Abstract
The airborne ESA-APEX (Airborne Prism Experiment) hyperspectral mission simulator is described with its distinct specifications to provide high quality remote sensing data. The concept of an automatic calibration, performed in the Calibration Home Base (CHB) by using the Control Test Master (CTM), the In-Flight Calibration facility (IFC), quality flagging (QF) and specific processing in a dedicated Processing and Archiving Facility (PAF), and vicarious calibration experiments are presented. A preview on major applications and the corresponding development efforts to provide scientific data products up to level 2/3 to the user is presented for limnology, vegetation, aerosols, general classification routines and rapid mapping tasks. BRDF (Bidirectional Reflectance Distribution Function) issues are discussed and the spectral database SPECCHIO (Spectral Input/Output) introduced. The optical performance as well as the dedicated software utilities make APEX a state-of-the-art hyperspectral sensor, capable of (a) satisfying the needs of several research communities and (b) helping the understanding of the Earth's complex mechanisms.
Highlights
DAIS (Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer) [4], which provided state of the art data, it became obvious that ESA (European Space Agency) was in need of a flexible hyperspectral space mission simulator and applications demonstrator covering the full VIS-NIR-SWIR (Visible-Near-InfraredShortwave Infrared) wavelength range
The planning for APEX (Airborne Prism Experiment) started in 1993, a formal pre-phase A was granted by ESA in 1995
Major design requirements are on-demand, user configurable product generation, and full reproducibility of user orders and re-processing capability of any data product level. This is all made possible by the product and processing database (PPDB), which forms the heart of the processing system
Summary
Hyperspectral airborne experiments in Europe in the late 80s, EISAC DAIS (Digital Airborne Imaging Spectrometer) [4], which provided state of the art data, it became obvious that ESA (European Space Agency) was in need of a flexible hyperspectral space mission simulator and applications demonstrator covering the full VIS-NIR-SWIR (Visible-Near-InfraredShortwave Infrared) wavelength range. APEX is a flexible airborne hyperspectral mission simulator and calibrator for existing and upcoming or future space missions. It is operating between 380 and 2,500 nm in 313 freely configurable bands, up to 534 bands in full spectral mode. South African MSMI (Multi Sensor Micro satellite Imager) [11] among others
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
