Foreground Mission

Starting in March 2024, EnMAP is initiating a foreground mission dedicated to acquiring 1000 km long flightlines primarily over Germany during the vegetation period (March to October). The goal is to optimize the acquisition rate and establish a systematic database of time series covering Germany (and Europe), while considering the diverse interests of users. The "planned" status in the table signifies that the flightline will be acquired on the specified date, while the "unplanned" status indicates that there is currently no scheduled acquisition anticipated. The list of acquisition dates for the flightlines is expanded on a monthly basis, and the prioritization of the repeated acquisition of the specified flightlines is adapted to short term circumstances e.g. other mission priorities or weather conditions via the status "planned" or "unplanned".

Users should be aware that there is a very limited chance of an acquisition on the same day if it involves areas that conflict with planned foreground mission flightlines. This applies to areas to the north and south and within off-nadir areas to the east and west of the planned stripes. Users are still encouraged to submit their own acquisitions, especially if field campaigns are planned. Future planning of the FG mission strategy will take into account ground activities.

After the successful foreground mission in Europe this year 2024, the mission will go into "winter mode":

• Starting in December 2024, Europe will only be imaged south of the Alps focusing on cloud-free images.
• Moreover, there will be a shift to the southern hemisphere during winter time.
• From mid-February 2025, the foreground mission in Europe will resume.

Data that have been successfully acquired are accessible to all registered users and can be requested approximately six days after the acquisition date through the EnMAP Data Archive on the EOWEB Geoportal.

A collection of all planned acquisition strips can be found here: GeoJSON