OVERVIEW OF THE ENMAP IMAGING SPECTROSCOPY MISSION Luis Guanter (1), Karl Segl (1), Saskia Foerster (1), Andr´ e Hollstein (1), Godela Rossner (2), Christian Chlebek (2), Tobias Storch (3), Uta Heiden (3), Andreas Mueller (3), Rupert M ¨ uller (3), Bernhard Sang (4) (1) Helmholtz Center Potsdam, GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences, Remote Sensing Section, Telegrafenberg A17, 14473 Potsdam, Germany (2) Space Administration, German Aerospace Center (DLR), K¨ onigswinterer Str. 522-524, 53227 Bonn, Germany (3) Earth Observation Center (EOC), German Aerospace Center (DLR), M¨ unchener Str. 20, 82234 Weßling, Germany (4) OHB System AG, Perchtinger Str. 5, 81379 Munich, Germany ABSTRACT The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (En- MAP) German imaging spectroscopy mission is intended to fill the current gap in space-based imaging spectroscopy data. An overview of the main characteristics and current status of the mission will be provided in this contribution. The core payload of EnMAP consists of a dual-spectrometer instrument measuring in the optical spectral range between 420 and 2450 nm with a spectral sampling distance varying between 5 and 12 nm and a reference signal-to-noise ratio of 400:1 in the visible near-infrared and 180:1 in the shortwave- infrared parts of the spectrum. EnMAP images will cover a 30 km wide area in the across-track direction with a ground sampling distance of 30 m. An across-track tilted observation capability will enable a target revisit time of up to 4 days at Equator and better at high latitudes. EnMAP will contribute to the development and exploitation of spaceborne imaging spectroscopy applications by making high-quality data freely available to scientific users worldwide. Index Terms— Imaging spectroscopy, EnMAP, space- based remote sensing 1. INTRODUCTION Most of the developments in imaging spectroscopy in the last decades have been based on airborne spectrometers covering the visible to near-infrared (VNIR) and, often, shortwave- infrared (SWIR) spectral ranges (roughly, 400–1000 nm and 1000–2500 nm, respectively). In particular, the Airborne Vis- ible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) [1], designed EnMAP is funded under the DLR Space Administration with resources from the German Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy and con- tributions from DLR, GFZ and OHB System AG. and operated by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Cali- fornia, has been used since the late 1980s in a large number of imaging spectroscopy experiments and field campaigns. Un- fortunately, the recognized potential of imaging spectroscopy is currently not counterbalanced by an equivalent availabil- ity of spaceborne imaging spectroscopy data. Two tech- nology demonstration missions, Hyperion onboard NASA’s Earth Observing One (EO-1) spacecraft [2] and the Compact High Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (CHRIS) on ESA’s Proba-1 microsatellite [3], have been the main providers of space-based hyperspectral data in the last decades. The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (En- MAP) is an imaging spectroscopy mission under development by a consortium of German Earth observation research insti- tutions to fill the current gap in space-based imaging spec- troscopy data [4]. EnMAP is designed for the retrieval of bio-, geochemical and physical parameters characterising the Earth surface for applications such as agriculture, land-use, water systems, soil science, and geology. 2. MISSION AND INSTRUMENT REQUIREMENTS EnMAP relies on a prism-based dual-spectrometer instrument design to cover the 420–2450 nm spectral range. An artistic representation of an EnMAP overpass depicting the field-of- view of the VNIR and SWIR spectrometers and other acqui- sition details is displayed in Fig. 1. The VNIR spectrome- ter covers the 420–1000 nm spectral range with a spectral sampling distance (SSD) between 5.5 and 7.5 nm, whereas the SWIR spectrometer covers the 900–2450 nm with an SSD between 8.5 and 11.5 nm. Spectral resolution is required to be about 1.2 larger than the sampling distance. Threshold requirements for the signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) at the ref- 261 978-1-5090-3332-4/16/$31.00 ©2016 IEEE IGARSS 2016