About




PONDER (SR/00/325/) is an exploration project financed by BELSPO under the STEREO 3 programme. The main goal of the project is to assess the potential for aquatic applications of very high resolution satellite imagery.

The project will focus mainly on imagery from Pléiades, an optical imaging mission with two identical satellites carrying a sensor with four multispectral bands (2.8 m) and one panchromatic band (0.7 m). Due to the pointability of the satellites, Pléiades offers a high revisit rate and time series of satellite images will be acquired for different study areas. An atmospheric correction algorithm specifically for inland and coastal waters will be developed, and released as an open source processor. Validation data will be collected in Belgian and French coastal and estuarine waters. The potential for bloom monitoring will be evaluated with a series of in situ field campaigns in Belgian lakes.



The project aims to:

  1. develop and validate an atmospheric correction for aquatic applications of high resolution sensors, and implement an open source processor
  2. evaluate Pléiades capabilities for coastal sediment mapping
  3. evaluate Pléiades capabilities for inland water quality monitoring in inland waters