The European Space Agency (ESA) and FMI have established the Arctic-Boreal satellite calibration/validation supersite in the FMI Arctic Space Centre in Sodankylä, Finland in 2025. The Supersite focuses on three science themes: Arctic-Boreal forest ecosystem, Hydrology and seasonal snow, and Greenhouse gases and atmospheric composition and aims to develop methods and data products for satellite cal/val using ground-based and airborne measurements. The existing data sets are distributed to end-users via the LITDB service, but during the project both the data sets and the distribution service will be upgraded. In addition, the Supersite provides testbed services for industry and offers campaign facilities for visiting researchers.
FMI partners with Finnish industry in developing the satellite calibration/validation and testbed capabilities of the Supersite. Project partners are CGI, Harp Technologies, Huld, Kelluu, Kuva Space and Vaisala.
Awards
Supersite was selected to the Data Economy Spotlight 2026 list as “a testbed for space era industry with a data heritage of 100 years.”
Recent activities
Kelluu did the first flights with their airship over the Supersite area using lidar and photogrammetric equipment to provide digital surface models of the area during the winter 2025-26. Digital 3D mapping in different snow conditions and in different phases of the growing season helps in understanding snow distribution and conditions, forest structure and phenology. At the moment we are integrating FMI sensors into Kelluu airship to enable monitoring large areas, comparable to satellite pixel scale. Future airship campaigns will address e.g. spatial variability of atmospheric conditions using the Vaisala GMP343 sensor. These flights will enable defining the spatial representativity of the tower sites with continuous measurements and provide repeated snapshots of conditions around the Supersite around the year.
Supersite provides a testbed for Vaisala GMP343 CO2 sensors and a flux measurement service provided by Vaisala. Eight first-generation CO2 sensors are mounted over a large area in Sodankylä, also including anthropogenic and water-body environments, as well as proximity to reference measurements. We will test the instruments’ stability and precision and outdoor exposure performance, and contribute to the design and further testing of the next-generation sensors.
A joint measurement campaign with Kuva Space focusing on hyperspectral measurements of boreal forest with hand-held, airborne and spaceborne sensors took place in August 2026 in Sodankylä. In collaboration with Kuva Space we study the hyperspectral properties of snow cover and boreal forests with field campaigns and continuous measurements to further develop the calibration and validation of hyperspectral satellite data.
Supersite launch event was arranged in April 2026 together with the SpacEconomy project stakeholder event in Sodankylä to bring together Finnish space industry and key actors interested in the space sector.
Future plans
The first phase focused on mapping the needs for future EO cal/val and gaps in current Supersite instrumentation to fill these needs. In the second phase since May 2026, we develop the Supersite measurement infrastructure and data systems, arrange measurement campaigns and develop data products.
Later in the project, we will develop a formal service framework for testbed services and other users of the Supersite.
For more information, contact PI Hannakaisa Lindqvist or co-PI Anna Kontu.
Supersite news
2026/09/23 Research meets industry at Supersite: Kelluu collaboration (LinkedIn)
2026/05/28 Supersite selected to Data Economy Spotlight 2026 list
2026/05/07 ESA advancing Supersite development
2026/05/04 Supersite launch event
2026/01/21/ End-user questionnaire open
2025/06/30/ Sodankylä Supersite contract signed
2025/02/13/ ESA-FMI Arctic-Boreal EO Supersite launched
