France and Germany are the two largest member states in the European Space Agency (ESA). The French Space Agency CNES (Centre National d’Etudes Spatiales) and DLR have many common interests in earth observation. On 28 February Dr. Juliette Lambin, head of CNES earth observation programmes, learned about current research and projects at DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen. She was accompanied by Mr. Klaus Schmidt, deputy head of earth observation in the DLR Space Administration Division in Bonn.
Among other topics, Dr. Lambin learned about DLR activities relating to the German-French methane mission MERLIN. DLR colleagues also described the processing chains for obtaining information based on Sentinel data from the Copernicus programme and summarised EOC activities in the field of optical and radar remote sensing. Dr. Lambin was particularly impressed by DLR achievements relating to current and planned radar missions. Before leaving she visited EOC’s Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI).
In addition to an opportunity to become acquainted, the visit of Dr. Lambin helped to intensify German -French relations, particularly in the area of earth observation. Possibilities were discussed for expanding the already-existing good collaboration in many areas between DLR and CNES, as well as between Germany and France.
CNES visits EOC: at centre: Dr. Juliette Lambin, head of CNES earth observation programmes