Sabine Chabrillat

• Professor
• Head - Working group Hyperspectral remote sensing applications at Helmholtz-Zentrum Potsdam - Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ

The main terrestrial carbon (C) fraction is soil organic carbon (SOC), which has a considerable effect on climate change and greenhouse gas emissions through the absorption and sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO 2). This has made SOC assessment very important from both economic and environmental viewpoints. The growing count of soil spectral libra...

The Worldsoils project has developed a pre-operational Soil Organic Carbon (SOC) monitoring system in a cloud environment. The system predicts topsoil organic carbon content at regional and continental scales from Earth Observation (EO) satellite data with a continuous cover over Europe. The system utilizes spectral models for croplands and a digit...

Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon pool and a valuable good that provides important ecosystem services. Since soils are threatened by degradation and in order to fight climate change the knowledge of the status quo especially of its soil organic carbon (SOC) content is required. A promising tool to map and monitor our soils are spaceborne ima...

For over four decades, spaceborne multispectral data have played a crucial role in supporting mineral exploration and geologic mapping. The spaceborne multispectral datasets, however, have a restricted number of bands with coarse spectral resolution and, thus are very limited in mineral mapping. The advent of high-quality spaceborne imaging spectro...

Rare earth elements (REEs) exhibit diagnostic absorption features in the visible-near infrared region, enabling their detection and identification via spectroscopic methods. Satellite-based remote sensing mapping of REEs, however, has not been attainable so far due to the necessity for high-quality hyperspectral data to resolve their narrow absorpt...

The two-LAyered snow Radiative Transfer (LART) model has been proposed for snow remote sensing applications. It is based on analytical approximations of the radiative transfer theory. The geometrical optics approximation has been used to derive the local snow optical parameters, such as the probability of photon absorption by ice grains and the ave...

This study presents what we believe is the first extensive assessment of the water reflectance products from the German hyperspectral Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP). We evaluate EnMAP’s standard normalized water leaving reflectance [ρ W ] N over 17 water sites in the first two years of the mission. The EnMAP [ρ W ] N standard pr...

In this work, we develop a software suite for studies of atmosphere–underlying SNOW-spaceborne optical receiver light TRANsmission calculations (SNOWTRAN) with applications for the solution of forward and inverse radiative transfer problems in polar regions. Assuming that the aerosol load is extremely low, the proposed theory does not require the n...

Methane mitigation from anthropogenic sources such as in the production and transport of fossil fuels has been found as one of the most promising strategies to curb global warming in the near future. Satellite-based imaging spectrometers have demonstrated to be well-suited to detect and quantify these emissions at high spatial resolution, which all...

Hi there, welcome to the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) ‚Beyond the Visible – Imaging Spectroscopy on Soil Applications‘! This course is structured in six lessons that usually contain several topics and are accompanied as well as completed by a number of short exercises and quizzes. The first lesson is accessible to everyone – here, you will mee...

Soil color is a key indicator of soil properties and conditions, exerting influence on both agronomic and environmental variables. Conventional methods for soil color determination have come under scrutiny due to their limited accuracy and reliability. In response to these concerns, we developed an innovative system that leverages 35 years of satel...

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy has been extensively employed to deliver timely and cost-effective predictions of a number of soil properties. However, although several soil spectral laboratories have been established worldwide, the distinct characteristics of instruments and operations still hamper further integration and interoperability across...

Porphyry copper deposits are associated with large alteration footprints, and alteration mapping plays a key role in the exploration of these deposits. Imaging spectroscopy is commonly deployed for exploration targeting, yet it has rarely been used to map deposit-scale alteration patterns before initiating drilling. To close this gap, the Shadan po...

The efficiency of spectral-based assessments of soil attributes using soil spectral libraries (SSLs) covering the visible-near-infrared-shortwave-infrared (VNIR-SWIR: 400-2500 nm) region has been proven in many studies. Nevertheless, as traditional SSLs are commonly developed under laboratory conditions, their application is limited for the assessm...

This study introduces the development of Spatially Upscaled Soil Spectral Libraries (SUSSL) approach to assess spectral disturbances caused by variations in surface conditions in remote sensing-based soil property prediction. The SUSSL incorporates realistic cropland reflectance scenarios using spectral modelling and aggregation techniques. By conv...

The Copernicus Hyperspectral Imaging Mission for the Environment (CHIME) is a new ESA Earth Observation mission which consists in developing a hyperspectral satellite to support EU policies on the management of natural resources, ultimately helping to address the global issue of food security. One of the mission activities is associated to the deve...

The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) is a new spaceborne German hyperspectral satellite mission, whose primary goal is to generate accurate information on the state and evolution of the Earth´s ecosystems. The core themes of EnMAP are monitoring environmental changes, ecosystem responses to human activities, and management of natu...

