A spaceborne coastal and inland water color hyperspectral imager

The Canadian Space Agency (CSA) in collaboration with the Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) and NASA are considering a coastal and inland water color hyperspectral imager as a complement to the NASA's Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) mission. This hyperspectral imager with 100 m spatial sampling would be specifically designed to sample the coastal oceans, estuaries and lakes, and will help improve the monitoring and better understand quality and productivity of coastal and inland waters and their impact on the coastal communities' well-being and economic activities. This paper describes the user community needs for spaceborne fine-spatial-resolution coastal and inland water hyperspectral imaging, the specifications of the hyperspectral payload that addresses the users' needs, payload concept design and related technical challenges.