Some more completed projects

AHEAD (09/2020 – 12/2022)

The transport of humanitarian goods poses serious problems for NGOs. The drivers of aid transports are exposed to risks from muggings, animal attacks and diseases like malaria or Ebola. In addition, the affected regions often lack sufficient infrastructure for transport, for example in the rough and flood-prone areas of southern Sudan. In the AHEAD project, special off-road vehicles will be teleoperated that can move in terrain that cannot be reached by boats or trucks only.

AquaMar (04/2010 - 04/2013)

Marine Water Quality Services (AquaMar) is a research and development project which began in 2010 and is part of the EU’s 7th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development. It has the goal of improving existing products specifically for Europe’s coastal waters, as well as developing new ones.

BOSS4GMES ( – 2009)

Within BOSS4GMES (Building Operational Sustainable Services for GMES; B4G for short) three fast track services (Land Monitoring, Maritime Information, Emergency Response) serve as a test case to support the operational provision of GMES services from 2008 onwards. B4G prepares the technical, managerial and contractual baselines of these services in the transition to an operational phase and introduces GMES users to these services.

CCVS (12/2020 – 12/2022)

The benefits of the large and ever-growing volume of satellite observations and the data products derived from operational services depends crucially on the correct calibration of the instruments and the validation of the products. Routine calibration and validation tasks are required to enable the comparability of satellite measurements. These tasks are carried out at different times and in different locations of various instruments to facilitate cross-validation with other types of measurements.

CLIMB (2010 – 2013)

According to current climate projections, Mediterranean countries are at high risk for an even pronounced susceptibility to changes in the hydrological budget and extremes. The strategy of CLIMB - Climate Induced Changes on the Hydrology of Mediterranean Basins - is aiming to employ and integrate advanced field monitoring techniques, remote sensing analyses and retrievals, climate models auditing and integrated hydrologic modeling and socioeconomic factor assessment in a new conceptual framework to significantly reduce existing uncertainties in climate change impact analysis.

COASTMAP (03/2016 – 03/2019)

CoastMap is concerned with the development of remote sensing-based methods to support landing operations. For this purpose, mainly hyperspectral data and LiDAR data will be used. Target parameters are the determination of the depth of coastal waters, the extraction of a seamless topography in the transition land-sea as well as the determination and evaluation of the land cover (vegetation, soils, rocks) with regard to their navigability.

DeCOVER 2 (2009 - 2011)

DeCover delivers geoinformation services to generate and update geo-related status and planning information concerning land cover. Toward this end, this joint project develops innovative and cost effective methodologies making use of earth observation and various other data sources to generate land cover information. The aim of DeCover is to support governmental agencies and offices in their need for land cover information. The consortia has 11 partners in Germany and is managed by the EFTAS Fernerkundung Technologietransfer GmbH. DFD is associated partner in the project and supports developments in the areas of nature protection and SAR geocoding. Project Schedule: Phase I: January 2006 - June 2008 Phase II: 2009 - 2011

Dykes under Pressure - Technical and ecological vulnerability and resilience of dyke landscapes (11/2014 – 10/2017)

11/2014 - 10/2017 Within the project “Dykes under Pressure“, methods for analyzing the data of the Sentinel-1/2 and national satellite missions (TerraSAR-X, RapidEye) will be developed, enabling optimized and synergetic use of these systems to monitor technical and ecological vulnerability and resilience of dyke landscapes.

DeMarine Security (02/2008 - 01/2011)

02/2008 - 01/2011 DeMarine Security is one of Germany’s national GMES interface projects. DeMarine Security focuses on the development of satellite based services and demonstrations to improve the surveillance of the maritime environment and specifically to improve the security of ship routes and ship based transport. EOC contributes to this project its expertise in SAR data and its near-real-time data acquisition capabilities in Neustrelitz.

DeMarine Environment (02/2008 - 01/2011)

DeMarine is a German interface project financed by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and complementing other European projects with similar maritime concerns. The focus is on representing German interests in GMES and developing an appropriate national infrastructure toward this end. The project has two parts, which are in turn further subdivided into several subprojects addressing various issues. DLR heads the DeMarine subproject “Coastal Water Quality” to develop improved methods and products for the North and Baltic Seas for incorporation in a new generation of data processors.

DeMarine Safety (02/2008 - 01/2011)

DeMarine is a German interface project financed by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology and complementing other European projects with similar maritime concerns. The focus is on representing German interests in GMES and developing an appropriate national infrastructure toward this end. The project has two parts, which are in turn further subdivided into several subprojects addressing various issues. DLR heads the DeMarine subproject PaRol, which is concerned with investigating dangerous, unstable ship conditions caused by wind and waves. By providing a component related to ship detection using satellites, DLR also participates in the ShipDetec subproject led by OHB Bremen.

