On the track of global change
The TanDEM-X radar satellite heralded a new era in radar remote sensing. Since its launch in 2010, it has been orbiting Earth in close formation with its ‘twin’, TerraSAR-X, which he TanDEM-X radar satellite heralded a new era in radar remote sensing. Since its launch went into orbit three years earlier. Together, they acquire data for elevation models of the entire planet. These models provide an indispensable foundation for commercial applications and scientific research. Earlier elevation models, created from multiple data sources and different survey methods, gave only an approximate, inconsistent or incomplete picture for large parts of the world. The TanDEM-X mission changed this with its Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the entire Earth’s landmass in uniform quality and unprecedented accuracy. But for the DLR researchers, this was just the beginning.
