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Prof. Dr. Stefan Dech
Director DFD, Weßling

Dr.-Ing. Peter Haschberger
Acting Co-Director IMF, Weßling

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Reinartz
Acting Co-Director IMF, Weßling

Earth Observation Center – For Earth into Space

EOC conducts research in the field of remote sensing. We seek answers to urgent social questions relating to the environment and climate, mobility and planning, prevention and management of natural catastrophes, and civil security. We operate satellite data receiving stations in Germany and abroad. In the German Satellite Data Archive (D-SDA) we safeguard data and information products long-term and make them available to users. EOC comprises the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) and the Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), at work in Oberpfaffenhofen, Neustrelitz, Berlin-Adlershof and the Maritime Safety Research Department in Bremen.

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DLR mission CO2Image - focusing on the climate

21 June 2022
Climate change represents one of the greatest challenges of our time. A significant reduction in the emission of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane is required to limit the temperature increase. Satellites can continuously and impartially monitor progress in the struggle against global warming. In particular, the monitoring of power plants, industrial facilities and coal mines is crucial since they emit large quantities of these harmful greenhouse gases. However, until now the spatial resolution of the available instruments was inadequate for detecting the contributions made by the individual actors responsible.

German radar satellite TerraSAR-X – 15 years in space and still in perfect shape

14 June 2022
Fifteen years – who would have thought it? The German radar satellite TerraSAR-X, which was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 08:14 local time on 15 June 2007, was originally designed to last five and a half years – until the end of 2012. It has been delivering data of outstanding quality ever since, regardless of weather conditions, cloud cover and daylight levels. The scientific mission for TerraSAR-X and the satellite itself are operated by the German Aerospace Center

EOC scientists receive DLR Science Price 2021

30 May 2022
Dr. Homa Ansari, Dr. Francesco de Zan and Mr. Alessandro Parizzi were awarded the DLR-Science Price 2021 for their work, “Study of Systematic Bias in Measuring Surface Deformation with SAR Interferometry”, which was published in 2020 in IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing. The outstanding scientific and technological achievements of these researchers at EOC could thereby be honoured.

EOC technologies for the new European Ground Motion Service

25 May 2022
The first products of the new European Ground Motion Service (EGMS), an EU-financed Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, have been published. The IWAP interferometry processor developed at EOC computes highly precise ground motion maps from radar satellite data. After assessing years of time series and correcting for atmospheric effects, Earth’s ground displacement can be determined down to the millimetre. The DLR processor has been used since 2017, also for the ground movement service of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR).

Analysis of traffic-caused pollutant emissions using EOC satellite data

11 May 2022
Traffic emissions endanger our health. Especially at heavy traffic locations, nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and particulate matter limits are often exceeded. EOC researchers and partners have therefore derived from satellite data ground concentrations of these air pollutants in the S-VELD project and analysed their sources and temporal distribution.

DLR data shows where people are at risk from
natural disasters

10 May 2022
In cooperation with the World Bank, African settlements with more than 10,000 inhabitants have been recorded from space. Earth observation data help to identify critical developments and better prepare cities for natural hazards. The German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) has linked its World Settlement Footprint (WSF) products with other databases. Machine learning methods help to process the enormous amounts of data. Focus: Space, digitalisation, security, Earth observation, climate change, Big Data, artificial intelligence.

EOC scientist receives Helmholtz Prize for Doctorate

02 May 2022
EOC scientist Dr. Celia Baumhoer was one of the six participants at the Helmholtz spring reception on April 28, 2022 in Berlin who were awarded a Helmholtz Prize for her doctoral dissertation. In her work Ms. Baumhoer analysed the ice dynamics in the Antarctic and developed methodologies for the automated derivation of glacier and ice shelf fronts.

German EnMAP environmental satellite delivers first images

04 May 2022
The German Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) satellite, which is managed by the German Space Agency at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) in Bonn on behalf of the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), has spent roughly one month in space since its launch on 1 April 2022. It has now delivered its first high-resolution satellite images. Following the successful completion of the mission’s the Launch and Early Orbit Phase, the individual subsystems of the highly complex hyperspectral instrument were put into operation piece by piece under the control of the German Space Operations Center (GSOC). EnMAP has now imaged a strip approximately 30 kilometres wide and 180 kilometres long over Istanbul on the Bosporus, Turkey, where Europe meets Asia and sent the data down to Earth via the DLR ground station in Neustrelitz.

