DLR - Earth Observation Center

Prof. Dr. Stefan Dech
Director DFD, Weßling

Prof. Dr. Richard Bamler
Director IMF, Weßling

Earth Observation Center – For Earth into Space

EOC conducts research in the field of remote sensing. We seek answers to urgent social questions relating to the environment and climate, mobility and planning, prevention and management of natural catastrophes, and civil security. We operate satellite data receiving stations in Germany and abroad. In the German Satellite Data Archive (D-SDA) we safeguard data and information products long-term and make them available to users. EOC comprises the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) and the Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF), at work in Oberpfaffenhofen, Neustrelitz, Berlin-Adlershof and the Maritime Safety Research Department in Bremen.

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MetOp-C takes over: Ozone Monitoring based on GOME-type satellite data at DLR for a quarter of a century

26 May 2020
Watching the animation of the annual reopening of the Ozone hole in the austral spring reminds us to the damage mankind has caused to our planet’s atmosphere through the industrial release of chlorofluorocarbons in the past. This visualization has been created at DLR from a 25 years long European satellite data series from Global Ozone Monitoring Experiment (GOME) type instruments which are hosted in the archives of EOC. The quarter-of-a-century long data-time-series is now continued by a new satellite starting to deliver data.

20 years DEMMIN – A research platform in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania

25 May 2020
The COPERNICUS initiative of the European Union (EU) and the European Space Agency (ESA) is aimed at developing remote-sensing based information products and services. This requires establishing validation sites that provide ground truth data. For 20 years DLR has operated the DEMMIN remote sensing validation site.

Artificial intelligence in earth observation

06 May 2020
In May 2020 three “International Future Labs for Artificial Intelligence”, the outcome of a competition launched by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), will begin work. One of them is the Future Lab ‘Artificial Intelligence for Earth Observation: Reasoning, Uncertainties, Ethics and Beyond’ (AI4EO), led by Munich Technical University (TUM) in collaboration with the DLR Earth Observation Center. It will be concerned with the development of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in earth observation.

Despite weather influence -- corona effect now indisputable

27 April 2020
Some 4 billion people are currently affected by lockdown measures connected with the coronavirus pandemic. It is therefore not surprising that monitoring by Europe's Sentinel 5P satellite reveals a strong decrease in air pollution globally. Especially nitrogen dioxide (NO2) levels are a good indicator of air contamination caused by industrial production and road traffic.

50 Years "Earth Day" - Satellites observe dramatic changes of our earth

22 April 2020
Millions of people took to the streets in the USA on April 22, 1970 - 50 years ago today - to demonstrate against oil spills, environmental pollution, whaling and toxic waste - and in doing so, they launched an initiative that would soon cover the entire globe: The environmental movement that today's "Earth Day" commemorates has left its mark on our civilization - in many cases with essential insights from outer space.

	DLR technologies for humanitarian aid 14 April 2020 Technologies that are developed for space travel have to meet extreme requirements for their task in space: The systems and devices must not only be robust, safe, compact, light and easy to handle, but also function reliably and autonomously.
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Copernicus Masters 2020 launched

07 April 2020
This year's DLR Copernicus Masters Challenge Environment, Energy and Health has started! Ideas and solutions leading to more sustainable management of our earth can be submitted from the beginning of April until the end of June. Especially at times of global change, pandemics and climate change this is more important than ever before. The specific focus of DLR is on managing the environment, natural resources, and the energy economy. In addition, human welfare, the connection between health and environmental factors, and the effects of epidemics are an important topic.

Innovative analyses as possible triggers for a satellite-based recording

03 April 2020
Experimental map products based on heterogeneous data streams like Twitter and media analysis tools
In order to ensure a continuous improvement of satellite-based crisis information, ZKI is involved, i. a. together with the DLR project UKIS, in the research of new applied methods and the development of relevant products for the users in disaster management, humanitarian aid and civil security.

	Relaunch for CODE-DE: The national earth observation portal is launched 01 April 2020 The earth observation portal CODE-DE (Copernicus Data and Exploitation Platform - Germany) has a new face: new interactive applications and data products as well as improved individual user support have been available to users since 1 April 2020.
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Digitisation in agriculture — Field testing DLR technologies

30 March 2020
Remote sensing data can be useful in agriculture for increasing productivity while protecting the environment and biodiversity. In the "AgriSens DEMMIN 4.0 – Remote sensing technologies for digitisation in plant cultivation" project, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) is assessing remote sensing technologies suitable for digitisation applications in the agriculture sector through regional field testing at an experimental site in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern.

Unusual ozone hole over the Artic

25 March 2020
We got used to the fact that an ozone hole appears every year in the Antarctic spring. Due to special meteorological conditions this spring a similar effect is observed over the northern polar region. The ozone hole is caused by the combination of temperatures below -80°C, sunlight, and ozone depleting substances (ODS). In contrast to the Antarctic, the Artic polar vortex in the spring is less stable and the temperatures inside the vortex are relative warm.

BLOG: With Agulhas II into "perennial ice"

Progress report part 1 - 6
It began toward the end of September 2019 in a discussion with Dr. Christine Wesche of the Alfred Wegener Institute (AWI). The idea of using a supply trip by the icebreaker S.A. Agulhas II to the AWI Antarctic station to conduct some research at the same time evolved in a few weeks with the support of DLR, AWI, and not least also my family, into a concrete plan. After the obligatory medical check-up and instruction about environmental protection in the Antarctic we were to head toward South Africa already in mid-January.

5. 5th Symposium of the Virtual Alpine Observatory in Bern

4 - 6 February 2020
On February 4, the fifth symposium of the Virtual Alpine Observatory (VAO) was opened at the University of Bern, Switzerland. Over the following three days, scientists from France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Finland and ESA discussed the impact of climate change on the Alpine region and comparable mountain regions in Europe.

