A superspectral microsatellite system for GMES land cover applications

The European Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative is in a preparatory phase before starting the implementation of its Earth Observation component. Numerous GMES applications currently served by multispectral sensors are devoted to land cover and vegetation monitoring. There is now an identified need of continuity for the delivery of products to the end users and a complementary need to improve the accuracy, reliability and affordability of these corresponding services. Several analyses and definition studies on applications and services, mission requirements and corresponding spacecraft and sensors designs have been carried out by EADS Astrium for several years. Based on these studies, EADS Astrium proposes a superspectral optical sensor on-board a microsatellite as a forerunner of the further GMES system. This paper focuses on the justification and the definition of a simple, affordable and short development system as an initial answer to the GMES land cover applications and as gap filler between the existing systems and the future operational ones.