The Vegetation Instrument for the PROBA-V Mission

Abstract

In this chapter recent progress in the development of the Vegetation Instrument (VI) for the PROBA-V mission is presented. PROBA-V is an earth observation mission, which will ensure continuity of the actual SPOT/ VEGETATION mission until Sentinel-3 will become operational. The consortium will consist of VITO as prime investigator, VES as mission prime, OIP as prime contractor for the payload and Xenics and AMOS as most important subcontractors for the payload. The payload is a multispectral spectrometer with 4 spectral bands. To guarantee daily coverage of the earth, a very large swath of 2,250 km is envisaged. The ground resolution of the instrument will be at least 1,000 m. The payload will consist of 3 SIs (Spectral Imagers), each containing a very compact TMA (Three Mirrors Anastigmat) telescope, and a large VNIR and SWIR FPA (Focal Plane Array). The three SIs will be mounted on a common optical bench, and aligned to each other to cover the full swath. Feasibility studies have revealed two major criticalities in the payload, being the TMA manufacturing and alignment, and the SWIR FPA manufacturing. To reduce potential risks during the very short development time of the payload, two pilot projects were already started. This chapter presents the first achievements of both development projects.