	300 000 visitors - EOC earth sculpture 07 April 2022 Six months after the exhibition opened, over 300,000 visitors had already seen the huge EOC Earth sculpture at Gasometer Oberhausen. The Earth sculpture is the highlight of an exhibition entitled “A Fragile Paradise”.
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Burn Scar Monitoring for Europe: New Products available in EOC’s Geoservice

05 April 2022
Forest fires play a crucial role for ecosystems, threaten human lives and infrastructure, and contribute to climate change. Monitoring them is especially important. Now a new EOC dataset is available for the purpose. It shows those areas in Europe, that fell victim to flames: detected fully automatically, within just two hours after recording by the Sentinel-3 Copernicus satellite.

	German satellite EnMAP launches successfully 01 April 2022 At 18:24 CEST on 1 April (12:24 local time), the first German-developed hyperspectral satellite (EnMAP) successfully launched on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida.
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	Launch of the Hyperspectral Satellite EnMAP 31 March 2022 The German hyperspectral satellite EnMAP is scheduled for launch on Friday April 1 at 18:24 Central European Summer Time from Cape Canaveral, Florida. SpaceX has now confirmed the launch. EOC is responsible for data reception and processing. Be there live for the launch.
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Global SnowPack available from EOC Geoservice

29 March 2022
Global snow cover is an important parameter of water availability on our planet. It not only influences flora and fauna, agriculture and tourism, but also the stability of glacier and permafrost regions worldwide, not to mention Earth’s radiant energy balance. Global SnowPack presents the evidence daily and globally, and is now available to the public in an expanded version.

AI Forecasts and Simulates Air Pollution with EOC Satellite Data

28 March 2022
Air pollution is one of the world‘s largest threats to health. Air quality control measures not only protect people and the environment; they also have economic advantages. A system developed with EOC participation now provides decision makers involved in transport, urban and environmental planning in the pilot regions of Stuttgart and North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) with an information basis for the well-directed planning of counteracting measures.

Desert Sand Over Germany

15 March 2022
People in Spain, France and southern Germany witnessed a striking weather phenomenon. Desert sand spread northward thanks to a prominent low pressure zone over the northwest African coast that gave the heavens a muddy orange tint. Such occurrences are not unusual, but measurements from satellites and ground-based instruments indicate that this phenomenon is becoming more frequent.

Shipwreck of the “Endurance” Found – Safe Navigation Thanks to Satellite Data

10 March 2022
More than one hundred years ago the Endurance sank in the Antarctic, enclosed and crushed by pack ice. The crew survived and the superhuman rescue operation turned the expedition of the polar researcher Ernest Shackleton into a legend. Now the wreck has been located with support from the German Aerospace Center (DLR). DLR generated TerraSAR-X satellite images that supported safe navigation in the ice covered Weddell sea. The DLR researchers on board the search vessel also studied the characteristics of sea ice in order to improve navigation in polar regions.

Black Carbon – Blanket of Soot on the White Continent

09 March 2022
For 200 years, the Antarctic has been a goal of explorers, researchers and, finally, even tourists. The Antarctic Peninsula is one of the first points of contact because of its relatively easy accessibility, and up to today it is one of the most frequented regions of the white continent.
That is not without consequences. Despite strict environmental obligations, human activity there has left its traces. A current study in which EOC is also participating was able to verify for large areas the presence of soot from local emissions in the snow of the Antarctic Peninsula. This barely visible grey blanket furthers summertime melting processes.

German environmental satellite EnMAP has arrived safely in the USA

02. March 2022
The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) satellite, the first hyperspectral satellite developed and built in Germany, landed safely at NASA's spaceport in Florida on 27 February 2022 at 13:05 local time (19:05 CET). It is now being prepared for flight and integrated onto a Falcon 9 rocket inside the hangar of the US space company SpaceX. EnMAP is expected to set off for its target orbit at the beginning of April 2022. The hyperspectral satellite is expected to collect data on the state of our home planet for at least five years.

