Woodland and forests from space: visit of a Korean delegation
The diversity of both tree species and ground terrain pose special challenges for the routine mapping of Korea's forests. For that reason, Korea's ambitious earth observation programme is to be expanded by a customized new platform, the Korean Agriculture and Forestry Satellite, KAFoS. Planned for launch in 2023, KAFoS will supply multispectral data with 5 meter ground resolution. A delegation from the Korean Forest Service, the National Korean Institute of Forest Science, and the Korea Forestry Promotion Institute visited DFD as part of their preparation for the mission. They sought from DFD information about the ground segment, data processing, and, particularly, applications relating to forest mapping. DFD scientists presented a selection of their activities that cover a wide range of applications for satellite data in various types of forests and climate zones. Rudolf Seitz of the Bavarian Timber and Forestry Bureau then described the relationship between earth observation capabilities and public responsibilities relating to forest management.
The Delegation concluded its visit with a tour of the German Space Operations Center (GSOC).
DFD already liaises with KARI, the Korean Space Agency, for acquisition of Korean satellite data in Neustrelitz. In a concluding discussion it was agreed to explore the potential for areas of additional cooperation.
