DLR - Earth Observation Center - ESA - Ground Service Elements

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ESA - Ground Service Elements

For the following GMES Service Elements (GSE) of ESA, the institutes of the Earth Observation Center (EOC) have teamed up with European partners. If an extension is not explicitly mentioned, all ESA Service Elements ended in 2009.

GSE Forest Monitoring

GSE Forest Monitoring (GSE FM), which focuses on monitoring wooded areas, is an international consortium led by the Gesellschaft für Angewandte Fernerkundung (GAF AG). In this context, DFD provides a service for the Schleswig-Holstein State Office of Nature and the Environment. Based on satellite data from the Indian IRS-P6 and the French Spot-5 satellites, forest classification is being carried out for all of Schleswig-Holstein. In addition, changes in wooded areas between 1990 and 2005 are recorded. For a selected county, forest type and natural age classes are also being mapped with the help of high spatial resolution IKONOS satellite data. In 2009 the project was renewed for three years.

RESPOND

RESPOND focuses on humanitarian aid. An open European service partnership is being established to provide basic map products, crisis analyses and disaster monitoring.

RISK-EOS

RISK-EOS is a GMES Service Element providing disaster-relevant information for major European fires and floods. Various service providers support all phases of disaster management: prevention, early warning, emergencies and postcrisis assessment.

TerraFirma

TerraFirma is an information service which measures ground and building movement with the help of radar satellite data. Many natural and human-related processes can cause these movements, which range from millimeters to meters. Such movement can, for example, damage important infrastructure or pose a risk of flooding, resulting in high costs. The service is first focusing on measuring ground displacement in European urban areas and in the future will also expand services to include other risk areas like slope collapse and earthquake zones. The Earth Observation Center (EOC) of DFD is a service provider producing data products on this type of movement on a routine basis. IMF contributes to the quality assurance efforts of the TerraFirma consortium and develops and validates new methodologies. The project was extended in 2009 for three years.

Promote

PROtocol MOniToring for the GMES Service Element: Atmosphere
The international PROMOTE consortium offers end users (public authorities and the public) targeted information products on the state of the atmosphere. The topics air quality, solar ultraviolet radiation, stratospheric ozone and greenhouse gases are covered.

MARISS

European Maritime Security Services
MARISS has the goal of planning and preparing to establish within GMES consistent and sustainable European maritime safety services. Relevant requirements of European and local users are met, and earth observation data, coastal and satellite AIS (Automated Identification System) signals and in-situ data are integrated to provide monitoring functions for European coasts and seas. Services also include watching for illegal trade, fishing, and immigration (boat people) in the waters of the European Union. The MARISS project was extended in 2008/09 to include a “bridging” phase. For this phase DFD contributed its real-time capabilities for data reception and processing in Neustrelitz, and IMF its in-house developed processors for automated ship detection. From 2010 MARISS will continue for three additional years with significant participation by the Earth Observation Center (EOC).

MARCOAST

Marine & Coastal Environmental Information Services
As part of MarCoast, routine services to monitor the maritime environment in all European waters are being provided. The consortium includes some 40 partners and is led by Alcatel Alenia Space of France. Users are the European Commission (specifically the European Environmental Agency EEA) and various institutions in all European coastal countries. The purpose of the service is to support the monitoring of maritime environmental conventions such as OSPAR and HELCOM.
Services cover the following main areas: oil pollution detection, monitoring and drift forecasting; monitoring and assessing water quality; and detecting and predicting the spreading of algal blooms.
German participants other than DLR are Brockmann Consult and the Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency (BSH)
• Marcoast Newsletter
• DLR Project Website

GSE-Land

GSE Land Information Service is a European consortium led by Infoterra GmbH Deutschland. It unites the three ESA GSE projects SAGE, GMES Urban Services (GUS) and CoastWatch (land portion) from the first GSE phase and offers a joint product portfolio comprised of mapping and geoinformation services. GSE Land supports the GMES priorities "Land Cover Change in Europe" and "Environmental Stress in Europe."
Together with other European partners, DFD has submitted an Extension Proposal entitled GSE-Nature (Nature Protection Services). The plan is to provide satellite-assisted services to support the EU Habitats Directive (Council Directive 92/43/EEC on the Conservation of Natural Habitats and of Wild Fauna and Flora) and nature conservation for the Schleswig-Holstein State Office of Nature and the Environment and the Brandenburg State Environmental Office.
Duration: October 2005 – September 2007
Sponsored by the European Space Agency