DFD Global WaterPack now in EOC geoservice

24 February 2022
The existence of surface water and its accessibility play a prominent role for people and the environment. On the one hand flooding threatens people and infrastructure.
On the other hand water scarcity endangers life, food security and the economy, especially in the arid regions of our planet. With Global WaterPack (GWP) EOC provides important information about the spatial and temporal distribution of surface water, both for scientists and for economic and political decision makers.

	EOC scientists support the icebreaker mission Endurance22 21 February 2022 Endurance22 is in search of Sir Ernest Shackleton's ship, which was crushed by pack ice during an Antarctic expedition in 1915 and sank in the Weddell Sea. Today, radar data helps navigate through the ice and so a radar expert from the EOC is also on board the icebreaker and reports on his work in a DLR blog.
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Concern about German forests

18 February 2022
Healthy trees have a dense crown. But a walk through the forest reveals that the green canopy is generally quite sparse. In recent years more and more deforested areas have become evident. Forests are our green lungs, create habitats for a diverse world of flora and fauna, provide timber, and protect against floods and slope collapse. How large is the loss caused by forest die-off and tree removal? Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are addressing this question with the help of satellite earth observation data.

EnMAP will see our Earth in more than just colour

02 February 2022
The Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) satellite, the first hyperspectral satellite developed and built in Germany, is still in a clean room in Bremen. The final tasks are being carried out and the spacecraft is on the 'home straight'. If everything goes according to plan, the new satellite will be transported to NASA's spaceport in Florida by an Ilyushin Il-76 transport aircraft at the end of February 2022. From there, EnMAP is expected to set off for its destination orbit in early April 2022 on board a SpaceX Falcon 9 launcher. The hyperspectral satellite will collect data on the state of our home planet for at least five years.

Obituary Rudolf Winter

21 January 2022
We are deeply grieved at the death of our former DFD colleague and long-term department head, Hon.-Prof. Dr Rudolf Winter.
After first working at the then Institute of Telecommunications Engineering, in 1980 Rudolf Winter became the first head of the Remote Sensing Applications department in the just established Scientific-Technical Division, “Applied Data Technology” (WT-DA).

Sulphur dioxide cloud from "Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha‘apai"

19 January 2022
On Saturday, January 15, 2022 the volcano "Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha‘apai" on the island state of Tonga erupted in a powerful explosion at around 5:15 Central European Time. Enormous amounts of sulphur dioxide (SO2), almost 0.4 Mt, were ejected in the process and distributed over a large part of the atmosphere. Since that time the Sentinel-5P (S5P) measurements operationally processed at EOC continue recording the subsequent volcanic emissions.

Hunga Tonga Hunga: sound that reveals tsunami

18 January 2022
On Saturday, Jan. 15, 2022 at 5:15 o’clock Central European Time an enormous explosion caused by the submarine volcano Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha‘apai profoundly shocked the South Pacific island state of Tonga. The detonation could even be heard in New Zealand, over 2,300 kilometres away. In Oberpfaffenhofen, Bavaria, EOC measuring instruments also recorded the volcano’s shock wave, which spread over the entire planet at a velocity of more than 1,000 kilometres per hour. Tidal waves followed, extending as far as the coasts of South America. Research underway at EOC has the goal to provide early warning of tsunami.

Wolf spews sulphur

12 January 2022
Wolf volcano on the island of Isabela, which is one of the Galápagos islands, erupted last Friday (January 7, 2022). The data from Europe’s Copernicus satellite Sentinel-5P that were processed by EOC show significant sulphur dioxide emissions (up to 9,000 tons) at altitudes up to 4 km coming from the eruption. The SO2 cloud is currently spreading westward over the Pacific Ocean. The volcano is the highest summit on Isabela island and the highest mountain of the Galápagos islands. Among other animals, very rare, rose-coloured iguanas, of which only a few specimens exist, live on the slopes of this volcano.