Congratulations, TerraSAR-X, on the 70,000st!

30 January 2020
At Gars O’Higgins in the Antarctic there was good reason to celebrate. The German radar satellite TerraSAR-X orbited the earth for the 70,000th time. Among other places, its data are acquired at the German Gars O’Higgins receiving station that is operated by DLR and the Federal Agency for Cartography and Geodesy and supported year-round by EOC staff.

	MdB Schrodi visits EOC 23 January 2020 Michael Schrodi (SPD), a member of the German parliament, visited DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen on 22 January 2020. His interest in climate protection and climate change also brought him to EOC.
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Smart data for sustainable cities

20 January 2020
Earth observation and artificial intelligence can be used to assist with sustainable development decisions. Some years ago, Earth underwent an epochal change, albeit one that was consciously perceived by only a few of us. For the first time in human history, more people are living in cities than in rural areas. Although this might not seem particularly remarkable at first glance, this change will ultimately affect each and every one of us, whether directly or indirectly – because the future is urban.

	Bremen finance senator visits DLR in Bremen 20 January 2020 Bremen's finance senator, Dietmar Strehl, paid a visit to DLR in Bremen. Scientists at the EOC Maritime Safety and Security Lab informed the senator about the numerous capabilities of radar remote sensing of the oceans.
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New earth observation sensors

15 January 2020
Aerial remote sensing supplements earth observation from space and contributes to the development of new satellite instruments and analytic methodologies. The cameras in use so far at EOC are now being replaced by new, improved instruments. They are available to all DLR scientists and their cooperating partners via the EOC user-service Optical Airborne Remote Sensing (OpAiRS).

Ice pilot: EOC sea ice analyses for maritime navigation in Arctic waters

14 January 2020
Sea ice can be dangerous for ships. If it is shoved together by storms, pressure ridges several metres thick can form, invincible even for icebreakers. EOC is working on methodologies for distinguishing types of sea ice and monitoring their drift to identify where potential pressure ridges could form. For this purpose EOC scientists rely on radar images that provide a picture of the ice situation regardless of cloud cover or polar night. For the analysis near Price Patrick Island in Canada shown here a time series recorded by the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X was used.

	The birth of an iceberg 19 December 2019 Pine Island Glacier in the Antarctic is about to calve along its 35 km long front. The latest TerraSAR-X image shows that a tabular iceberg the size of Frank/Main is coming into being.
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Australian ambassador visits EOC

16 December 2019
The Australian ambassador Lynette Wood paid a visit to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen on 16 December 2019. She was welcomed by Prof. Hansjörg Dittus, executive board member for space research and technology. For years there have been close ties to science and business in Australia, earth observation being one of the fields that play a large role in this relationship.

50 years of satellite data reception at DLR's Neustrelitz site

12 December 2019
50 years after the first successful reception of measurement data, Neustrelitz has developed into an important hub in the network of worldwide receiving stations. Today, more than 17,000 passages pass through the site of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) every year. In 2020, a new antenna will be added to the ground station to make it fit for the future.

Development of the Patagonian Ice Fields reveals the enormous complexity of physical interactions

10 December 2019
The glaciers and ice fields in the South American region of Patagonia have been in retreat since the Little Ice Age between the early 14th century and the mid-19th century. In recent decades, the loss of ice masses associated with tropospheric warming has accelerated. From 2000 to 2016 the Patagonian Ice Fields contributed approximately six percent to the eustatic sea level rise of 0.74 millimetres per year. This represents the average rise in sea levels due to all of the world's glaciers and ice caps – excluding the ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica.

Copernicus Masters winner selected

10 December 2019
This year's Copernicus Master Prize in the DLR Environment, Energy & Health Challenge was awarded last week to the ajuma company, which was founded by EOC staff member Julian Meyer-Arnek. Ajuma plans to monitor personal UV dosage with the help of a portable sensor and a smartphone app. In addition, data from the Sentinel-5 Copernicus satellite will make it possible to take the UV hazard into account when planning outdoor activities.

MOSAiC: DLR is providing the world’s largest and longest polar research expedition with sharp radar vision from space

09. Dezember 2019
The Arctic is a vast expanse of ice and snow covering the Earth’s northernmost latitudes. Climate change has a strong, large-scale impact there, with ramifications that extend across the globe. A warming climate affects ice and water, the ocean currents, the atmosphere and the arctic ecosystem as a whole. Using their specialized expertise in sea ice monitoring, researchers at DLR’s Earth Observation Center (EOC) seek to better understand this interconnected system.

Monthly cloud-free Sentinel-2 mosaics of Germany free-of-charge

06 December 2019
EOC offers access to monthly cloud-free Sentinel-2 mosaics of Germany free-of-charge (Sentinel-2 L3A product). This data product has been consecutively processed since 2017, when Sentinel-2 began operations. A weighted averaging of 46 days of atmospherically corrected individual Sentinel-2 images achieves almost entirely cloud-free coverage.

Disaster management: testing a multi-risk-system demonstrator

02 December 2019
In recent decades people have become increasingly endangered worldwide by natural disasters – especially in densely settled urban areas. In the collaborative research project RIESGOS an interdisciplinary research team together with business partner is developing methods to assess multi-risk situations and their interactions using the example of the particularly endangered Andes region.

	FireBIRD monitors fires in Australia 27 November 2019 On November 9 and November 14 it was possible to monitor the fires in New South Wales, Australia using DLR’s BIROS satellite data. The FireBIRD BIROS sensor has with 320 m a much higher spatial resolution than the standard thermal sensors from MODIS or the Sentinel-3 SLSTR (1 km).
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At the focus of climate change

25 November 2019
On 22 November the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence (ECoE) was launched in Limassol, Cyprus. Over the course of the next seven years it is expected to become a leading digital innovation centre (DIH) for earth observation and geodata. Its purpose is to thoroughly investigate the effects of global change on climate, land use, and society in the eastern Mediterranean, Near East and North Africa. Experts from the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Leibniz Institute for Tropospheric Research (TROPOS) are contributing to the centre's establishment.