DeSecure DeSecure (2007 – 2010)

The DeSecure project was initiated by the DLR Space Agency. Its aim is to support satellite based crisis information for users in the German government. The entire production cycle (from data reception, pre-processing and information extraction to data delivery) is being analyzed and improved. Another focus is the integration of German mission data such as from TerraSAR-X and RapidEye in this production cycle. Beyond the generation of satellite-based crisis information the use of RapidEye data in science is being supported.

DITAC (01/2012 - 11/2014)

The EU FP7 project „Disaster Training Curriculum – DITAC“ aims to develop a holistic and highly structured curriculum for first responders and strategic crisis managers dealing with national and international disasters. We will develop a standardized, comprehensive and efficient EU-wide approach to crises and disasters to feature the added value by EU coordinated actions in the field of crisis response. The Curriculum will improve the preparedness and availability of trained personnel by providing a common language, common objectives and common tools leading to better results in the protection and assistance of people confronted with large-scale crises.

DNICast (10/2013 - 9/2017)

The efficient operation of concentrating solar technologies requires reliable forecasts of the incident irradiance. DNIcast will focus on nowcasting strategies by using sky cameras, satellites for cloud and aerosol monitoring and nowcasting, and numerical weather prediction schemes. DFD will contribute its forecasting experience and enhance its methods to the nowcasting range of the upcoming hour.

Dragon-3: East Asian Monsoon & Air Quality (2012 - 2016)

2012 - 2016 Dragon 3 is a cooperative program between ESA and MOST with the objective to promote the exploitation of ESA and Chinese EO data. This shall foster Sino-European collaborations in support of science and application developments. It succeeds the meanwhile accomplished programs Dragon 1 (2003-2008) and Dragon 2 (2008-2012). Among its wide portfolio of themes the topic ‘East Asian Monsoon and Air Quality’ is of particular concern for MF-ATP.

DRIVER (09/2017 – 04/2020)

There are many types of disasters, both man-made and natural, that crisis management (CM) professionals have to deal with today. DRIVER is a unique multi-national project, working across many sectors, looking to find ways to implement a new approach to improving crisis management in Europe. DRIVER is achieving this by establishing a distributed European test-bed for crisis management capability development with proven evaluation methodologies. DRIVER aims to assess and validate innovative, yet practical, crisis management solutions that work, that have been tried and tested, and above all are used for, and by, emergency practitioners.

EGSIEM (2015 – 2018)

The project EGSIEM (European Gravity Service for Improved Emergency Management), which is funded by the Horizon2020 Framework Program for Research and Innovation of the European Union, aims at using gravity field analysis for forecasting and mapping of hydrological extremes like large-scale draughts and flood events. Observations of the redistribution of environmental mass in the Earth system (hydrology, ice, ocean and atmosphere) are not part of the inventory of EO data products to date, although they constitute a new and unique remote sensing opportunity.

GlobalCDA 1 (06/2018 – 06/2021)

The global distribution of freshwater resources and their dynamics exerts an important influence on atmospheric processes, ecosystems, and biochemical cycles. The goal of the GlobalCDA (Global Calibration and Data Assimilation) project is to gain a better understanding of the global freshwater system by linking geodetic and remote sensing-based information with modeling using calibration and data assimilation approaches.

GMOSAIC

The pre-operational security service of GMES is currently provided through the FP7 project G-MOSAIC and the FP6 project LIMES. These two projects, which combine Earth observation technologies with communication and positioning technologies, address security-relevant domains.

G-NEXT (01/2013 – 06/2015)

The Copernicus (former GMES) FP 7 project G-NEXT builds on the work performed in precursor GMES security and emergency projects like G-MOSAIC, LIMES and SAFER. It aims at providing geospatial products for supporting users of the GMES Security domain in managing situations of complex crises caused by man-made or natural disasters. Such support to the crisis management ranges from pre-crisis or prevention (contingency plans, reference mapping), to the phase soon after the event (event mapping, crisis area mapping, critical assets), and finally to the post event phase (damage assessment and monitoring mode) in general.

G-SEXTANT (01/2013 – 12/2014)

G-SEXTANT is an FP 7 project within the Copernicus (formerly GMES) framework. The goal is to develop a portfolio of earth observation products and services which first of all meet the needs of the European External Action Service for geospatial information. The focus is on developing options for pre-operational services in defined contexts (such as humanitarian aid, or natural resources in conflict regions), adapting products to meet user requirements, and developing a standardized product portfolio.

G-DAT DE (01/2020 – 10/2020)

The G-DAT DE project is concerned with evaluating the potential of remote sensing data and methodologies to support ongoing monitoring of the building and townscape inventory in Germany. In addition to surveying new or improved building and settlement-related features, practical and implementation aspects like cost-benefit ratios and the updating capabilities of the evaluation procedures and measurement methods play a key role.