UrbanSens wins DLR Copernicus Masters Prize

15 December 2021
A team of students from the University of Würzburg's international Eagle master's program has won this year's DLR Copernicus Masters Challenge. With their UrbanSens concept, the prize winners aim to provide better living conditions in cities by deriving high-resolution information on temperature and air quality, among other things, from satellite data and making it available to the general public.
Hot summers and poor air quality are already claiming many lives in major European cities. The proposed application therefore convinced the jury members from the Bavarian State Office for the Environment, Stadtwerke München, BayWa, the University of Environmental Medicine Augsburg, ESA and DLR.

Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S) re-commissions EOC

18 November 2021
An EOC-led consortium of 15 European partners was commissioned by the Copernicus Climate Change Service to generate for two-and-a-half more years time series of data on atmospheric ozone, aerosol particles and the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide and methane. This satellite-collected data allows systematic, global monitoring as well as regional comparisons.

	Global Sentinel-1 flood service launched for Copernicus 12. November 2021 Flood disasters require rapid intervention by crisis response teams and rapid information about affected areas. This is now provided by a freely available flood service developed for the European Commission in a consortium with the participation of the EOC.
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Dr. Pablo d'Angelo receives Manfred Fuchs Innovation Award

12. November 2021
On November 11, 2021, the Society of Friends of DLR (GvF) awarded the Manfred Fuchs Prize to Dr. Pablo d'Angelo from the EOC. The DLR scientist earned the GvF award with his innovative development and continuous improvement of the "CATENA Multistereo" processor and its commercially successful use in industry for over 10 years.

View from space - this is how cities develop

11 November 2021
55 percent of people worldwide live in cities. By 2050, that figure could rise to 68 percent, the UN estimates. So cities will continue to grow - sometimes rapidly and unplanned: This can lead to greater vulnerability to disasters, or to problems in the supply of water, raw materials and energy. To better understand how cities expand, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the European Space Agency (ESA), in collaboration with the Google Earth Engine team, have compiled the world's most detailed dataset on human settlements: The World Settlement Footprint (WSF) has several focal points - two of which were released during the UN Climate Change Conference COP 26.

	In Memory of Dr. Rupert Haydn We greatly lament the loss of a business partner of many years, a pioneer of earth observation, and an admirable person with whom we shared more than just professional matters, Dr Rupert Haydn.
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Exercise and UAV flight campaign in Ahrtal as part of the AIFER project

22./23. October 2021
On October 22/23, 2021 an exercise and flight campaign with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) has been coordinated jointly by the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK), Department Rettungsdienst – Sicherheitsforschung and the German Aerospace Center (DLR) – Center for satellite-based crisis information (ZKI) in the Ahrtal region.

EOC gives Infrared Spectrometer Training to AWI Staff Overwintering at Neumayer

21. October 2021
Since 2013 the Earth Observation Center has jointly operated an Antarctic measurement station together with the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI) to record the temperature of the atmosphere at 90 kilometres altitude. In order to extend this valuable series of local measurements also under the most hostile environmental conditions, an overwintering AWI staff member is once again being trained in the use of a DLR instrument.

	Mach mit bei der #AI4FoodSecurity Challenge! 19 October 2021 # AI4FoodSecurity competition brings together participants from around the world to find the best machine learning and AI solutions to identify crops based on Planet Fusion data and Sentinel-1 and 2 data. Participation is possible until December 19, 2021. Contact: Andres.CameroUnzueta (at) dlr.de
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Volcanic eruption of "Cumbre Vieja" on La Palma

27 September 2021
On Sunday, September 19 at 15.12 o’clock local time (14:12 UTC), Cumbre Vieja, a volcano located in El Paso municipality on the Canary Island of La Palma, Spain, started to erupt. As soon as eruption began, Europe’s Sentinel-5 Precursor (S5P) satellite detected and recorded the resulting sulphur dioxide (SO₂) cloud forming over the islands The S5P measurements are continuously processed at EOC and thereby constantly reveal the volcanic emissions as they evolve.

