TerraSAR-X - Picture gallery

9 January 2008

TerraSAR-X – Germany's radar eye in space supplies its images in any weather

On June 15 2007, the German Earth observation satellite TerraSAR-X was shot into space from the Russian cosmodrome Baikonur on a Russian-Ukrainian Dnepr-1 rocket. Within a record four days after the launch, its first images were received and processed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

TerraSAR-X will fly around Earth for five years at an altitude of about 514 kilometres, scanning the surface of our planet with radar without regard to weather, cloud and daylight conditions. The satellite has several image settings at its disposal which, resembling the action of a zoom lens, either afford a view of a relatively large area (the so-called ScanSAR mode) or show many details in smaller segments called SpotLight images. The StripMap mode represents a compromise between wider coverage and higher definition.

From now on, TerraSAR-X will provide new opportunities to observe and monitor changes in the state of the land and water surfaces of our Earth and its polar regions .

England - TerraSAR-X shows flooding

Larsen Ice Shelf, Antarctica – radar satellite materially improves the quality of forecasts of glacier calving, large ice floes and icebergs

Nördlinger Ries in the Swabian Jura – radar data for agriculture

Mato Grosso, Brazil – radar documents logging in the Central Brazilian rainforest

Oberpfaffenhofen, Germany – a multi-temporal image of the surroundings of the DLR Oberpfaffenhofen facility

Hiddensee, Germany – multipolarisation shows differences in land use as well as processes above and on the water

A copper mine in Chuquicamata, Atacama Desert, Chile – The largest hole in the ground ever dug by humans seen through radar's eye

Mount Merapi, Indonesia – Detection of very small movements of Earth’s surface to monitor volcanic activity and protect the local population

Sydney, Australia – Radar data to assist coastal zone protection and shipping

The Pyramids of Giza, Egypt- Radar image data for archaeology and for detecting structures below the sand

Straight of Gibraltar

Italy – Automatic speed control of moving objects using the Doppler effect

Las Vegas, USA – First TerraSAR-X DEM

Guelb er Richat, Mauritania – radar data show extremely shallow ring structures on the surface

Mount Egmont (Taranaki) New Zealand- Radar image data to determine land use for agriculture and tourism