	Woodland and forests from space: visit of a Korean delegation 14 November 2019 The diversity of both tree species and ground terrain pose special challenges for the routine mapping of Korea's forests. For that reason, Korea's ambitious earth observation programme is to be expanded by a customized new platform, the Korean Agriculture and Forestry Satellite, KAFoS.
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Energy Minister Christian Pegel visits DLR Neustrelitz

07 November 2019
On 30 October 2019, Christian Pegel (SPD), Minister for Energy, Infrastructure and Digitisation of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, visited the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Neustrelitz. During his tour, Minister Pegel gained an insight into the work of the department of the National Ground Segment. Its core competencies include data reception, the generation and delivery of Earth observation products and the archiving of payload data from national and international remote sensing missions and small scientific satellite missions.

	WFP PRISM team visit to DLR on 28 October 06 November 2019 The WFP (World Food Programme) travelled to Oberpfaffenhofen on 28 October with various experts from the GIS/Remote Sensing sector to discuss joint projects and cooperation in the context of their initiative to set up their own Platform for Real-time Impact and Situation Monitoring.
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EOC delivers application case for German Cloud Gaia-X

29 Oktober 2019
DLR is one of the first research institutions to participate in the development of a concept for a new European cloud and data infrastructure platform GAIA-X. DLR is providing an exciting application case from Earth observation for such a Hyper Scaler. This was announced by the German government at the Digital Summit 2019 in Dortmund.

German radar satellites provide valuable environmental data

23 October 2019
Scientific users from all over the world met at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen to exchange the results obtained from the data at the TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X Science Meetings and to formulate requirements for future remote sensing technologies. More than 100 presentations from 21 to 24 October 2019 revealed the latest state of research.

DESIS data from the ISS now available for science and research!

18 October 2019
EOC can now supply data from the first German imaging spectrometer on board the International Space Station (ISS). The purpose of the related Announcement of Opportunity is to initiate the use of DESIS data for basic and applied research as well as for the development and demonstration of future operational applications. DLR has a limited data contingent that will be made available until the end of the mission free of charge for use in implementing the short proposals approved within the framework of the Announcement of Opportunity.

Earth observation for environment and climate

09 October 2019
Thorsten Glauber, Bavarian State Minister for the Environment and Consumer Protection, returned enthusiastically from the Schneeferner Haus in April. Climate research literally at the highest level: at 2650 metres just below the Zugspitze. What other areas does the German Aerospace Center (DLR) work in, and what is its focus on global change and climate research? This was the question that the Bavarian Environment Minister put to DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen on 8 October 2019.

	Anniversary of German Unification 2019 in Kiel - ZKI supports with remote sensing products 09 October 2019 Together with the DLR Institute for Optical Sensor Systems, the Centre for Satellite Based Crisis Information supported the work of the Federal Police and the State Police on German Unification Day. Various remote sensing products were generated and provided to the security authorities.
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Ministerial Director Dr. Frehse and Dr. Latsch from BMI visit the ZKI

01 October 2019
Ministerial Director Dr. Frehse (Head of Directorate-General H - Community) and Dr. Latsch (Head of Division - Geoinformation) of the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community (BMI) visited the ZKI in the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) on October 1, 2019 to inform themselves about the ongoing work and the practical application of the research work within the operational ZKI services.

Free-of-charge access to atmospherically corrected Sentinel-2 data for Germany

19 September 2019
DLR's Earth Observation Center offers users free-of-charge access to atmospherically corrected Sentinel-2 data with spatial coverage of Germany (time span: the past 12 months). The multispectral data indicate light reflectance from Earth's surface ("Bottom of Atmosphere" Reflectance, Level-2A data product), making it possible to characterise ground cover.

	DRIVER+ Trial "Austria" and IRONORE2019 on 12th to 14th September 2019, Eisenerz/Austria 17 September 2019 To strengthen crisis management, the EU-project DRIVER+ (Driving Innovation in Crisis Management for European Resilience) conducted the fourth Trial, this time in the Eisenerz region (Styria, Austria) from 12 to 14 September 2019.
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The 2019 ozone hole – a sign of recovery?

16 September 2019
September 16 is International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer, an occasion to take a look at its present condition. Although chlorofluorocarbons have been internationally prohibited since the Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987, the chemical compounds remaining in the stratospheric ozone layer continue to break down ozone. However, the ozone hole that forms each year over the Antarctic is surprisingly small in 2019.

DLR presents solutions to protect the population and manage crises

12 September 2019
On 11 September 2019, Prof. Dr Pascale Ehrenfreund, Chairman of the Executive Board of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and Prof Dr Stefan Dech, Director of the German Remote Sensing Data Center of DLR, spoke at a joint information lunch organised by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the German Aerospace Forum (DLR) about DLR's contributions to solving global challenges and protecting the civilian population.

Explosion of a sulfur plant in Iraq – Sentinel-5P detects strong SO2 emission

26 July 2019
On 27 und 28 June the Sentinel-5P (S5P) satellite detected a very strong SO2 cloud in northern Iraq. The source for this strong emission was an explosion in the al-Mishraq sulphur plant located in Hamam al-Alil, south of Mosul. The plant caught fire in the afternoon of 26 June 2019. The TROPOMI spectrometer aboard S5P detected an emission of more than 14 tons of SO2 in the atmosphere.

