Under the VEGA-lead Instrument Data quality Evaluation and Analysis Service (IDEAS) consortium, the Sensor Performance Product and Algorithm (SPPA) service is provided for the MERIS, MODIS, SeaWiFS & Landsat instruments to the European Space Agency (ESA).

The IDEAS SPPA Teams at ARGANS are supported by instrument experts; for MERIS, MODIS & SeaWiFS, and Landsat, these are Ludovic Bourg (ACRI-ST), Samantha Lavender (ARGANS Ltd) and Sebastien Saunier (Gael Consultant) respectively.

The role of the SPPA Team is to perform a variety of QC activities including analysis and checking of products, long loop sensor analysis, software and hardware update validations, general monitoring of product catalogues, and support to User forums and FAQs.

Significant activities carried out by the SPPA Teams include:

• Validation of the updated Level 0 generation software for MERIS allowing Near-Real-Time processing of Full Resolution data over Africa;
• Advising Ground Stations with regard to acquisition and processing parameters to improve product quality for MODIS Aqua/Terra and SeaWiFS;
• Generation and Validation of the new Lifetime Model (LTM) in-flight radiometric calibration for Landsat 5 TM.