Spectrodirectional remote sensing: From pixels to processes

This paper discusses the historical evolution of imaging spectroscopy in Earth observation as well as directional (or multiangular) research leading to current achievements in spectrodirectional remote sensing. It elaborates on the evolution from two separate research areas into a common approach to quantify the interaction of light with the Earth surface. The contribution of spectrodirectional remote sensing towards an improved understanding of the Earth System is given by discussing the benefits of converging from individual pixel analysis to process models in the land-biosphere domain. The paper concludes with an outlook of research focus and upcoming areas of interest emphasizing towards multidisciplinary approaches using integrated system solutions based on remote and in situ sensing, data assimilation, and state space estimation algorithms.