BLOG: Flight campaign on the Aletsch Glacier

21 September 2021
The Aletsch Glacier is a glacier of superlatives. With a length of over 22 kilometers and a thickness of up to 900 meters, it is the largest glacier in the Alps. One fifth of the total ice mass in Switzerland is stored by the Aletsch Glacier alone. Of course, climate change is not leaving the Aletsch Glacier unscathed. How has snow cover changed in the Aletsch-Jungfrau region in recent decades? How much mass does the glacier lose per year? For two weeks at the beginning of September, a DLR team will use high-resolution aerial images and various satellite sensors to get to the bottom of these and other questions as part of the Polar Monitor project.

What’s the Latest on the Ozone Layer?

20 September 2021
On September 16, 1987, 34 years ago, the governments of the world signed the Montreal Protocol to protect the ozone layer and banned the use of ozone-destroying substances like CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons) worldwide. On the initiative of the United Nations, since 1995 September 16 has been declared International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer. That is reason enough to look at the current state of the ozone layer.

Award for special commitment to the operation of the German Antarctic Station GARS O'Higgins

15 September 2021
Dipl.-Ing. Ruslan Artemenko has successfully served as campaign and station manager of the German Antarctic Station GARS O'Higgins for many years. Even under the particularly difficult conditions during the pandemic in 2020, he managed a campaign on site lasting several months, during which important work on technological upgrading took place in addition to the operation of the station. Due to his outstanding commitment under the most difficult conditions, DLR has expressed its thanks and appreciation to him. On November 19, Institute Director Prof. Stefan Dech and Department Head Dr. Erhard Diedrich presented a certificate on behalf of DLR, signed also by the Chairman of the DLR Executive Board, Prof. Anke Kaysser-Pyzalla.

ZKI receives high award “Badge of Honour for German Aerospace” from DGLR

03 September 2021
On April 1, 2004 the German Remote Sensing Data Center founded an innovative service in the Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI). Since that time, ZKI has decisively contributed in a variety of ways to the employment and establishment of remote sensing in the sphere of state and public administration in Germany, Europe and internationally. ZKI has now been awarded the “Badge of Honour for German Aerospace” for its “outstanding achievements in the use of earth observation data in support of crisis management after natural disasters and in humanitarian aid globally” by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DGLR).

	Flight campaign on the Aletsch Glacier 31 August 2021 EOC and DLR’s Institute of Optical Sensor Systems (OS) have started a flight campaign over the Aletsch Glacier in Switzerland as part of the “Polar Monitor” project. This campaign makes it possible to test various technologies and methodologies for cryosphere research.
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EOC contribution to the IPCC Sixth Assessment Report

18 August 2021
The United Nations’ climate change report of “Working Group I” recently published with nearly 4,000 pages is massive and clearly state "it is unequivocal that human influence has warmed the atmosphere, oceans and land".
The science behind the report is based on Earth observation data and climate models. Satellite data provide global information on key climate measurements, so called Essential Climate Variables, (ECVs), that allow us to measure and monitor different aspects of the climate system. EOC provides a number of ECVs, in particular homogenized data records of ozone derived from different European satellite sensors since 1995.

RESA RELOADED – high-resolution optical satellite data for German research projects

17 August 2021
The RapidEye Science Archive (RESA) has become operational at DLR’s Earth Observation Center (EOC) as part of the German Satellite Data Archive (D-SDA). About 60,000 high-resolution satellite scenes from the RapidEye, PlanetScope and Skysat missions ordered by RESA project users since 2009 have already been loaded into the new data collection. Future plans include the possibility for new additions through “calls for science”.

	DFD at the symposium "Climate Change and Health" with Minister of State for Health and Care Klaus Holetschek 10 August 2021 DLR's German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) presented the potential of Earth observation for monitoring our environment at the symposium "Climate Change and Health - How Climate Change Affects Our Health and What We Can Do", organised by the Center for Climate Resilience.
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Planetary waves – when the climate machinery breaks down

28 July 2021
EOC analyses confirm that the number of extreme heat episodes in our latitudes has approximately doubled, perhaps even tripled, in the past 30 years. Extreme weather conditions have arisen in rapid succession in recent years, like the heat waves of 2018 and 2019, or the heavy rains in 2020 and 2021. Such extreme events are on the one hand related to rising temperatures on our planet. On the other hand there are also hints that the airstream patterns in our atmosphere are changing. EOC scientists are investigating how these processes interconnect.

