BackForwardInstrument:  FLORIS 

Instrument details
Acronym FLORIS
Full name FLuORescence Imaging Spectrometer
Purpose Assessment of the terrestrial carbon budget by measuring the solar induced chlorophyll fluorescence directly addressing the photosynthetic efficiency of the terrestrial vegetation layer
Short description VIS/NIR spectrometer operating in several bands of the range 500-780 nm, with two types of spectral resolution: Low (1-2 nm) and High (0.1-0.5 nm) [see delails in the table below]
Background The FLORIS mission on FLEX is synergistic with that of the Sentinel-3 OLCI and SLSTR instruments.
Scanning Technique Bushbroom, swath 150 km
Resolution 300 m at s.s.p.
Coverage / Cycle Global in 20 days, in daylight
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2026 to 2029
Last update: 2021-10-25
Detailed characteristics

Spectral interval

Spectral resolution

SNR @ expected spectral radiance

500-600 nm

2 nm

245

600-677 nm

2 nm

245

697-740 nm

2 nm

425

677-686 nm

0.5 nm

340

686-697 nm

0.1 nm

175

740-755 nm

0.5 nm

510-1015

755-759 nm

0.5 nm

1015

759-769 nm

0.1 nm

115-455

769-780 nm

0.5 nm

1015
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Earth observation instrument
  • Passive optical radiometer or spectrometer
  • Moderate resolution optical imager
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Narrow-band or hyperspectral imagers
  • Hyperspectral imager (for vegetation)
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Biomass
  • Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)
  • Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)
  • Leaf Area Index (LAI)
  • Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)
  • Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)
  • Ocean chlorophyll concentration
  • Ocean suspended sediments concentration
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Biomass*5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Biomass inferred from NDVI
Cloud cover5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud optical depth4 - fairLow-density cloud only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Cloud type5 - marginalDaylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Colour Dissolved Organic Matter (CDOM)*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone
Downward short-wave irradiance at Earth surface5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Highly indirect.VIS and NIR channels
Earth surface albedo5 - marginalCloud sensitive.VIS channels
Fire fractional cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Coarse spatial resolution.. Daylight only.VIS channels
Fraction of Absorbed PAR (FAPAR)*3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS channels including Red at 700 nm
Leaf Area Index (LAI)*4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. LAI inferred from NDVI
Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI)*3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS and NIR channels
Ocean chlorophyll concentration *1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone
Ocean Diffuse Attenuation Coefficient (DAC)*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone
Ocean suspended sediments concentration*1 - primaryCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.Many narrow-bandwidth VIS channels, suitable for more water types, in open ocean and coastal zone
Photosynthetically Active Radiation (PAR)3 - highCloud sensitive.VIS channels, range accurately sampled
Short-wave cloud reflectance5 - marginalNo specific limitation.VIS and NIR channels
Snow cover4 - fairCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Soil moisture at surface5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Index only.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels. Soil moisture inferred from differential brightness
Upward short-wave irradiance at TOA5 - marginalSpectral interpolation needed.. Information on BRDF needed.VIS and NIR channels
Aerosol volcanic ash5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Aerosol volcanic ash Total Column5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR channels
Sea-ice cover5 - marginalCloud sensitive.. Daylight only.VIS and NIR (for contour enhancement) channels