	Exploration of biological diversity from space 24 July 2019 Scientists from 30 countries have been working for five years on remote sensing methods in the Bavarian Forest National Park. With its data, the EOC is helping to establish an extensive data pool.
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	ZKI visits the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK) regional office in Munich 12 July 2019 A very productive working meeting took place on 10.07.2019 between the representatives of the department rescue service/safety research in the Bavarian Red Cross (BRK) and the colleagues of the ZKI.
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Government Commission "More Security for North Rhine-Westphalia" visits ZKI

12 July 2019
The Government Commission "More Security for North Rhine-Westphalia" headed by Wolfgang Bosbach visited the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen on 8 July 2019 to find out about the security-related technology developed at DLR. The DLR programme coordinator for security research, Dr Dennis Göge, welcomed the representatives of the Commission.

DLR at the "Innovation for Crisis Management (I4CM)"

11 July 2019
This year's "Innovation for Crisis Management (I4CM)" event was held on 12 and 13 June 2019 in Copenhagen. The ZKI presented itself at the "Marketplace of Innovative Solutions" and results and innovative products of the Trial “The Netherlands”, which was organized and conducted in May 2019 with the participation of DLR as part of the DRIVER+ project.

Third EAGLE Summer Dialogue

10 July 2019
On 28 June 2019 the EAGLE Summer Dialogue took place for the third time at the Chair of Remote Sensing at the University of Würzburg. The EAGLE Msc. Program is an international course of studies for applied remote sensing at the University of Würzburg. The program was launched in 2016 in cooperation with the Earth Observation Center (EOC) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR).

	Sentinel-5 Precursor: One volcano and 1,000,000 data packets 05 July 2019 A cloud stretches over the northern hemisphere for several thousands of kilometres. Raikoke volcano, one of Russia's Kuril Islands, hurled a massive plume of gases and ash more than 10 km up into the atmosphere when it erupted on 22 June.
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Vegetation fires in Germany - ZKI supports with up-to-date location maps

02 July 2019
Also the DLR supports the action force in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania. With the help of ZKI-maps the estimation of the recent situation is assisted. Therefore different data sources are used. In addition to several satellite based sensors the Institute of Optical Sensor Systems made aerial photographs of the wild fires near Lübtheen with a special version of an „Modular Aerial Camera System“ (MACS) based on a research aircraft of the Freie Universität Berlin. Additionally, data of the DLR-research satellite mission FireBIRD/TET is used.

HSM User Conference 2019 – Archiving Big Data

11 June 2019
The 2019 HSM (Hierarchical Storage Management) User Conference took place at Ulrichshusen manor from 5 to 7 June. This event brought over 50 experts from Germany, Austria and the USA to the Mecklenburgische Seenplatte, a lake district in northern Germany, to learn first-hand about special software solutions for managing large data archives.

DLR-Symposium "Artificial Intelligence - Made in Germany"

07 June 2019
"Artificial intelligence, AI for short. Research institutions and the business sector have high expectations concerning what KI can mean for innovation and competitiveness in many areas. There are countless ideas about what could become possible with AI" stated Prof. Karsten Lemmer at the beginning of the "Artificial Intelligence - Made in Germany" Symposium on 4 June 2019.

	Another ZKI-DE-user training at Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin 06 June 2019 The Federal Office for Cartography and Geodesy (BKG) and the Center of Satellite based Crisis Information (ZKI) at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) organized together for the third time a user-training on the ZKI-DE Remote Sensing Service for Federal Authorities in Berlin at the 4. and 5. June 2019.
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	Honorary Consul Thyben visits the EOC 29 May 2019 Mr. Gerhard Thyben, Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany in Cali, Colombia, visited DFD on 28 May 2019.
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DLR tests innovative crisis management solutions in The Hague

28 May 2019
From 22 to 23 May 2019, a comprehensive flood scenario was simulated in The Hague as part of the DRIVER+ project. The scientists evaluated five innovative solutions. With the participation of crisis managers from several countries, this was an opportunity to examine innovative solutions for crisis management in Europe. The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) organised the Trial together with the crisis team in The Hague (Safety Region The Hague) and at the same time tested new developments from the Centre for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI) and the "KeepOperational" traffic management system from the Institute of Transportation Systems.

Terra_Byte – Top computing power for researching global change

27 May 2019
One of Europe's largest supercomputing centres – the Leibniz Computer Centre (LRZ) of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences – and Europe's largest space research institution – the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) – will work together to evaluate the vast quantities of data acquired by Earth observation satellites alongside other global data sources, such as social networks, on the state of our planet on a daily basis.

	They're safe here! 17 May 2019 The German Satellite Data Archive (D-SDA) at EOC contains irreplaceable data from current and historic earth observation missions. In order to continue safeguarding these data as well as the data of thousands of users, while at the same time streamlining access to DLR data and services, a new user data management system has been instituted.
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BBK and ZKI workshop with DRK, BRK, THW Bavaria, and Fire Academy Geretsried

16 May 2019
In January 2019 extreme snow falls in the whole Alpine foothills led to the declaration state of emergency in five Bavarian districts. On request of the federal office for civil protection and disaster relief the DLR supported through the ZKI-DE service with satellite-based map information about the situation of the snow coverage.

	DLR conducts flight tests to test a 3-K camera system 06 May 2019 In preparation for a European disaster control project, the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) is conducting daytime flight tests in Braunschweig between 13 and 17 May 2019. The DLR research aircraft D-CODE, a specially equipped Dornier Do 228-101, will be used.
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	DLR flight tests with the Cessna C-208B Grand Caravan 18 April 2019 The Flight Experiments facility and the Remote Sensing Technology Institute (IMF) of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) are conducting flight experiments in Braunschweig between 25 and 30 April 2019.
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DLR becomes part of the artificial intelligence network HAICU

01 April 2019
With the Helmholtz Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Unit (HAICU ), the Helmholtz Association is building a forward-looking network for applied artificial intelligence (AI). HAICU will develop, implement and disseminate KI methods, for example for the analysis of complex systems in the fields of climate, energy, transport or health.