Remote sensing soil properties in a coherent manner is now feasible from regional to global scales [...]

📢 Calling all Soil Science and Pedometrics experts! 🌱🔬 🗺 🌎 🧡. Join our research collection on Advances in Remote and Proximal Soil Sensing for Global Good and Food Security! 🌍🥦 🍽. Submit your article by December 10, 2023, and make a valuable contribution to this critical field. Check out the link below for more details: https://www.frontiersin.org/...

The paper presents the first retrievals of clean snow properties using spaceborne hyperspectral observations via the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP). The location close to the Concordia station at the Dome C Plateau (Antarctica) was selected. At this location, the atmospheric effects (except molecular light scattering and absorpt...

The paper presents the first retrievals of clean snow properties using spaceborne hyperspectral The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) observations. The location close to the Dome C in Antarctica has been selected. At this location the atmospheric effects except molecular light scattering and absorption are weak and the simplified a...

Methane mitigation from anthropogenic sources such as fossil fuels and waste management has been found as one of the most promising strategies to curb global warming in the near future. Satellite-based imaging spectrometers have demonstrated to be well-suited to detect and quantify these emissions at high spatial resolution. These instruments produ...

Monitoring of soil quality and its degradation is essential to face the big challenges of food security and climate change. One of the main soil parameters to observe is the content of soil organic carbon (SOC) which is linked to soil fertility and other ecosystem services. We investigate the potential of spaceborne hyperspectral images to estimate...

Volcanic flanks subject to hydrothermal alteration become mechanically weak and gravitationally unstable, which may collapse and develop far-reaching landslides. The dynamics and trajectories of volcanic landslides are hardly preserved and challenging to determine, which is due to the steep slopes and the inherent instability. Here we analyze the p...

Remote sensing and soil spectroscopy applications are valuable techniques for soil property estimation. Soil organic matter (SOM) and calcium carbonate are important factors in soil quality, and although organic matter is well studied, calcium carbonates require more investigation. In this study, we validated the performance of laboratory soil spec...

Soil spectral libraries (SSLs) are important big-data archives (spectra associated with soil properties) that are analyzed via machine-learning algorithms to estimate soil attributes. Since different spectral measurement protocols are applied when constructing SSLs, it is necessary to examine harmonization techniques to merge the data. In recent ye...

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy has been extensively employed to deliver timely and cost-effective predictions of a number of soil properties. However, although several soil spectral laboratories have been established worldwide, the distinct characteristics of instruments and operations still hamper further integration and interoperability across...

The methods and results of the operational spectral property assessment of the spaceborne imaging spectrometers DESIS and EnMAP are presented. Using thousands of Earth datatakes, the stable performance within requirements of both missions is demonstrated.

The radiometric performance of EnMAP is presented based on scenes over RadCalNet and PICS sites acquired during the first year since launch. The results show the typical accuracy and stability attainable by EnMAP radiometric products.

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is one of the key indicators for soil quality and plays an important role in the global C cycle. Remote sensing techniques are rapidly evolving for mapping and monitoring SOC. Platforms range from unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to airborne and satellite systems. Multivariate analysis and machine learning techniques are used...

Soils are an essential factor contributing to the agricultural production of rainfed crops such as barley and triticale cereals. Changing environmental conditions and inadequate land management are endangering soil quality and productivity and, in turn, crop quality and productivity are affected. Advances in hyperspectral remote sensing are of grea...

The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) is a spaceborne German hyperspectral satellite mission that aims at monitoring and characterizing the Earth's environment on a global scale. The mission is now ready to start with the sensor being by end of 2021 in Flight Acceptance Review, ready to be shipped to the launch pad in early 2022. T...

Spectroscopic measurements of soil samples are reliable because they are highly repeatable and reproducible. They characterise the samples' mineral–organic composition. Estimates of concentrations of soil constituents are inevitably less precise than estimates obtained conventionally by chemical analysis. But the cost of each spectroscopic estimate...

EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program; www.enmap.org) is the first German imaging spectroscopy mission, to be launched in April 2022. After its Launch, Early Orbit and Commissioning Phase (6 months), the EnMAP mission will be available to the international user community for the data access and ordering process. EnMAP will be operated b...

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Although many Soil Spectral Libraries (SSLs) have been created globally, these libraries still have not been operationalized for end-users. To address this limitation, this study created an online Brazilian Soil Spectral Service (BraSpecS). The system was based on the Brazilian Soil Spectral Library (BSSL) with samples collected in the Visible–Near...

We conducted a systematic review and inventory of recent research achievements related to spaceborne and aerial Earth Observation (EO) data-driven monitoring in support of soil-related strategic goals for a three-year period (2019–2021). Scaling, resolution, data characteristics, and modelling approaches were summarized, after reviewing 46 peer-rev...

