EnMAP CalVal Water
EnMAP CalVal Water
The project EnMAP CalVal Water is part of a larger project “Scientific preparation for use and support of the hyperspectral satellite mission – EnMAP”, coordinated by the Helmholtz Centre Potsdam - German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ). The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) mission is a German hyperspectral mission designed for global monitoring and characterizing the Earth's environment. Planned to start in the first semester of 2021, the mission will offer great advantages in terms of spatial and spectral resolution compared to existing ocean colour sensors, providing unique information for the development of algorithms/retrievals for inland and coastal water applications. The applications can cover a wide range as detection of phytoplankton types and harmful algal blooms, water quality monitoring and benthic habitat mapping.
EnMAP CalVal Water will support the scientific exploitation of the EnMAP mission by carrying out validation of EnMAP retrievals/algorithms in inland and coastal water sites. For this task three sampling campaigns are planned: in 2020 as a test-campaign before the launch of EnMAP, in 2021 in the commissioning phase and the last one in 2022 during the nominal mission phase. The validation activities will also include field measurements from cooperation partners and existing infrastructure as the bio-optical byoys BOUée pour l'acquiSition d'une Série Optique à Long termE (BOUSSOLE) and Marine Optical BuoY (MOBY), as well measurements of the ocean color component of the Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET-OC).
A second but not minor goal of the project is to support the EnMAP education initiatives. Education material at master’s level on hyperspectral remote sensing of water, as presentations and EnMAP-Box tutorials, will be available on HYPERedu; an online learning platform launched in September 2019 and hosted on EO College. Further educational activities are planned as the development of a hyperspectral Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), training courses and workshops.