Karlheinz Busen and Bernd Reuther visit ZKI

01 April 2019
Two members of the German Bundestag, Karlheinz Busen (FDP) and Bernd Reuther (FDP), visited the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen on 28 March 2019 to hear about activities in the areas of digitisation, agriculture and transportation. They were particularly interested in the subject of "traffic applications" at the Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI) of the Earth Observation Center (EOC).

Tropical Cyclone Idai hits Mozambique and Zimbabwe

22 March 2019
The Tropical Cyclone Idai is regarded as one of the worst tropical cyclones on record to affect Africa and the Southern Hemisphere as a whole. The storm caused catastrophic damage in multiple nations, leaving so far more than 600 people dead and hundreds more missing. Idai brought strong winds and caused severe flooding in Madagascar, Mozambique, Malawi, and Zimbabwe.

Successful test for the International Disaster Trial “The Netherlands” in the DRIVER+ Project

28 February 2019
From 18.-22.02.2019 the first technical dry run for the trial "The Netherlands" took place within the framework of the EU-funded FP7 project DRIVER+. DRIVER+ brings together innovative (technical) solutions for crisis management and tests them in Europe-wide demonstrations. DLR is involved in the project with four institutes, including the Earth Observation Center (EOC) with ZKI.

Big Data from space -
seeking a solution for the flood of data from space

20 February 2019
Earth observation satellites supply us with important data so that we can rapidly identify and record processes like environmental and climate change, or the movement or disappearance of glaciers. Up-to-date maps can be produced for emergency relief teams in cases of disasters like floods or earthquakes. However, such information is based on huge mountains of data. The satellites of the European Copernicus programme are among the world's largest data producers.

	GIZ Cooperation: Delegation from Azerbaijan and Georgia visit DFD 14 February 2019 On 11 and 12 February 2019 a Delegation from Azerbaijan and Georgia visited DFD. The occasion was a meeting connected with the GRAZE (Grassland Extent and Condition Mapping in Azerbaijan) project.
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	10 000 000 Gigabyte Sentinel at EOC 12 February 2019 Around five years ago, in April 2014, the first satellite of the European earth observation Copernicus programme was launched, Sentinel-1A. Meanwhile, seven Sentinel satellites are in operation. EOC processes and archives the data recorded by four of them, now amounting to over 10 petabytes.
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	Steffi Lemke visits ZKI 11 February 2019 Steffi Lemke, member of the Bundestag (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen), visited the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen on 8 February 2019 and was particularly interested in the work of the ZKI.
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	Surf Zone at the Border to Outer Space: Where Air Waves Collapse 11 February 2019 Waves not only influence the dynamics of water in the ocean but also of air in the atmosphere. So-called gravity waves are to be found especially in the upper mesosphere / lower thermosphere at about 80 to 100 kilometres altitude.
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"DLR Humanitarian Technology Days": UN World Food Programme and DLR sign agreement

8 February 2019
Humanitarian aid organisations are increasingly seeking technological support for their work in crisis and disaster areas. New technologies, such as satellite remote sensing, robotics and communications technology, help help aid workers to make the care and rescue of people in need as effective as possible. DLR has initiated a special event to jointly develop solutions: Around 80 scientists, humanitarian actors and sponsors have come together for the "DLR Humanitarian Technology Days", which took place in Oberpfaffenhofen from 6 to 7 February 2019.

	8th NDMC Meeting from 6 to 9 May 2019 Registration until 13 February NDMC (Network for the Detection of Mesospheric Change) is a global programme with the aim of identifying changing climate signals in the mesopause region (80-100 km) at an early stage. The eighth NDMC meeting will take place at DLR's Earth Observation Center in Oberpfaffenhofen.
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Dam Collapse in Brazil

31 January 2019
A dam burst at an iron mine in the Brazilian state of Minas Gerais near the village Brumadinho released a wave of red iron waste. Satellite data has already been made available as part of the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters". DLR supports the crisis management activities with RapidEye data and an analysis of pre and post event satellite data.

Will Changes in the Stratosphere Lead to More Extreme Weather Events?

23 January 2019
In the past few weeks cool, moist air masses from the north led to heavy snowfall in the Alps. This would not have been, in principle, an unusual weather situation if it had not persisted so long. In February/March of last year there was also lots of snow in eastern Europe and it was particularly cold as well. The reason for extreme events of this type could be changes in the stratosphere. EOC researchers expect this to be more often the case in the future.

	Extreme Snow conditions in Bavaria - ZKI-DE supports with remote sensing products 16 January 2019 Since January 5, 2019 the whole Alpine foothills are affected by heavy snow falls. Therefore, in five Bavarian districts a state of emergency was declared.
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	Claudia Roth visits the ZKI 21 December 2018 On December 20th, 2018, Mrs Claudia Roth, Vice-President of the German Bundestag, visited the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen. Special focus was set by the member of the Bundestag on tasks of the Center for Satellite based Crisis Information (ZKI), a user service of the Earth Observation Center (EOC).
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Daily Air Quality Forecasts with Sentinel-5P

10 December 2018
The Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service (CAMS) provides for Europe and the rest of the world hourly updated forecasts for trace gases that affect our climate and air quality.
The service now uses data products generated at EOC based on Copernicus Sentinel-5P (S5P) satellite data for its ozone forecasts. Although the ozone layer in the stratosphere provides us with a protective shield, ground-level ozone is a primary ingredient of urban smog, irritates the respiratory tract, and damages vegetation.

Snow Cover in Germany in Winter 2017/2018

10 December 2018
The consequences of climate change on snow coverage are evident worldwide. In addition to tourism, these changes also affect water availability, vegetation, agriculture, animal populations, and the global radiation balance. Based on satellite data available daily at EOC, routine assessment of global snow cover is carried out in order to understand these processes and their relevance for society and the natural environment. The results of such analyses are consolidated in the “Global SnowPack” data set.

