The Hyperspectral Infrared Imager (HyspIRI) and Global Observations of Tidal Wetlands

HyspIRI mission will employ a high-spectral resolution VSWIR spectrometer, with a 30 m spatial resolution and swath width equal to Landsat legacy instruments. The spectrometer is expected to have a signal-to-noise (SNR) ratio comparable to or better than the Hyperspectral Imager of the Coastal Ocean (HICO). The mission will also provide an imaging radiometer with eight thermal bands at 60m resolution 600 km swath width. HyspIRI will offer new and unique opportunities to globally study ecosystems where land meets sea. In particular, the mission will be a boon to observations of tidal wetlands, which are highly productive and act as critical habitat for a wide variety of plants, fish, shellfish, and other wildlife. These ecotones between aquatic and terrestrial environments also provide protection from storm damage, run-off filtering, and recharge of aquifers. Many wetlands along coasts have been exposed to stress-inducing alterations globally, including dredge and fill operations, hydrologic modifications, pollutants, impoundments, fragmentation by roads/ditches, and sea level rise. For wetland protection and sensible coastal development, there is a need to monitor these ecosystems at global and regional scales. We will describe how the HyspIRI hyperspectral and thermal infrared sensors can be used to study and map key ecological properties of tidal salt and brackish marshes and mangroves, and perhaps other major wetland types, including freshwater marshes and wooded/shrub wetlands.