Storms and heavy rain cause floods in Western Germany

15 July 2021
Storms and prolonged heavy rain caused numerous floods and associated damage in western Germany. Locations in North Rhine-Westphalia and Rhineland-Palatinate are particularly affected. Several rivers and streams have burst their banks, roads have been flooded and cellars have been filled. Numerous buildings and infrastructures were destroyed in the course of the storms. Currently, more than 40 people have lost their lives and others are still missing.

Artificial intelligence in agriculture – competition launched

08 July 2021
Agriculture is a crucial factor in climate change. It is not only a cause, but at the same time also massively affected by such changes. Adaption in the agricultural sector is vital. The project ‘Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation’ (AI4EO) has announced a competition to obtain with AI methodology more precise agriculture data based on data from Europe’s Sentinel satellites.

Digital seeing aid for Sentinel-1 satellites

28 June 2021
EOC researchers have developed for ESA a correction procedure for the radar satellites of the European Sentinel-1 mission. With this methodology the geographic location of satellite measurements can be determined with significantly more accuracy. Every pixel can be localized on the ground with a precision of a few centimetres instead of a few metres.

Service informs about health risks from climate change and air pollution

22 June 2021
On June 11, 2021 the “Safety Future Lab” in Berlin held a workshop on the subject of climate change and public safety. The Safety Future Lab is a demonstration site in Berlin-Mitte operated by the Free University of Berlin and the Public Safety Research Forum in order to improve knowledge transfer and interactions among public policy makers, scientists, local authorities, first responders, end users and aid organisations.

Inuvik Satellite Station Facility has received data from more than 30,000 satellite overpasses in 11 years

10 June 2021
Eleven years ago, the Inuvik antenna of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) commenced operations. Located within the Arctic Circle in the Northwest Territories of Canada, the ground station is well positioned to receive data from the satellites of the German TanDEM-X Earth observation mission. DLR's German Remote Sensing Data Center (Deutsches Fernerkundungsdatenzentrum; DFD) celebrated the anniversary together with the Canada Centre for Mapping and Earth Observation (CCMEO) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) on 10 June 2021.

Large-scale deforestation in Germany

02 June 2021
Germany’s forests are in poor condition historically. Especially drought, storms and pests have given them a heavy blow during the past years. Researchers at EOC are analysing time series from Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 satellites to document forest loss since 2018 in monthly intervals. The first results for selected regions show that deforestation activities have clearly accelerated since 2018 and continues in full swing.

	Nocturnal lights as an indicator of subsidy policy 12 May 2021 EOC researchers participated in a study by the Bertelsmann Stiftung to investigate the use of satellite measurements of nocturnal light emissions to determine the effect of European subsidies in small-scale, structurally-weak regions.
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	Register now! 1st DESIS user workshop from 28th of September to 1st of October 2021 The 1st DESIS User Workshop will be held from Tuesday, 28th of September to Friday, 1st of October 2021. Workshop attendance is free, open and fully online.
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EOC researchers successful in a TV-format spin-off competition

06 May 2021
EOC satellite data show how much the ozone layer can vary also over Europe when ozone-poor air masses from equatorial zones reach northern latitudes. People on the ground notice the difference only in the evening when their sunburn starts to hurt. An EOC atmosphere researcher used his knowledge to found a spin-off that tackles the problem. The discovery convinced investors in a well-known German tv spinoff competition to provide venture capital toward its further development.

The search for atmospheric turbulence with artificial intelligence

06 May 2021
Artificial intelligence helps to detect gravity waves in the atmosphere. These break in a similar way to waves on a beach, releasing energy into the atmosphere. To quantify this influence, the EOC analyses images from high-resolution infrared cameras. AI methods help to find those with turbulence from the thousands and thousands of images per night.