Reflectance spectroscopy in the visible-infrared and shortwave infrared (450-2500 nm) wavelength region is a rapid, cost-effective and non-destructive method that can be used to monitor heavy metal (PTE, potential toxic elements) contaminated areas. Due to the PTE pollution that has accumulated in the course of wastewater treatment, the existence o...

The heat waves and droughts of 2018 / 2019 and in 2020 have had a devastating impact on the functioning of ecosystems and have led to an increasing vulnerability beyond the duration of heat waves (e.g. degradation and increased erosion, reduced carbon uptake by vegetation, modulated energy balance). Such impacts also include loss of agricultural pr...

Despite the natural spatial variability, cropland soils are subject to many interventions that can lead to alterations of soil functioning. As the cropland expansion took place in Brazil the last decades, leading to significant land-use change and environmental impacts, detailed information about soils is fundamental for sustainable development. Th...

Visible–near infrared–shortwave infrared (VNIR–SWIR) spectroscopy is being increasingly used for soil organic carbon (SOC) assessment. Common practice consists of scanning soil samples using a single spectrometer. Considerations have rarely been documented of the effects of using multiple instruments and scanning conditions on SOC model calibration...

Soils are an essential factor contributing to agricultural production of rainfed crops such as barley and triticale cereals. Inadequate land management is endangering soil quality and productivity, and in turn crop quality and productivity are affected. In this paper, hyperspectral VNIR-SWIR airborne data (0.4-2.5 µm) is used to analyze spatial dif...

A deeper understanding of the agricultural sector is needed to provide the informed and transparent framework required to meet increasing resource demands and pressures, without compromising sustainability. In this regard, an integrated management of the ecosystems is critical to address the priorities laid out by global policies and, achieve land...

Soil contamination by potentially toxic elements (PTEs) is intensifying under increasing industrialization. Thus, the ability to efficiently delineate contaminated sites is crucial. Visible–near infrared (vis–NIR: 350–2500 nm) and X-ray fluorescence (XRF: 0.02–41.08 keV) spectroscopic techniques have attracted tremendous attention for the assessmen...

Soil organic matter (SOM) is essential for preserving a healthy soil that provides good soil structure and high fertility and water -holding capacity [...]

In preparation of the German spaceborne imaging spectroscopy mission EnMAP (The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) and its upcoming launch in early 2022, the data product validation activities have been intensified. As part of the science preparation and mission support project led by the German Research Center (GFZ) Potsdam, the overall q...

The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) is a spaceborne German hyperspectral satellite mission that aims at monitoring and characterizing the Earth’s environment on a global scale. This paper presents an update of the mission status with developments from the space and the ground segment.

The dataset is composed of Neo HySpex (VNIR/SWIR) hyperspectral imagery acquired during airplane overflights on June 6th, 2015 covering the Omongwa Pan located in the South-West Kalahari, Namibia. The dataset includes three cloud-free flight lines with 408 spectral bands ranging from VNIR to SWIR wavelength regions (0.4-2.5 µm). The dataset also in...

Soil degradation is a major threat for European soils and therefore, the European Commission recommends intensifying research on soil monitoring to capture changes over time and space. Imaging spectroscopy is a promising technique to create spatially accurate topsoil maps based on hyperspectral remote sensing data. We tested the application of a lo...

Quantification of soil parameters e.g. organic carbon, in field soil samples using spectrally similar soil samples from a large scale soil spectral database

Visible–near infrared–shortwave infrared (VIS–NIR–SWIR) spectroscopy has been widely studied for soil organic carbon (SOC) assessment. Although the majority of research efforts was carried out scanning soil samples by a single spectrometer and considerations on the issue of multiple instruments and scanning environment conditions and their effects...

A systematic review and inventory of recent research relating to optical remote sensing of Arctic vegetation was conducted, and thematic and geographical trends were summarized. Research was broadly categorized into four major themes of (1) time series, including NDVI trends and shrub expansion; (2) disturbance and recovery, including tundra fires,...

The high-resolution imaging spectroscopy remote sensing mission EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program, enmap.org) covers the spectral range from 420 nm to 2450 nm with a spectral sampling distance varying between 4.8 nm and 12.0 nm comprising 262 spectral bands. We focus on the planned framework concerning radiometry. The expected signa...

The high-resolution imaging spectroscopy remote sensing mission EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program, enmap.org) covers the spectral range from 420 nm to 2450 nm with a spectral sampling distance varying between 4.8 nm and 12.0 nm comprising 262 spectral bands. We focus on the planned framework concerning radiometry. The expected signa...

The role of polar regions is increasing in terms of megatrends such as globalization, new transport routes, demography, and the use of natural resources with consequent effects on regional and transported pollutant concentrations. We set up the ERA-PLANET Strand 4 project “iCUPE – integrative and Comprehensive Understanding on Polar Environments” t...

