2007

December 20, 2007

"The Eye of the Sky" Exhibition

From March 29, 2007 to December 2, 2007, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Gasometer Oberhausen GmbH are presenting the exhibition "The Eye of the Sky". 58 large-format satellite images of the Earth and other exhibits from Earth remote sensing can be seen in the Gasometer in Oberhausen, the highest exhibition hall in Europe. All the images in the exhibition are unique and have been made available by DLR and its partners. This is the first time the pictures have been put together in this form.

December 4, 2007

Successful Launch of Calibration Laboratory

IMF has set-up a new laboratory for calibration of imaging spectrometers. This Europe-wide unique facility was co-funded by ESA to establish a ‚Calibration Homebase’ (CHB) for the airborne hyperspectral sensor APEX, which is currently under development. In November 2007 APEX was for the first time in the CHB to characterise the instrument and to test the computer controlled measurement procedures. CHB demonstrated that it is well-prepared for its upcoming tasks.

November 21, 2007

ZKI produces maps of affected regions after tropical cyclone 'Sidr' in Bangladesh

During the night from November 15 and 16, 2007, tropical cyclone 'Sidr' swept over the the southwestern part of Bangladesh, leaving behind a trail of destruction. With wind speeds of up to 240 km/h at the coast and up to 160 km/h at the capital Dhaka, Sidr forced three million people to flee from their homes in 15 coastal districts of Bangladesh.

November 07, 2007

ZKI maps flooding in Mexico with high-resolution radar satellite TerraSAR-X

In early November 2007, heavy rainfalls lasting for a whole week led to devastating floods in the Mexican states of Tabasco and Chiapas, displacing about one million people, which is approximately half of Tabasco's overall population. About 80% of the state of Tabasco's surface (overall area: 25,000 km²) has been temporarily flooded. The region around the city of Villahermosa with its population of approximately 600.000 was hit most by the floods.

November 6, 2007

German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) is on a good track

Within the frame of today’s International Steering Committee Meeting of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and the Indonesian State Ministry of Research and Technology (RISTEK) the newly developed Decision Support System (DSS) was presented.

UN-Büro für schnelle Hilfe bei Katastrophen mit starker DLR-Unterstützung eröffnet

29. Oktober 2007 Wenn es bei Katastrophen wie Erdbeben, Überschwemmungen oder Vulkanausbrüchen um schnelle Hilfe geht, sind satellitengestützte Informationen über das Krisengebiet von unschätzbarem Wert. Um diese noch schneller als bisher zur Verfügung zu stellen, haben heute die Vereinten Nationen (UN) in Bonn ein spezielles Büro mit starker Unterstützung des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) eröffnet.

October 15, 2007

DFD co-coordinates the 2nd European Emergency Exercise GNEX’07

The German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) of DLR is managing the second European wide exercise of the Network of Excellence GMOSS on the use of satellite imagery for supporting civil security crisis response capacities. The exercise involves more than 15 GMOSS contractors, associated partners and end-users and will last from October 15th to 18th. First results will be presented to the European Commission on October 19th.

October 10, 2007

GMES Atmosphere

DLR-DFD provides an ensemble forecast of air pollutant concentrations for all of Europe up to 72 hours. This service is part of the GMES Service Element PROMOTE funded by the European Space Agency. The service is realised in collaboration with L'Institut National de l'Environnement Industriel et des Risques (F), Meteo-France (F) and the Rhenish Institute for Environmental Research (D).

October 08, 2007

PV 2007 International Conference

After three very successful events, PV 2002 at CNES in Toulouse, France, PV 2004 at ESA/ESRIN in Frascati, Italy and PV 2005 at DCC in Edinburgh, UK, the conference series continues with PV 2007 addressing prospects in the domain of scientific and technical data preservation and value adding. The Conference will be held in October 9 – 11 at the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD).

October 05, 2007

Initial measurements from GOME-2: No substantial recovery in the ozone hole

Every year in the southern hemisphere spring, a considerable chemical reduction in ozone is observed in the lower and middle stratosphere, which extends from 10 to 15 kilometres high. The term "ozone hole" was coined to describe this phenomenon. Its expansion shows strong annual progression. Its size has varied considerably over the years, but the ozone layer shows no signs of overall recovery. This was the discovery of scientists from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) when they analysed data from the EUMETSAT MetOp Earth monitoring satellite.

