Reference context

Recently, ASI and JPL/NASA have agreed to carry out a joint study for a scientific Earth Observation mission in the spectral range of thermal infrared.
This type of mission has a high priority in the "Decadal Survey" plan of NASA, as well as being one of the future priorities of the forthcoming Sentinels of the Copernicus European program.
In addition, a MWIR-LWIR system with a spatial resolution < 90 m (goal 50 m) could represent a formidable integration of the observational capacity of the national missions, as it would allow to observe the entire wavelengths range from Visible to thermal IR and enlarge the field of scientific and operational applications of the national satellite system.
In this framework, the national scientific community is invited to contribute, analyzing the benefits of a new high-resolution MWIR-LWIR mission, in terms of observational requirements, fields of applications, algorithms and final products.

Mission concept

The mission study inherits partly the HyspIRI experience. The sensor is an 8-band multispectral in the MWIR-LWIR spectral range (3-12 μm), with a basic configuration (configuration 1) consisting of: 7 LWIR bands, 1 MWIR band, 50 m/px spatial resolution, NEDT (at 300 K) < 0.2 K, a revisit time of 4 days and night acquisition. The advantage of this instrument, for the applications of interest, will be evaluated.
Moreover, advantages for scientific applications will be evaluated in case of other configurations: 3 MWIR bands, 5 LWIR bands, 64 m/px (configuration 2) and with the addition of a visible camera (configuration 3).

Involvement of the scientific community

The mission study is of interest for the entire national scientific community for which the use of parameters derived from EO measurements in the MWIR-LWIR spectral range plays an important role.
Therefore, the involvement of the scientific community is fundamental to:

• Acquire information on the MWIR-LWIR mission study
• Participate actively in the scientific development of the MWIR-LWIR mission
• Have the opportunity to present the scientific requirements for applications in the MWIR-LWIR
• Explore opportunities for the international cooperation
• Networking opportunities for the national scientific community in EO issues