Developing and operating complex information technology infrastructure is a key skill essential for the success of sophisticated remote sensing missions and application projects. The Information Technology department (DFD-IT) makes an important contribution by providing software and systems engineering, systems operations and quality management. The focus is on providing basic services central to the achievements of diverse projects and departments:
The department assumes responsibility for the development, integration and systems operation of the entire order management process and product flow, from data reception to delivery, for national satellite projects. It also performs functions required in common by the entire ground segment, such as IT engineering for subsystems and quality management. TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X and EnMAP are current examples illustrating this role in satellite missions.
The Data Information and Management System (DIMS), originally developed for national missions, is now also being used in other ground segments and data centers, for example at seven European Space Agency (ESA) locations. This development is a consequence of participation in international projects and is being realized together with a development partner, Werum Software & Systems. In the context of cooperation with EUMETSAT, the European Organization for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, the Earth Observation Center (EOC) provides ozone maps with the help of DIMS technology. The systems are characterized by near-real-time functionality and high availability.
In the area of crisis and environmental information systems, the team is involved in various projects to devise modular, configurable systems and carry out the systems integration. Project examples are the German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System (GITEWS) with a focus on decision support relating to early warning, and the WISDOM (Mekong delta) and CAWA (central Asia) projects in the water information management sphere.
The core topics addressed by the Information Technology team follow common development lines in order to create sustainable systems solutions. In this development work, special attention is paid to abstraction, generalization and reuse.