Institute of Bio- und Geosciences (IBG)

Plant Sciences (IBG-2)

FLEX mission - measuring photosynthesis from space

The Earth's vegetation takes a central role in the global carbon cycle, but how healthy plants really are has so far been difficult to measure directly. The new ESA mission FLEX is the first to focus on recording chlorophyll fluorescence, a weak light signal that plants emit during photosynthesis.

This measurement provides new insights into the state of global vegetation, more precisely and earlier than previous methods. The video explains how FLEX works and why the fluorescence signal is a direct indicator of photosynthetic activity. It also shows how FLEX in combination with Sentinel-3 data contributes to the interpretation of vegetation dynamics. The mission thus provides valuable information for climate research, land management and the understanding of carbon and water cycles. The video is supplemented by interviews with Dr. Juliane Bendig from the FLEX project office and Ralf Bock, the project manager of the mission, who provide insights into the scientific significance and technical implementation.

Source: ESERO Germany

Video produced by RSRG University of Bonn in partnership with ESERO Germany. ESERO Germany is an ESA educational project carried out in cooperation with DLR and funded by ESA.