October 3, 2007

Inauguration of the receiving station in Chetumal

On October 2, 2007, a new satellite data receiving station of DLR's German Remote Sensing Data Center in Chetumal/Yucatan, Mexico, was inaugurated by the President of Mexico, President Felipe Calderon, the Mexican Minister of the Environment and the Governor of Quintana Roo.

August 27, 2007

Forest fires in southern Europe, August 2007

In 2007, southeastern Europe was affected by the worst wildfires for decades. Conditioned by extrem heat since middle of August 2007, large natural or man-made fires started. After the end of August, Greece was the most affected country. The fires killed at least 60 people. It was expected that the death toll rises, since many villages were still trapped by the fires. The Peleponnes peninsula was affected most. Following the devastating situation, the Greek government had declared the nation-wide state of emergency. In the meantime, the Greek emergency services were supported by international forces. 13 fire-fighting airplanes and helicopters were deployed - including three German helicopters.

August 09,2007

Fires on the Canary Islands, August 2007

The islands of Tenerife and Gran Canaria of the Canary Islands (Spain) were affected by some of the worst forest fires in the history of Spain. The fires forced more than 10.000 people to temporarily leave their homes, some of which were destroyed by the fires. The Spanish Government and the Monitoring and Information Centre (MIC) of the European Commission triggered the International Charter Space and Major Disasters to estimate the damaged area based on satellite data.

August 09, 2007

TerraSAR-X - Germany's radar eye in space

TerraSAR-X is a German Earth-observation satellite. Its primary payload is an X-band radar sensor with a range of different modes of operation, allowing it to record images with different swath widths, resolutions and polarisations. TerraSAR-X thus offers space-based observation capabilities that were previously unavailable. The objective of the mission is to provide value-added SAR (Synthetic Aperture Radar) data in the X-band, for research and development purposes as well as scientific and commercial applications.

July 26, 2007

Flood in the United Kingdom, July 2007

Following the severe flooding that had affected the central and northern parts of England in the end of June and the beginning of July 2007, the south-west of England and Wales had been hit by severe weather again, with flooding affecting thousands of homes and leaving many without water and electricity. The areas worst affected included the counties of Gloucestershire, Oxfordshire and Berkshire, Hereford and Worcestershire.

July 17, 2007

Virtual Institute "Environmental Research Station Schneefernerhaus"

DLR contribution to temperature measurements in the upper mesosphere 17 July 2007 On 17 July 2007 principal representatives of the research institutions associated in the Schneefernerhaus Environmental Research Station (UFS) met on the Zugspitze mountain. With the participation of Sigmar Gabriel, Germany’s Minister of the Environment, and state secretary Dr. Otmar Bernhard of Bavaria’s State Ministry of Environment, Health and Consumer Protection, future cooperation in atmospheric and climate research was initiated by the institutions involved. In this consortium, DFD contributes the ground-based infrared spectrometer GRIPS 3, which delivers precise measurement of temperatures in the upper mesosphere at some 80-90 km altitude.

July 06,2007

Flood in England and Wales, England July 2007

Heavy rainstorms caused by an extraordinary weather situation led to major floodings in parts of the UK. During June 2007, a large low-pressure area coming from the Atlantic Ocean was trapped over Wales and England. The highest precipitation rates measured over the last decade were recorded at a number of meteorological stations in Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and the Midlands

June 21, 2007

TerraSAR-X exceeds all expectations: German radar satellite sends first data in record time

Scientists and commercial users are flabbergasted and only the most optimistic of engineers could have expected it, but just four days after the launch of the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X from Baikonur, brilliant first satellite images have been received.

June 15, 2007

TerraSAR-X - German radar satellite launch successful

The successful launch of the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X on Friday 15 June 2007 at 08:14 local time (04:14 CEST) from the Russian Cosmodrome in Baikonur (Kazakhstan) represents the start of a new level of quality in the mapping of Earth. Over the next five years, new and high-quality radar images of our planet's surface will be collected.