	Sentinel-2 Level-2A now at CODE-DE 21 November 2018 Nicely in time for the 2018 National Remote Sensing and Copernicus Forum in Berlin, the CODE-DE service platform makes available throughout Europe rectified and atmospherically corrected Sentinel-2 data (Level-2A). This adds another valuable data set to the existing inventory, which exceeds 1.2 million products.
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Fire disaster in California – DLR supports with FireBIRD data

15 November 2018
A, for the season, unusual drought lead to devastating forest fires in California. So far several hundred thousand people were evacuated and dozen deaths were registered. Butte County, located in Northern California, is especially affected. Satellite data has already been made available as part of the International Charter "Space and Major Disasters".

	Fire disaster in California – DLR supports with FireBIRD data 15 November 2018 A, for the season, unusual drought lead to devastating forest fires in California. So far several hundred thousand people were evacuated und dozen deaths were registered. Butte County, located in Northern California, is especially affected.
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DLR Science Award 2018

07 November 2018
The DLR Science Award 2018 was granted to a joint science team from different DLR institutes. It is an acknowledgement of the work on the generation and performance assessment of the global digital elevation model provided by the TanDEM-X mission. Dr. Birgit Wessel, Dipl.-Ing. Martin Huber and Dr. Thomas Fritz from the Earth Observation Center (EOC) and further scientists from the Microwave and Radar Institute were forming the team.

EOC scientist receives "ASTO Förderpreis"

06 November 2018
For the fifth time the "ASTO Förderpreis" was awarded by the ASTO Group at 24th of October. This year Celia Baumhoer (Department Land Surface Dynamic, DFD) was awarded for her work in the context of her PhD thesis “Glacier front dynamics of Antarctica – Analyzing changes in glacier and ice shelf front positions based on SAR time-series“.

	Pine Island Glacier continues to shrink! 31 October 2018 The Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica fascinates scientists worldwide and is the hotspot for glaciologists and climate researchers who try to understand the melting of the West Antarctic ice sheet. In a study in which scientists from the EOC were also involved, the changes at Pine Island Glacier were examined in more detail.
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	Copernicus Masters 2018 – DLR finalists confirmed 12 October 2018 The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) has selected the best application ideas in the field of Earth observation for the Copernicus Masters. Following a multistage selection process, the three finalists for the DLR Challenge as part of the Copernicus Masters 2018 have now been confirmed.
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	Sentinel-3B operational at EOC 10 October 2018 On 1 October the Processing and Archiving Center (PAC) at EOC began routine operations for handling data from ESA's Sentinel-3B satellite. This date marks the full implementation of the PAC commissioned by ESA.
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	First processed images from DESIS hyperspectral Earth observation instrument 02 October 2018 The German Aerospace Center (DLR), and Teledyne Brown Engineering presented the first images of the DESIS hyperspectral Earth observation instrument at the International Astronautical Congress (IAC). The instrument was mounted to the exterior of the International Space Station on 27 August 2018.
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	The World in 3D to Download Free of Charge 28 September 2018 From today DLR made available to the public the 90 metre resolution global elevation model from the TanDEM-X mission. The data set can now be downloaded free of charge via the new EOC download service.
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	Ms Monika Hohlmeier, Member of the European Parliaments, Visits EOC 25 September 2018 She informed herself about the remote sensing opportunities offered by the WorldView reception and processing systems at EOC.
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	Hurrricane Florence – DLR provides satellite information 18 September 2018 updated 17 September 2018 On 14th 2018, hurricane Florence made landfall on the coast of North Carolina, USA. In the frame of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters, DLR supports the crisis management activities.
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	DLR Earth observer Xiaoxiang Zhu wins prize for her achievements 4 September 2018 Xiaoxiang Zhu of the Remote Sensing Technology Institute at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) has been awarded the 30,000 euro Leopoldina Early Career Award 2018.
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DESIS gets its own spot on the International Space Station

27 August 2018
Its view of Earth will be something special: The DESIS hyperspectral instrument has 235 spectral channels to look at our planet and observe the changes in land and water surfaces. On 27 August 2018 at about 21:00 CEST, the instrument developed by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and equipped with a robotic arm was taken out of the airlock of the International Space Station (ISS) and installed on the MUSES platform located on the space station's exterior. The hyperspectral data obtained from space is expected to deliver information for environmental monitoring, among other uses.

	Federal Minister Peter Altmaier visits EOC 20 August 2018 A tour of EOC was also on the agenda of the visit of the Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi), Peter Altmaier, to the DLR research center in Oberpfaffenhofen. Minister Altmaier was keenly interested in DLR's satellite technologies and earth observation research activities.
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DLR project VABENE++ supports BRK's new Rapid Deployment Group in situation analyses

27 July 2018
With the new Rapid Response Force, the Bavarian Red Cross is preparing itself for emergency operations in the event of disasters. The assessment of the situation on the ground could in future be supported by researchers from the EOC. Within the framework of VABENE++, remote sensing technologies have already been tested and demonstrated.

	Drought in Northern and Eastern Germany 17 July 2018 Recent weeks of heat and aridity have dried out soil and vegetation in northern and eastern Germany. In some regions the lowest precipitation levels in 50 years have been measured. EOC time series analyses document the extent of the drought.
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FDP Members of Parliament visit DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen

11 July 2018
On 10 July 2018 Dr. Marcus Faber, Olaf in der Beek and Ulrich Lechte paid a visit to DLR in Oberpfaffenhofen. These members of Parliament came for a comprehensive introduction to the pioneering research being undertaken at this DLR location. After words of welcome extended by Oberpfaffenhofen managing director Dr. Reinhold Busen and his deputy Zekeriya Ceyhanli, the FDP politicians acquainted themselves with the most important facts concerning the research centre, followed by a joint tour of the facilities. At EOC the delegates were particularly interested in DLR climate and environmental protection research and in the activities of the Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI).