Geoland (01/2004 - 04/2007)

01/2004 - 04/2007 Geoland was a project in the 6th framework research program, financed as an integrated project running from 2004 to 2006. The aim of the Geoland consortia (56 partners from industry, research and user organizations) was the development and demonstration of reliable and cost effective geoinformation services to support the implementation of European, international and national directives and laws protecting the environment. Geoland focused on environment related issues such as monitoring land use and vegetation, water quality, nature protection, the Kyoto process, and food security. Geloand encompasses 9 subprojects, 3 regional and 3 global observatories, all of which are supported by a basic geoinformation service and an operational scenario. DFD was a partner in the “Observatory for Nature Protection,” supporting users with geoinformation services at regional and local levels in the performance of their monitoring and reporting duties, e.g. for the FFH directive.

GIONET (01/2011 - 12/2014)

GIONET (GMES Initial Operations - Network for Earth Observation Research Training) will create a European Centre of Excellence in the training of early stage researchers in the Earth Observation to provide skilled personnel for the emerging GMES land monitoring services during the GMES Initial Operations period (2011-2013) and beyond.

GITEWS (2005 – 2011)

2005-2011 The German concept for establishing a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean makes use of various types of measuring instruments (sensors). In about 90% of all cases a tsunami is caused by an earthquake; other causes are volcanic eruptions and slope collapse. The goal is to obtain the earliest possible indication of a tsunami and its extent by evaluating the measured values of various parameters.

GMOSS - Global Monitoring for Security and Stability (03/2004 – 03/2008)

As a network of excellence, GMOSS (Global Monitoring for Security and Stability) supported research and technology for civil security in the framework of GMES. The aim of GMOSS was to integrate European research and development in earth observation in this context. GMOSS has enlarged the basis of knowledge and expertise, thus enabling Europe to use its capacities for efficient monitoring in support of civil security and humanitarian aid.

GrassAM (09/2020 – 11/2021)

Grassland occupies about 40% of the land area of Armenia. Grasslands and pastures are vital resources for livestock production, have great importance due to multiple ecosystem services and are important for biodiversity conservation․ These areas are threatened by progressive soil erosion and degradation due to overgrazing. Moreover, holistic approaches to sustainable and biodiversity-friendly use of natural resources are urgently needed in Armenia. Therefore, an integrated management approach is important for decision-making processes, based on reliable data that allow spatio-temporal characterization of Armenian grasslands.

GSE Forest Monitoring (10/2005 - 10/2008)

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.

GSE Land (10/2005 - 09/2008)

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

Hochaufgelöste Landkartierung für Energie (01/2016 – 12/2018)

The development of renewable energies is one of the most important challenges of the 21st century. Of central importance are the evaluation of land potentials, the determination of suitable sites, the consideration of environmental parameters, the balancing of utilization interests, and the recording of trends and impacts on landscape design. To collect such data, satellite remote sensing has become a successful tool over the last two decades.

KAZUZ (....)

KAZUZ (Remote-sensing-based Technologies and Models for Sustainable Water- and Land-use Concepts in Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan) is a preparatory project supported by the international office of the German Ministry of Education and Research. The project goal is to establish an interdisciplinary and international team of Kazakh, Uzbek and German scientists and to develop for a test region an innovative project idea for a possible major research initiative. The focus is on feasibility studies relating to remote-sensing-based applications and to modeling the evolution of ecosystems in the area of Lake Balkhash.

LIMES (12/2006 – 05/2010)

The purpose of the LIMES (Land/Sea Integrated Monitoring for European Security) project is to specify and develop prototype information services based on satellite technologies in support of security management at European and global levels. DLR coordinates the “Humanitarian Aid and Reconstruction” cluster and participates in the development of innovative earth observation technologies.

MACC-II (11/2011 - 08/2014)

Within Europe’s family of GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) projects, MACC-II (Monitoring Atmospheric Composition and Climate, phase 2) deals with the atmosphere. DLR is in charge of the MACC solar radiation service and the interface to MACC-II users. Furthermore, DLR contributes satellite-based information on stratospheric ozone chemistry, tropospheric trace gases and aerosols.

MARCOAST (11/2005 - 11/2008)

11/2005 - 11/2008 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)

MARISS

11/2005 - 9/2006 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 continued for three additional years with significant participation by the Earth Observation Center (EOC).

MARISS (2008-2011)

European Maritime Security Services MARISS is a project financed by ESA for the purpose of establishing consistent and sustainable European maritime safety services to monitor marine borders and shipping. It was developed to meet relevant requirements of European and local users and integrates both earth observation and in-situ data 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.

