The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
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Hyperspectral Earth Observation imagers look back at Earth’s surface in a far broader range of colours than the human eye: hundreds of wavelengths per individual pixel, acquired at a much greater spatial as well as spectral resolution than instruments of old. By dividing up the light they receive into hundreds of very narrow, adjacent wavelengths to reveal ‘spectral signatures’ of particular features, crops or materials, providing valuable data for fields such as mineralogy, agricultural forecasting and environmental monitoring. The images produced by such instruments form a three-dimensional (3D) cube – called a 'data cube'– composed of stacked images of the same scene seen at adjacent wavelengths. This dimensions of this data cube are therefore built up from the satellite satellite cross-track, along-track, and wavelength range.