Accurate air pollution measurements – the Sentinel-5P data service commences operations

11 July 2018
Air pollution is one of the biggest threats to health worldwide. Around seven million people die as a result of pollutants every year, as the World Health Organization (WHO) has recently established in a global study. Industrial fumes and exhaust emissions from cars and other vehicles make a significant contribution to the number of deaths, as the particles penetrate deep into people’s airways, lungs and cardiovascular system. There is now a special service that can pinpoint sources of pollution precisely and analyse global pollutant distributions from space.

Hyperspectral Earth observation instrument DESIS sets off for the ISS

03 July 2018
The DLR Earth Sensing Imaging Spectrometer (DESIS) – an environmental and resource monitoring system from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) – set off for the International Space Station (ISS) at 05:42 EDT (11:42 CEST) on 29 June 2018. The Dragon capsule carrying DESIS launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The hyperspectral instrument will monitor the environment and resources on Earth. The ground segment was developed by the Earth Observation Center.

	Jubilee Congratulations from Space 21 June 2018 The TerraSAR-X satellite sent a very special greeting to mark the 150th anniversary of the Technical University of Munich (TUM).
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Tracking Methane with an Airplane

18 June 2018
As a greenhouse gas methane is 25-times more effective than CO2. Its sources include agriculture, forestry, and mining activities, livestock farming, wastewater treatment plants, and waste-disposal sites, among others. Because of its potent greenhouse effect it is particularly important to identify methane sources. EOC is participating in a large European measurement campaign to test various technologies for detecting and measuring carbon dioxide and methane sources.

Why the tongue of the Pine Island Glacier suddenly shrank

15 June 2018
Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica is not only one of the fastest flowing ice streams on the Southern Hemisphere. In the past eleven years huge icebergs have also broken off four times from its floating ice tongue. The reason for the abrupt retreat of the glacier front has now been clarified with the help of two EOC scientists.

	Andes - Laboratory for Natural Hazards 05 June 2018 Urban agglomerations are growing rapidly worldwide and new megalopolises are emerging. The dense settlement structures with sometimes millions of people are particularly vulnerable to natural hazards. In the RIESGOS project (Spanish: risks), the EOC investigates natural hazards and their interactions in the Andean region.
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1,000 Kilometres Across an Ice Shelf — with TerraSAR-X

22 May 2018
A four-person research group achieved the largest Antarctic expedition since the 1950s. Back then, the Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition led by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sir Vivian Fuchs successfully crossed the Antarctic via the South Pole for the first time. During this year’s Antarctic summer a team from Antarctica New Zealand, a government agency, found a way across an unknown section of the Ross ice shelf, an ice region the size of France. Crucial information for determining the route was supplied by the German Aerospace Center (DLR) using data from the TerraSAR-X radar satellite. The successful traverse was part of the "Ross Ice Shelf Project", which is investigating how the ice shelf reacts to global warming.

	Sentinel-5 P: volcanic emissions with unprecedented sharpness 18 May 2018 After several weeks of increasing lava lake levels in the craters Halema'uma'u and Pu'u 'O'o of the Hawaiian shield volcano Kilauea, the crater floor of Pu'u 'O'o’ collapsed on May 1st, causing earthquakes and several fissures opened in the East Rift Zone and erupted
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60 Petabytes for the German Satellite Data Archive D-SDA

16 May 2018
A few days ago a new data library came into operation at the German Satellite Data Archive, D-SDA. The volume of earth observation data is increasing almost exponentially, requiring a 60 petabytes (60 billion megabytes) expansion of D-SDA storage capacity. D-SDA safeguards long-term the data from German and international earth observation missions and makes them available for research.

Launch of Sentinel 3B – twin satellites united in space

26 April 2018
The Sentinel-3 satellite pair, one of the principal components of the European Copernicus programme, is now united in space. On 25 April 2018 at 19:57 CEST (20:57 local time) the Earth observation satellite Sentinel-3B lifted off on a Russian Rockot launcher from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome. "The twin satellites will now monitor Earth together," explains Michael Nyenhuis, responsible for the Sentinel-3 mission at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Space Administration. "Once Sentinel-3B has been successfully commissioned in orbit, the system will be fully operational and we will receive valuable additional data."

EOC nominated: Blue Compass for Green Roofs!

25 April 2018
Climate change poses enormous challenges for cities. Extra green spaces on rooftops can provide some relief. A technology developed at EOC helps detect green rooftops and those that can be potentially vegetated. Green rooftop mapping has now been nominated for a “Blue Compass” award by the federal environment agency as a contribution to climate protection and adaptation to climate change.

	Hyperspectral instrument DESIS en route to International Space Station in 2018 20. April 2018 The German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) and the United States corporation Teledyne Brown Engineering (TBE) are announcing the completion of the development and manufacturing process of the DESIS hardware.
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	Copernicus Masters enters the next round 10 April 2018 In April, the Copernicus Masters competition was launched, in which DLR once again offers an attractive prize. We are looking for innovative applications and ideas that make the most of Copernicus data to improve human well-being, the environment and the use of natural resources.
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	Data Cubes for Easier Access to Earth Observation Data 29 March 2018 The BigDataCube project has the goal of advancing the paradigm of the “data cube” – in other words, ready-to-analyse spatiotemporal raster data – from the status of a science prototype to a pre-competitive earth-observation service.
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Air Pollution and Health: Kick-off for BioClis

22 March 2018
Nitrogen oxides, ozone, sulphur and particulate matter in the air we breathe have moved to the centre of public attention. Increasingly strict threshold values for these pollutants are being exceeded in numerous cities. However, whether and to what extent particular individuals suffer from air pollution depends on additional environmental parameters, as well as on personal disposition. In the recently launched BioClis project EOC is investigating these connections with the goal to inform people about their environmental and health risk.

