EnMAP Ground Segment Design: An Overview and its Hyperspectral Image Processing Chain

EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program; www.enmap.org) is the first German hyperspectral remote sensing satellite mission. This chapter focuses on the challenges on the design of the ground segment as a whole and in particular of its image processing chain. In the context of the system response time we investigate the ability of tilting the satellite which allows for frequent revisits and enables meaningful downstream change detection activities on a global scale. In the context of comparable and high-quality controlled products we investigate in detail the processing steps to radiometrically calibrate, spectrally characterize, geometrically and atmospherically correct the data. The status corresponds to the baseline for the production activities of the ground segment, namely only minor changes are expected. The launch is planned for 2016. The establishment and operation of the ground segment is under responsibility of the Earth Observation Center (EOC) and the German Space Operations Center (GSOC) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR).