TerraSAR-X is able to produce image data with a resolution of down to one metre. By 2013, TerraSAR-X will have mapped the complete surface of the Earth alongside its twin satellite TanDEM-X. Here you will find some of the most spectacular images obtained with this satellite.
TerraSAR-X records new high-quality X-band radar images of the entire planet - independently of weather conditions, cloud cover or daylight.
Even before TanDEM-X joins TerraSAR-X, there will be plenty of tense and exciting moments. This mission blog is coming to you from the launch site in Baikonur, and the Mission Control Center in Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany.
The instruments on Germany's hyperspectral Earth observation satellite, EnMAP, will observe the sunlight reflected back from Earth across a range of wavelengths from the visible to the near-infrared. This will make it possible to accurately study the condition of Earth's surface, and the changes affecting it.
2153 mirrors twist and turn at DLR Experimental Solar Thermal Power Plant in Jülich, directing sunlight onto a 22-square-metre receiver. TerraSAR-X, the German radar satellite operated by DLR, can also detect the mirrors as they follow the Sun – from more than 500 kilometres above Earth.
Clouds, darkness, rain – the radar 'vision' of TerraSAR-X is unaffected by these conditions. Dark and light areas contrast clearly in this image, acquired by the German Aerospace Center's (DLR) TerraSAR-X satellite.
Researchers at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have been instrumental in the preparation of a report by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) regarding the development of the ozone layer in the stratosphere. Based on estimates, by about the mid 21st century, the ozone layer will have the same thickness as it had in the early eighties.