DLR - Earth Observation Center - Completed Projects

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Applications and Projects: Completed Projects

4D ANTARCTICA (2019 – 12/2022)

Ice sheets are a key component of the Earth system, impacting on global sea level, ocean circulation and bio-geochemical processes. In Antarctica, significant quantities of liquid water are being produced and transported at the ice sheet surface, base, and beneath its floating sections, and this water is in turn interacting with the ice sheet itself. Despite the key role that hydrology plays on the ice sheet environment there is still no global hydrological budget for Antarctica. The ESA project 4DAntarctica aims to advance the understanding of the Antarctic Ice Sheet’s supra and sub-glacial hydrology, its evolution, and its role within the broader ice sheet and ocean systems.

4DGreenland (09/2020 – 12/2022)

The high Arctic has experienced a large warming in the last two decades. The Greenland ice sheet is currently undergoing rapid changes in response to the increased temperatures, which have led to a steady increase in melting processes. Despite the key role that hydrology plays on the ice sheet environment there is still no global hydrological budget for Greenland. The ESA project 4DGreenland aims to advance the understanding of the Greenland ice sheet’s surface, supra and sub-glacial hydrology and its evolution and interactions.

AgB (01/2019 – 05/2021)

Green spaces make cities attractive to their residents and have been shown to increase overall environmental and quality of life. Urban green space is crucial for many other ecosystem services. Although green spaces can effectively limit the negative side effects of urbanization and climate change, these developments put massive pressure on urban green spaces and often lead to a reduction, often with simultaneous spatial fragmentation or reduction of the vitality of existing green spaces.

Abc – Augsburg bleibt cool (10/2018 – 12/2020)

In the course of climate change, an increasing frequency and intensity of heat waves is expected for Germany. While life-threatening situations due to heat predominantly affect the elderly, intense heat generally leads to losses in well-being and performance. Fatalities during the 2003 heat wave in Europe were mainly due to a lack of nighttime cooling and thus a lack of rest.

Aerosol CCI (7/2010 - 7/2016)

The goal of the ESA project aerosol_cci, a climate change initiative, is to design consistent prototype algorithms for the production of long-term aerosol data sets from several European earth observation sensors. The project starts with an in depth analysis and comparison of the retrieval results for several existing algorithms. Based on this analysis, elements of community algorithms and harmonized retrieval are then developed. Topics of investigation are the different assumptions and approaches for modeling optical aerosol properties, how to deal with surface reflectance and its anisotropy, cloud masking, and the use of auxiliary data sets.

AGRO-DE (BMEL, 07/2016 - 07/2020)

Implementation of a Cluster Providing Up-to-Date Remote Sensing Products for Agriculture:
Agriculture is by far the largest land user in Germany, accounting for approximately 52% of the country's total land area. AGRO-DE will provide open access to agriculture-related information products that will support research institutions, federal and state authorities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in their work, as methodologically uniformly produced data sets will be available for Germany. In addition, these technologies will also stimulate the use of precision farming technologies and thus address, among others, small-structured farms and farms with organic farming.

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.

AI4Flood (10/2020 – 12/2022)

Disaster managers frequently request satellite-based crisis information for flood monitoring in order to target often limited resources and prioritize individual activities in the event of a disaster. The AI4Flood project aims to improve existing satellite-based emergency mapping methods from SAR data by testing and validating new machine learning algorithms for water area extraction during flood events.

AlpClimNet (01/2018 – 12/2020)

Laut Internationaler Alpenschutz-kommission ist der Alpenraum doppelt so stark vom Klimawandel betroffen wie der globale Durchschnitt. Für Mensch, Natur und Wirtschaft bedeutet dies Veränderungen, die auch die Politik vor große Herausforderungen stellt. Ziel von AlpClimNet ist daher die Unterstützung der Politik im Rahmen ARGE-ALP zu Klimaschutzmaßnahmen durch eine verbesserte Beobachtung und Analyse von Umwelt- und Klimaparametern.

	Alpen-DAZ (08/2014 – 09/2017) Extension of the UFS Data Analysis Center (UFS-DAZ) to other alpine observatories / facilities with the aim of creating a "Virtual Alpine Observatory".
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ANSWER-Kommunal (2018 – 2021)

The ANSWER-Municipal project deals with the development of a standardized analysis and result grid for heat plans for the implementation of the energy transition in the municipal sector. In order to develop municipal heat plans, heat demand data is needed for the whole area. ANSWER-Kommunal starts here to model the heat demand of residential buildings on a large scale based on building models.

	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.
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ASAPTERRA (11/2014 – 12/2016)

The project “Advancing SAR and optical methods for rapid mapping” (ASAPTERRA) has the principal objective of further developing rapid mapping techniques for three types of natural hazards – floods, landslides and fires – using active as well as passive information sources. The resulting algorithms will be evaluated in real case applications during rapid mapping activities.

	BioClis (11/2017 – 12/2019) The aim is to develop a bioclimatic information system for Bavaria. It is to provide daily updated information on the aggregated health risk caused by air pollutants and thermal stress. BioClis is funded by the Bavarian State Ministries for "Health and Care" and "Environmental and Consumer Protection".
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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.

