2026-06-25
A new review published Wednesday in Nature Reviews Earth & Environment says imaging spectroscopy is reshaping how scientists observe the planet from space and argues that its full value will depend on a global mission with Landsat-like coverage.
The paper, published June 24, describes imaging spectroscopy as a tool that can read the spectral signatures of Earth’s surface materials in far greater detail than conventional satellite imagery. That allows researchers to distinguish features tied to vegetation, minerals, soils and water in ways that standard optical images often cannot.
The authors, led by David R. Thompson of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and the California Institute of Technology, say the technology already serves a wide range of scientific communities. But they contend that the next step is broader, repeated global coverage at spatial and temporal scales similar to Landsat, the long-running U.S. Earth observation program known for systematic imaging of the planet’s land surface.
The review brings together researchers from the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Nevada, Reno, the University of Colorado Boulder, Caltech, Stanford University and the University of California, Davis. It points to a growing base of missions and tools that have moved imaging spectroscopy closer to operational use, including Italy’s PRISMA mission, Germany’s EnMAP mission and NASA’s EMIT instrument. It also cites work tied to NASA’s Surface Biology and Geology priorities and user-needs studies for future Landsat missions.
According to the paper, a mission with global repeat coverage could help turn imaging spectroscopy from a powerful but still limited research capability into a routine source of Earth surface data. The authors link that prospect to applications across environmental science, ecosystem monitoring and broader Earth observation.
That shift could also matter for agriculture tied to beverages. If spectral imaging becomes available at large scale and with frequent revisits, growers could potentially track vine stress and vigor more precisely across vineyards, supporting faster decisions in precision viticulture. Similar approaches could eventually help monitor other crops used in beer and spirits production.
The article does not present new experimental results. Instead, it lays out the case for what the authors describe as the next era of remote spectral imaging, supported by advances in sensors, calibration and analysis software. Among the tools cited are WISER, a visualization and analysis platform presented in 2025, and EnMAP-Box for QGIS.
The review was published as the version of record on June 24 with DOI 10.1038/s43017-026-00805-y. In their competing interests statement, Thompson, Robert O. Green, Philip G. Brodrick and K. Dana Chadwick said they are participants in NASA’s EAGLE-VSWIR mission. The other authors reported no competing interests.