May 28, 2007

NDMC Kick-off

The kick-off meeting for the new international Network for the Detection of Mesopause Change, NDMC, took place from May 14-18, 2007 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen under the patronage of the Bavarian State Ministry of the Environment, Public Health and Consumer Protection. 46 groups of scientists from currently 12 nations are contributing to the observation of climate development with ground-based measurements at more than 50 locations around the world. Further objectives are satellite validation, technology development and the investigation of a variety of basic scientific questions. The NDMC initiative was founded by DLR-DFD; NDMC is coordinated jointly by DFD and the Argentinian CONICET. With measurements from the GRIPS 3 infrared spectrometer from the Schneefernerhaus on the Zugspitze, DFD is also actively involved in NDMC with its own measurements. In addition, the WDC-RSAT, which is based at DFD, forms the communication and information platform for the NDMC.

May 02, 2007

Switch to NOAA-18 for AVHRR data products

Since 1 April 2007, AVHRR data from NOAA-18 have been used by DFD to generate such products as vegetation indices (NDVI), land surface temperatures (LST) and sea surface temperatures (SST) for Europe. This switchover from NOAA-17 data assures the continuation of a product time series now extending over ten years. As an example, the image at the link below show a synthesis of European vegetation indices for the week of 8-15 April 2007.

March 29, 2007

"The Eye of the Sky" Exhibition

From March 29 to December 2, 2007, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Gasometer Oberhausen GmbH are presenting "The Eye of the Sky" ("Das Auge des Himmels"). This exhibition of 58 large-format images of Earth as well as other remote sensing displays can be seen at the Gasometer in Oberhausen, one of Europe's most unusual and lofty exhibition facilities. All the images on display were especially prepared by DLR's German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) and Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF) and are being shown for the first time in this constellation.

March 06, 2007

New European weather satellite MetOp measures ozone and nitrogen dioxide concentrations with high precision— a meteorological first

MetOp-A (Meteorological Operational Satellite), launched in October 2006, is improving weather forecasting in the three-day period. The satellite has an instrument than can measure ozone content as well as the concentration of trace chemicals, thereby determining air quality. This instrument, a spectrometer called GOME-2 (Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment), is being currently tested for full functionality during its first operational phase; it has already transmitted its first dataset, which is presently being evaluated.

February 28, 2007

"Kunstwerk Erde", An exhibition at Place Schumann in Brussels 7 March – 6 April 2007

Between March 7 and April 6 in Brussels, the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres and DLR will be displaying satellite images from the German Remote Sensing Data Center, the Remote Sensing Technology Institute and other partners on screens up to 12 square meters in size. At this large exhibit, both the general public and members of parliament will have an opportunity to inform themselves about the potential and use of satellite data for earth observation. These large format images in glowing colors convey an out of the ordinary impression of deserts, glaciers, volcanos and cities. They suggest the kinds of information satellite data is able to provide to a variety a of scientific disciplines and what contribution they can accordingly make to investigations of the earth and the environment. After being shown in Germany, in locations such as Bremen, Munich, Karlsruhe and Berlin, this newly revised and enlarged exhibit will now be presented to an international public.

February 16, 2007

TerraSAR-X is ready for transportation to Baikonur

1End of January an international review board declared the ground segment and the satellite TerraSAR-X as ready for mission. The transportation to the launch site onboard of a Antonov 124- the world biggest transportation aircraft - will be carried out later this month. After arrival the launch preparation phase will be started, conducted by teams of EADS Astrium and DLR. The launch is expected for end of March or begin of April this year. Copyright © 2024 German Aerospace Center (DLR). All rights reserved.

January 29, 2007

Successful conclusion to evaluation of Applied Remote Sensing Cluster

Between January 23 and 25, 2007, the scientific competence and strategic positioning of the institutes composing DLR’s Applied Remote Sensing Cluster were analyzed by an international group of evaluators seven years after its founding. Over three days, the 13 experts in the group, representing the scientific, public and private sectors, had an opportunity to inform themselves in some detail about the work of the cluster.