MyOcean (01/2009-04/2012)

MyOcean aims at defining and setting up a concerted and integrated pan-European capacity for ocean monitoring and forecasting. MyOcean is the next step toward the operational GMES marine service after many marine-related projects funded by European institutions such as POLAR VIEW, ECOOP, MARCOAST, MERSEA, ... DLR is supporting German entities involved in MyOcean thru its participation in National Projects such as DeMarine

NADINE (2005 - 2009)

2005 – 2009 The destructive power of extreme natural events is causing more and more material damage and loss of life. As the number of natural disasters increases globally, coordinated disaster management becomes more important. During recent years, several research centers within the Helmholtz Association have gained extensive expertise in the field of disaster management. Linked via the Natural Disaster Networking Platform (NaDiNe), this expertise will be provided to a larger number of users beyond the realm of science institutions.

NextGEOSS (11/2016 – 11/2020 )

Essential Biodiversity Variables (EBVs) which can potentially be derived using Earth Observation (Remote Sensing-enabled EBVs – RS-EBVs) have been selected, prioritized and specified by SKIDMORE et al., 2015 and PETTORELLI et al., 2016. Within these RS-EBVs, the fractional vegetation cover, especially when split into the classes of vital photosynthetically active vegetation (PV), dry or dead non-photosynthetically active vegetation (NPV) and bare soil (BS), directly provides valuable information regarding Ecosystem Structure (land cover, distribution of vegetation patches and fragmentation), also contributing to the Ecosystem Function (above-ground biomass) and other EBVs.

OrPHEuS (2013 - 2016)

Orpheus (Optimizing Hybrid Energy Grids for Smart Cities) elaborates a hybrid energy network control system for smart cities. Implementing cooperative local grid and inter-grid control strategies in two cities (Ulm, Germany and Skelleftea, Sweden) by enabling simultaneous optimization of the multiple energy grids including thermal, gas and power grids. DFD contributes as energy meteorologists to the project by analyzing the test sites in Ulm (Germany) and Skelleftea (Sweden) and by using our Demmin measurement site for sub-pixel/-grid variability quantification.

PROMOTE (1999 - )

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.

PROTECTS PROTECTS (2011 – 2014)

In 2005, the establishment of core elements of a tsunami early warning system for the Indian Ocean with emphasis on Indonesia started within the framework of the GITEWS (German-Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System) project. In this project, an early warning system was designed under the lead management of GFZ and a consortium of German research institutions (AWI, DLR, GVW, GEOMAR, KDM, BGR, UNU-EHS and GIZ). The system was handed over to Indonesia on 29 March, 2011. The structure of the system follows a so-called end-to-end approach, considering the whole warning chain from the detection of a natural disaster via decision support and warning dissemination, up to training and education of the local population as well as disaster preparedness.

ResGrow (2013 – 2014)

ResGrow deals with the expansion of the use for EO based information services for renewable energies (solar, wind, wave/tide, biomass, hydro). We investigate the use of cloud physical parameter statistics from geostationary satellites (MSG) and the APOLLO retrieval scheme for a more sophisticated solar energy site characterization. Additionally, a review of biomass information usage potentials is foreseen.

RESPOND (2006 – 2009)

RESPOND is one of twelve ESA GMES Service Elements concerned with the routine exploitation of earth observation technology. It addresses the topic of humanitarian aid and has the goal of establishing an open European service partnership for basic map products, crisis analysis and disaster monitoring.

Riceman (....)

The project goal is to monitor rice growing areas in the Mekong delta with a focus on identifying and recording cultivated areas and agricultural systems (2 – 3 crop cycles per year) and estimating biomass levels. Based on this data, models are to be developed and validated which make it possible to estimate harvest yield. The necessary field data are gathered concurrently with satellite overflights. The assessments are primarily based on dual-polarized data from the radar sensors TerraSAR-X Stripmap and ASAR Alternating Polarization Precision (APP) C-band. For more information see the link to the project description (PDF file in german).

RISK-EOS (11/1999 – ...)

11/1999- RISK-EOS is a GMES Service Element designed to provide disaster-relevant information on European fires and floods. A number of service providers support all phases of disaster management: prevention, early warning, the immediate disaster, and postcrisis assessment.

SAR-HQ (03/2007 – 07/2010)

The purpose of SAR-HQ is to develop methodologies specifically designed for mapping floods and assessing damage by studying and improving the usefulness of high resolution X-band radar data. Since floods are usually accompanied by widespread cloud cover, SAR remote sensing platforms, which operate independently of the weather situation, are particularly suitable for rapidly and cost effectively obtaining information on flooded areas at reliable repetition intervals.

SASSCAL (2012 – 2018)

SASSCAL (Southern Africa Science Service Centre for Climate Change and Adaptive Land-use) is a joint initiative of Angola, Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Zambia, and Germany, responding to the challenges of global change and is foreseen as the regional driver for innovation and knowledge exchange to enhance adaptive land use and sustainable economic development in Southern Africa under global change conditions.