results from data simulations based on the airborne experiments