In the frame of the science preparation activities for the upcoming German hyperspectral satellite mission EnMAP, an airborne survey took place in September 2019 with hyperspectral VNIR-SWIR-LWIR data using the HySpex sensor and the newly acquired Hyper-Cam LWIR camera from the GeoResearch Center Potsdam (GFZ) mounted on the airborne platform Cessn...

Reflectance of light across the visible, near-infrared and shortwave infrared (VIS-NIR-SWIR, 0.4-2.5 µm) spectral region is very useful for investigating mineralogical, physical and chemical properties of soils, which can reduce the need for traditional wet chemistry analyses. As many collections of multispectral satellite data are available for en...

The degradation of European soils is a cause for concern. Examples are the reduction of carbon content and soil fertility. The European Commission therefore recommends further research on how to better monitor soils and their changes over time and space. Digital soil mapping (DSM) is already an established method for the use of hyperspectral inform...

The role of polar regions increases in terms of megatrends such as globalization, new transport routes, demography and use of natural resources consequent effects of regional and transported pollutant concentrations. We set up the ERA-PLANET Strand 4 project "iCUPE-integrative and Comprehensive Understanding on Polar Environments" to provide novel...

Salt pans are highly dynamic environments that are difficult to study by in situ methods because of their harsh climatic conditions and large spatial areas. Remote sensing can help to elucidate their environmental dynamics and provide important constraints regarding their sedimentological, mineralogical, and hydrological evolution. This study utili...

Extensive efforts are currently being devoted to the establishment of soil spectral libraries on regional, national, continent-wide and global domains. In particular, a new development goes in the direction of global harmonized soil spectral databases that shall be acquired following common standards and procedures so that they can be merged with o...

In the face of rapid global change it is imperative to preserve geodiversity for the overall conservation of biodiversity. Geodiversity is important for understanding complex biogeochemical and physical processes and is directly and indirectly linked to biodiversity on all scales of ecosystem organization. Despite the great importance of geodiversi...

Soil organic carbon (SOC) loss is one of the main causes of soil degradation in croplands. Thus, spatial and temporal monitoring of SOC is extremely important, both from the environmental and economic perspective. In this regard, the high temporal, spatial, and spectral resolution of the Sentinel-2 data can be exploited for monitoring SOC contents...

The estimation of the soil organic carbon (SOC) content plays an important role for carbon sequestration in the context of climate change, food security and soil degradation. Reflectance pectroscopy has proven to be a promising technique for SOC quantification in the laboratory and increasingly from air- and spaceborne platforms, where hyperspectra...

Detailed soil information is a valuable resource for various approaches like agricultural management, soil protection, or spatial planning. Preserving, using and enriching soils are complex processes that fundamentally need a sound regional database. Many countries lack this sort of extensive data or the existing data must be urgently updated when...

Dear Colleagues, Soil organic carbon (SOC) in croplands is responsive to changes in management and/or land use. Over the last decades, a substantial inter-and intrafield variability has developed, impacting food security and with the potential for negative CO2 emissions. Visible and near-infrared (visNIR) spectroscopy is a high-throughput tool nece...

Natural and anthropogenic hazards have the potential to impact all aspects of society including its economy and the environment. Diagnostic data to inform decision-making are critical for hazard management whether for emergency response, routine monitoring or assessments of potential risks. Imaging spectroscopy (IS) has unique contributions to make...

High spectral resolution (hyperspectral) remote sensing has already demonstrated its capabilities for soil constituent mapping based on absorption feature parameters. This paper tests different parametrizations of the 1.75 μm gypsum feature for the determination of gypsum abundances, from the laboratory to remote sensing applications of recent as w...

There is a renewed awareness of the finite nature of the world’s soil resources, growing concern about soil security and significant uncertainties about the carrying capacity of the planet. Regular assessments of soil conditions from local through to global scales are requested, and there is a clear demand for accurate, up-to-date and spatially ref...

Tools that enhance the management of the soil resource are vital for sustainability and continued productivity. The assessment and monitoring of surface-soil condition provide key information required to effectively manage this resource. This research used a simulated Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) hyperspectral image cube of an...

The Department 93 of the State Authority for Geology, Raw Materials and Mining (LGRB) Baden-Württemberg has the task of carrying out the systematic soil survey in Baden-Württemberg, Germany's third-largest state in southwest Germany. The results are used, for example, in the implementation of soil protection concerns in planning (regional planning,...

Basierend auf den Satellitendaten der Copernicus Mission werden für Baden-Württemberg flächendeckende, hochaufgelöste, oberflächennahe Bodenparameter (z.B. organischer Kohlenstoffgehalt, Tongehalte, Bodenfeuchte, Steingehalte, Bodenrauhigkeiten) sowie die Änderungen der Geländehöhe der Moorflächen ermittelt.