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APEX

Description

APEX

Airborne Prism Experiment
Contact  Koen Meuleman Start (End) Date  01/01/2007 (31/12/2010)
Consortium  1 partner Project Coordination  VITO
Website  www.apex-esa.org (new window) Related Projects  Hyperspectral
 projects, CVB
Keywords

 hyperspectral, environmental monitoring, imaging spectroscopy

 

Project Objectives
APEX is an airborne (dispersive push broom) imaging spectrometer developed and build by a Swiss-Belgian consortium on behalf of ESA. It is intended as a simulator and a calibration and validation device for future spaceborne (hyperspectral) imagers. Furthermore, APEX is an advanced scientific instrument for the European remote sensing community, recording hyperspectral data in over 300 bands between 400 nm and 2500 nm. Imaging spectroscopy greatly extends the scope of traditional remote sensing and is based on the detection of many narrow, contiguous spectral bands. This presents opportunities for more precise identification of surface materials than is possible with broadband multispectral sensors.
An APEX team (VITO-RSL) has been established in order to organize and manage the APEX missions and to process the data up to the required level. The team provides the users with the processed data, assures the technical performance of the instrument and markets the services and applications provided by APEX. The APEX team will provide this service on an operational basis to the user community from 2011 onwards.


Methodology

  • A Swiss-Belgian industrial consortium builds the APEX instrument, under supervision of both Principle Investigators (PI, RSL), the co-PI (VITO) and ESA.
  • VITO and RSL commonly develop a processing and archiving facility for APEX and are preparing operational flights.

(Expected) Results

  • APEX testflights were performed in 2009 and 2010 and data evaluation is ongoing.
  • APEX will be offered to ESA as simulation and calibration device for future spaceborne instruments.
  • APEX is offered to the remote sensing community form 2011  onwards.
  • As APEX operations centre, VITO will organize flights and process and deliver data the user community.
  • As part of the APEX science centre VITO will be involved in the development of algorithms for higher level processing.

VITO Contribution

  • VITO is acting as APEX co-investigator
  • VITO together with RSL and ESA are performing the technical evaluation and assessment of the work executed by the industrial consortium that is building APEX
  • VITO is in charge of the operations and operational data processing after acceptance

Partners
Remote Sensing Laboratories – University of Zürich (Switzerland)

Illustration


First APEX quick looks acquired above Oostende (B) in June 2009

Contact:


Koen Meuleman
Tel. + 32 14 33 68 63
Fax + 32 14 32 27 95
Send a message to Koen Meuleman


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