Earth observation data for the federal administration

05 May 2021
Earth observation data are used in many areas of public administration - for example in traffic analysis, environmental monitoring or crisis management. The importance of these data is increasing, and at the same time, remote sensing results from space or from the air become more accurate and are available more quickly. The Federal Ministry of the Interior, for Construction and Home Affairs (BMI) has now concluded the IF-Bund framework agreement with the German Aerospace Center (DLR), which is open to all federal authorities. This enables research results from remote sensing to be identified for use in administration and quickly applied in practice.

Innovative solutions sought: Environment, energy and health in the focus of the DLR Challenge

26 April 2021
In the light of global change, pandemics as well as climate change a sustainable management of our planets resources is more important than ever. DLR is looking for innovative solutions to achieve this goal and this year is once again inviting entries for the "DLR Environment, Energy & Health Challenge" as part of the Copernicus Masters ideas competition. Ideas can be submitted as of now, the deadline is July 19, 2021.

"La Soufrière" – EOC monitors distribution of the sulpher dioxide plume

15 April 2021
On Friday, April 9, 2021, "La Soufrière" volcano erupted on the Caribbean island of St. Vincent. Since that time, EOC has been monitoring the spread of volcanic emissions, which in the meantime extend over ten million square kilometres, about the area of Canada. This information helps prevent air traffic from entering an airspace that is potentially dangerous for people and aircraft.

EOC provides technologies for the European Ground Motion Service of the European Environment Agency (EEA)

26 March 2021
An interferometry processor developed at EOC, IWAP, computes high-precision ground motion maps. By analysing time series covering a number of years and correcting for the influence of the atmosphere, the movement of Earth’s surface can be determined with millimetre accuracy. The DLR processor has already been used for the ground motion maps of the Federal Institute for Geosciences and Natural Resources (BGR) and has now been licensed for the new European Ground Motion Service (EGMS).

Congestion on the Suez Canal

26 March 2021
Since Tuesday, 23 March 2021, the 400-metre container ship "Ever Given" has been blocking the Suez Canal, one of the most important waterways in the world. Navigation on the canal had to be stopped. It is likely that the salvage operation will take even longer, with far-reaching consequences for the economy. According to the Federation of German Industries, international logistics turbulence is already noticeable. According to the report, central supply chains are in danger of coming to a standstill due to missing containers, delayed ships and a lack of transport capacity.

From research to application: earth observation workshop on urbanisation in Africa

23 March 2021
Nowhere in the world are higher rates of urbanisation expected than in Africa over the next few decades. Population growth and rural exodus put urban space in short supply and make housing expensive. Informal settlements are the result. EOC researchers and representatives from the science community, public and administrative authorities, and non-government organisations discussed how artificial intelligence and earth observation can help address the impending challenges.

Open Search – an unfiltered access

23. March 2021
Data provide the raw materials for research, innovation and business in the 21st century. Open, unbiased and transparent access to information is therefore a basic prerequisite for the free development of a digital society. The EOC is participating in an initiative that aims to provide an alternative search infrastructure to the large commercial providers.

EOC supports Polarstern in near real time as it circles A74

17 March 2021
With the help of DLR acquisition stations in Antarctica and in Inuvik, Canada, up-to-date TerraSAR-X recordings showing Polarstern’s expedition locale were made available. Scientists used these data on board to plan the circumnavigation of iceberg A74 and the passage between the iceberg and the ice shelf, which is only a few hundred metres wide.

BLOG: 25 Years Robot Archive in Neustrelitz

15. March 2021
Anniversaries briefly interrupt the flow of our fast-paced lives and clear the way for a look back to the past as well as forward to the future. After last year’s major event celebrating 40 Years DFD, in Neustrelitz at least, the 25th anniversary of our robot archive is on the agenda. It is perhaps worth glancing back to that time of ferment when, among other changes, the integration of the Neustrelitz ground station as part of DFD was well advanced, but by no means complete.

