In response to the need for global measurements across the visible to
thermal infrared, the concept for the Hyperspectral Infrared Imager
(HyspIRI) was developed in the early 2000s and was recommended as
a “Tier 2” mission in the National Research Council's 2007 review
Earth Science and Applications from Space: National Imperatives for the
Next Decade and Beyond (the so-called “Decadal Survey”; National
Research Council, 2007). HyspIRI was designed to address pressing
questions about the world's terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, as well
as to investigate and provide crucial information on natural disasters
such as volcanoes, wildfires, and drought. Other hyperspectral satellite
missions (e.g., PRecursore IperSpettrale della Missione Applicativa, or
PRISMA; Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program, or EnMAP)
and thermal infrared satellite missions (e.g., Ecosystem Spaceborne
Thermal Radiometer Experiment on Space Station, or ECOSTRESS) are
planned, but these will not have the global observational capability of
HyspIRI. Moreover, HyspIRI is the only planned mission that combines
hyperspectral measurements from a visible to shortwave infrared
(VSWIR: 380–2500 nm) sensor with eight-channel multispectral measurements
from a mid to thermal infrared sensor (TIR: 4–13 μm). The
HyspIRI VSWIR sensor has a nominal ground sample distance of 30 m,
while the HyspIRI TIR sensor has a nominal ground sample distance of
60 m. (HyspIRI VSWIR was originally proposed to have a 60 m ground
sample distance, but the concept has evolved to a 30 m ground sample
distance using a new spectrometer design. As a measure of how rapidly
this evolution is occurring, a majority of the papers in this special issue
only consider the 60 m case.) These spatial and spectral characteristics
enable HyspIRI to successfully address the 17 mission concept science
and applications questions developed by the HyspIRI Group (2009).