Virtual Alpine Observatory (VAO): Fourth Symposium in Grenoble, France

19 March 2018
The Fourth Symposium of the Virtual Alpine Observatory, VAO, took place from 13-15 March 2018 in Grenoble, France. It was attended by about one hundred scientists from the Alpine region countries Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Germany and France. Institutions affiliated with VAO in Norway and Georgia were also represented.

Exhibition "The Call of the Mountains" opens at Gasometer Oberhausen

15 March 2018
At 4478 metres the Matterhorn is not one of Earth’s highest mountains—not even the highest mountain in the Alps. But its striking triangular shape makes it unique. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has measured this rock pyramid with the help of satellite and aircraft overflights and generated from the data a precise terrain model that now brings the mountain to Gasometer Oberhausen as a 3D projection on a 17 metre high reproduction of the Matterhorn. There it floats upside down in the 100 metre high airspace of the Gasometer as the highlight of the exhibition "The Call of the Mountains", opening on 16 March 2018. A mirror on the floor reflects the mountain, enabling a bird’s eye view.

Warming of the Stratosphere Leads to Arctic Temperatures!

02 March 2018
Temperatures in the two-digit minus range dominate the weather these days; a record-breaking seasonal value below -30°C was measured on Mount Zugspitze.
People catch colds, automobiles do not start up, high-tension power lines break. What we are experiencing these days impressively demonstrates how the higher layers of Earth’s atmosphere can influence the weather on the ground – for scientists at EOC a fascinating field of research! ...

Excellence in Earth Observation –
German-French Information Exchange

01 March 2018
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. ...

Tracking Climate Change – at the Border to Outer Space

01 March 2018
Realistic modelling of climate change requires an appropriate description of energy fluxes in the atmosphere. Some of the energy is transported via so-called gravity waves, which progress through the atmosphere similar to the movement of water waves. They can break, thereby releasing energy. An important parameter for determining the energy transported by gravity waves is the so-called Brunt-Väisälä frequency. This value is now available as part of a climatology for every day of the year in the Alpine region. ...

Hot Spots for Climate Change and Evolutionary Survival

26 February 2018
Shorter winters and the decreasing extent of snow cover worldwide threaten the survival of animal species adapted to living in snow. An international research team has identified regions where species can successfully adapt to new climate conditions, partly by adaptive evolution. EOC’s “Global Snow Pack”, a remote sensing product documenting how snow cover is evolving worldwide, was used in this study. ...

PAZ Earth observation satellite successfully launched

23 February 2018
The Spanish Earth observation satellite PAZ was successfully launched on 22 February 2018 at 15:17 CET from Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, United States, on board a Falcon 9 rocket. Interestingly, PAZ is being positioned on the same orbit as the German TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X radar satellites. In addition, the PAZ ground segment builds on technologies developed by the DLR Remote Sensing Technology Institute for the twin satellites. A constellation of three satellites will make images available faster in the future. ...

Virtual Alpine Observatory – Symposium 2018

22 February 2018
From 13 to 15 March 2018, the Virtual Alpine Observatory (VAO) will host an international symposium to present its latest findings and encourage networking activities. The symposium will be held in Grenoble, France, and will include presentations about new results from science and technology as well as about new project initiatives. ...

Using Earth Observation Data for Sustainable Development

31 January 2018
At the 13th Ilan Ramon International Space Conference in Tel Aviv on 29 Jan. 2018 the chair of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Prof. Pascale Ehrenfreund, had a discussion with the deputy director of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), P. Kunhikrishnan; the president of the Italian Space Agency ASI (Agenzia Spaziale Italiana), Prof. Roberto Battiston; the director of NASA’s Ames Research Center, Dr. Eugene Tu; and the deputy director of the Russian Space Organisation ROSCOSMOS, Sergey Saveliev. The discussion was moderated by Avi Blasberger, director of the Israel Space Agency (ISA). ...

2017 Third-coldest year since measurements began—in the mesopause

30 January 2018
For Germany, 2017 was the third-coldest year since measurements started in 1987—but that was true only at 87 kilometres altitude.
The temperature development there takes a course opposite to the one at Earth’s surface. This atmospheric region, the upper mesosphere, is at the focus of EOC interest because that is where changes that will take place in the atmosphere underneath can be detected and measured beforehand. ...

	Global Change and Rice Cultivation 29 January 2018 Rice is one of the world’s most important sources of nutrition. A satellite-image-based analysis carried out at EOC shows changes in China's rice acreage. Climate change and urbanisation on the one hand and national subsidy programmes on the other are resulting in a relocation of rice cultivation. ...
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Strong Growth in Aquaculture Threatens Ecosystems

26 January 2018
Aquaculture is the fastest growing sector of the food industry worldwide and meanwhile supplies almost half of all fish that people consume. With methodology developed at EOC this growth can be detected over a wide area. On the Asia coasts the expansion of aquaculture leads to ecosystem destruction, the clearing of mangrove forests, and water pollution. ...

High Forest Loss in Paraguay

23 January 2018
Until 2004 Paraguay’s rates of deforestation were the highest in all of South America. EOC investigations show an annual decrease in the area covered by the Atlantic Forest averaging 2.2 percent between 1999 and 2004. Strictly prohibiting deforestation has considerably slowed down forest clearing activities since 2004, but satellite-based analyses reveal that large sections of the Paraguay forest are still being destroyed. ...

	Snow in the Sahara 10 January 2018 In the night to Sunday, 07 Jan. 2018 an extremely rare weather phenomenon occurred in the Algerian desert: snowfall in the Sahara. Scientists at the Earth Observation Center (EOC) make use of satellite-based snow analyses to show just how seldom this event is. ...
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