Iceberg A74 on the Brunt Ice Shelf

02 March 2021
The breaking off of large icebergs is a recurring spectacle in the Antarctic and is initially part of normal ice dynamics. These events can be especially well monitored with the help of radar satellites because they can keep an eye on the ice surface independently of weather and illumination conditions as well as precisely record spatial dimensions. The most recent calving of Brunt Ice Shelf in the Weddell See was recorded on 27 February 2021 and shows one of the few – and perhaps first-known – major ice breakups on the Brunt Ice Shelf in recent decades.

In Memory of Mohammed El-Kadi

02. März 2021
With great sadness we lament the loss of Mr Mohammed El-Kadi, our business partner of many years. Als Visionär setzte Mohammed El-Kadi früh auf die ersten kommerziellen, höchstauflösenden, optischen Erdbeobachtungssatelliten A far-sighted visionary, at an early stage Mohammed El-Kadi put his hopes on the first commercial, very high resolution, optical earth observation satellites. Nach seinem Erfolg mit Space Imaging Middle East in Dubai, gründete er in München European Space Imaging (EUSI). Hier hatte er mit dem DFD und bei Firmen im Münchner Umfeld kompetente Partner gefunden. After his success with Space Imaging Middle East in Dubai, he founded European Space Imaging (EUSI) in Munich. Here he found competent partners in DFD and commercial firms in the Munich surroundings.

Natural hazards and chain reactions - assessing risks more accurately

01 March 2021
Increasing numbers of people worldwide are being exposed to natural hazards, particularly in densely populated cities and conurbations. In these situations, effective risk management can save lives. Information systems can help planners and emergency services to pre-emptively draw up multi-risk scenarios and to take targeted precautions. For this reason, the RIESGOS 2.0 international project kicked off on 1 March 2021. Under the leadership of the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), the project partners are developing scientific methods and technologies for multi-risk analysis.

	The volcano Etna hinders air traffic 17 February 2021 A pillar of smoke and ash over one kilometre high is currently hindering air traffic in Sicily. Measurements from the Copernicus satellite Sentinel-5P reveal the volcano's sulphur dioxide emissions. The data are processed operationally at EOC and made available to the user community in near real time.
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	High above low in the troposphere: Chaos in the stratosphere 11 February 2021 A thaw in the south, heavy snowfall in the low mountain ranges, a sudden cold spell in northern Germany, not to mention dust from the Sahara. Chaotic conditions also prevail in the stratosphere. An unstable airstream at altitudes of 20-50 kilometres often gives rise to extreme weather conditions also at ground level.
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Crisis management system for natural disasters

09 February 2021
Disasters require the perfect coordination of situation rooms, rapid response teams and public authorities. Major natural disasters, complex danger situations, and cross-border events stretch first responders to their limits. Methodologies and technologies developed In the HEIMDALL project can help those involved to prepare for and effectively manage such scenarios.

	Humanitarian aid with unmanned aerial vehicles and artificial intelligence 08 February 2021 In order to make the use of drones in disaster management safer , the project “Drones4Good” was launched in January. It uses EOC’s AI methodologies to derive information from aerial images collected by drones to support the coordination of local relief efforts.
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DLR supports detection of Cyclone Eloise’s impacts on Eswatini

02 February 2021
Several Southern African countries were hit by Cyclone Eloise, which made landfall near Beira, Mozambique on 23rd of January 2021. Although it mostly dissipated on its path over Southern Africa, several thousands of people are affected by its impacts. Amongst the most affected countries, Eswatini has been struck by strong winds, heavy rainfalls and rising river water levels.

EOC supports with DLR’s Antarctic station new aerial based rocket launch

20 January 2021
The first few minutes after a rocket launch are decisive. Was the intended orbit reached? On behalf of Virgin Orbit, EOC provided support for the take-off of LauncherOne using its ground station in the Antarctic, the German Antarctic Receiving Station GARS O’Higgins. It was that company’s second so-called air launch.

	Is stratospheric warming under way? 18 January 2021 For several days, so-called “sudden stratospheric warming” has been anticipated over the north pole. Within just a few days, air layers at altitudes above 20 kilometres can warm up by as much as 50°C. Processes under way in the stratosphere could also affect winter weather in Europe for several weeks.
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