Team: System Engineering and Integration
A Team of the International Ground Segment (BI)
The staff of the System Engineering and Integration team are responsible for a wide range of tasks in the payload ground segment of several satellite missions, including TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X and EnMAP. They work as the “glue and binder” between scientists who develop a variety of imaging algorithms and those software engineers who realize the institute’s multimission IT infrastructure. The team comprises system engineers and software engineers as well as application specialists.
Processing System Integration
One major task is the integration of different application- and instrument-specific data processors into processing systems - hardware and software - and, in turn, into the multimission Data Information Management System (DIMS) for long-term archiving. This task also includes the development and fine tuning of rule-based processing workflows. These systems vary from simple data decryption at antenna receiving stations over data ingestion into robot libraries up to complex image processing chains throughout large server clusters. The deployment and maintenance of the different processing systems are also frequently performed by the team members, sometimes in very remote areas. Additionally, the archive structure for a few data products is also designed by the team.
System Engineering
Our integration engineers decisively contribute to the design of the request and data workflows in the EnMAP and TanDEM-X payload ground segments. This also includes defining the internal and external interfaces to other segments. Furthermore, the EnMAP payload ground segment is being managed by a team member.
Software Engineering
Besides the prototyping of several simple software tools to speed up daily work, the team also develops the Production Monitoring and Control subsystem, which generates graphical production progress reports of the current state of the TanDEM-X planning and processing chain. To remotely supervise multiple receiving stations, some parts of the Station Monitoring, Control and Scheduling subsystem are also realized by a team member.
System Operation
Some specially trained team members operate the processing chains of several PAF-/PAC projects, such as the OzoneSAF, MODIS(-EFFIS) and SOLEMI/SESK. Another colleague provides crucial support to the in-house system operation of the ESA Multi-Mission Infrastructure Facility (MMFI). Additionally, a certified specialist performs the tasking control of IKONOS acquisitions.
Facility Monitoring
In addition to this work, the team maintains a facility monitoring and warning system which autonomously supervises numerous aspects of the different processing systems. Once alarmed, the team is able to solve many kinds of service anomalies, including those caused by hardware.