Synergies Between NASA's Hyperspectral Aquatic Missions PACE, GLIMR, and SBG: Opportunities for New Science and Applications

Within the next decade, NASA plans to launch three new missions with imaging spectrometers for aquatic science and applications: Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) in 2024, Geostationary Littoral Imaging Radiometer (GLIMR) in 2026, and Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) in 2028. Taken together, these missions will evaluate long-term trends in phytoplankton biomass linked to climate change, and provide new spectral capabilities to assess aquatic biogeochemistry, biophysics, and habitats. Hyperspectral measurements of ocean color, paired with advanced retrieval algorithms, can provide new information on phytoplankton community composition and water quality. We compare the mission architecture and sensor characteristics to identify the synergistic opportunities to merge algorithms, field data, and calibration and validation techniques. Each mission has unique temporal and spatial characteristics to monitor the aquatic transitions from watershed to open ocean ecosystems. SBG provides observations at high spatial scales to monitor emergent, floating, submerged, and benthic habitats from inland to coastal waters. With global daily coverage, PACE can track the fate of material as it meanders offshore and provides an enhanced context for phytoplankton diversity and global biogeochemical cycling. GLIMR is optimized to resolve temporal processes that give rise to aquatic rates and fluxes including phytoplankton growth rates, physiology, and episodic events such as storms. Applications with high spectral, spatial, and temporal resolution from these NASA missions include assessing carbon dynamics and biogeochemical cycling across the land-ocean continuum, harmful algal blooms, and oil spills.

Automated summary

NASA plans to launch three new missions within the next decade using imaging spectrometers to study aquatic science and applications. These missions will evaluate long-term trends in phytoplankton biomass linked to climate change and provide new spectral capabilities for assessing aquatic biogeochemistry, biophysics, and habitats. Hyperspectral measurements combined with advanced retrieval algorithms can provide new information on phytoplankton community composition and water quality.