	C3S_312b_Lot2 (10/2018 - 06/2021) The project, led by DFD within the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), carries out the regular enhancement of satellite-based climate data records of Essential Climate Variables on atmospheric composition (ozone, aerosols, greenhouse gases) and supports users with expert knowledge.
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	Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service – User support (CAMS-94) (01/2019 - 09/2021) The CAMS-94 project in the Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service, led by DFD, carries out the systematic collection and evaluation of user requests in a database and organizes two user meetings per year in different EU member states.
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	CATCH-MEKONG (03/2017 – 10/2018) The CATCH-MEKONG project is a joint geoscientific project that aims to answer open questions and uncertainties regarding the most important environmental problems in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta - saltwater intrusion, land use change, bank/coastal stability, sea level rise - against the background of changed conditions in the upper reaches.
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CAWa - Regional Research Network “Water in Central Asia” (2008 - 2017)

The interdisciplinary CAWa project, financed by the Federal Foreign Office, is concerned with Central Asia, which includes Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Turkmenistan. CAWa stands for “Water in Central Asia.” The project goal is to provide cross-border information on water availability and use. Toward this end, CAWa makes use of satellite remote sensing, hydrological and climate models, and communications technology, and integrates all project data and results in a standardized form in an information system. This new type of information is intended to support Central Asian scientists and decision makers in deriving future scenarios and strategies for sustainable water management.

CCI+ Sea State (04/2018 – 12/2021)

ESA’s Climate Change Initiative (CCI) program is dedicated to the provision of data for studies on climate change. The objective of CCI+ Sea State is to develop an 18-year data set (2002- 2020) capitalising on the rich satellite altimeter, SAR imager, in situ and other data holdings available during that period. The focus was on the development, testing and improvement of dedicated sea state retrieval algorithms with respect to climate users' requirements.

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.

DLR - Chico (2008)

Since 2003 the interdisciplinary earth science project of the “Sino-German Coal Fire Research Initiative” has been supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) in China and by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) in Germany. It focuses on developing innovative methods to detect, analyze, and monitor coal fires in different provinces of the People’s Republic of China.

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.

	CODE-DE (BMWi, 07/2016 – 06/2019) With the Copernicus Data and Exploitation Platform - Germany (CODE-DE), the EOC is establishing the national Copernicus access for the data of all Sentinel satellites.
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COPDCM (05/2019 – 05/2022)

The European Union develops capabilities to increase readiness and to contribute to effective crisis management and disaster prevention when needed. It can involve military and non-military measures to address the full spectrum of crises – before, during and after conflicts or disasters. The aim of the project is to develop a technical platform capable of supporting and conducting crisis management, decision making support, disaster response exercises, operational options/alternatives and consequence assessment as well as situational awareness analysis in order to enhance decision-making processes.

	Corine Land Cover (2001 - 2016) 2001 - 2016 CORINE Land Cover (CLC) is the most prominent database concerning land cover and land use and their dynamics on the European, but also on National and regional levels. It was produced the first time for the reference year 1990, followed by updates for the years 2000, 2006 and 2012.
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	CURE HORIZON 2020 (01/2020 – 04/2023) Cities are exceptionally vulnerable to climate change and their vulnerability is increasing over time. In this framework, the main goal of CURE is to demonstrate the potential of the Copernicus Core Services to provide reliable information for enhancing the resilience of European cities.
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D.MoVe (01/2019 – 12/2022)

In Germany, the condition of road surfaces, especially of highways, is recorded terrestrially and managed centrally. The catalog of parameters includes, among other things, the presence of cracks, seams and patches as well as the age of the material and the material of the surface layer. In this project, it was demonstrated that the aforementioned parameters can be derived using high-resolution aerial imagery and hyperspectral airborne data.

	DAREnet (09/2017 - 02/2023) The H2020 project Danube River Region Resilience Exchange network (DAREnet) forms a network of practitioners dealing with flood resilience in the Danube River Region, supported by a continuously evolving multi-disciplinary community of stakeholders consisting of policy makers, academics, industry and many more.
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DARTIS (03/2019 – 08/2022)

The aim of this project is to develop an automated oil spill detection and early warning system off the coast of Israel. The automated detection chain includes Sentinel-1 SAR processing, a specially trained deep learning based object detector for oil spills, and segmentation of the found oil spills into binary masks. With the oil binary masks, our partners simulate the expected oil trajectory and alert the decision makers.

Data4Human (01/2020 – 06/2022)

In a crisis event, humanitarian aid organisations often do not have the latest spatial information at the required scale, which they would urgently need for many decision-making assessments. In the project "Demand-driven Data Services for Humanitarian Aid" (Data4Human), remote sensing data and other data sources are to be analysed in order to identify they possible use in the humanitarian context.

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.

DELIGHT (2012 - 2016)

2012-2016
With the help of the DELIGHT environmental information system, quantitative parameters for China’s Yellow River delta can be visualised and analysed to facilitate decision making related to the delta’s land use programme. It provides access to data on coastal erosion and land reclamation, the expansion of aquaculture, changes in agricultural acreage, urbanisation processes, locations of point and area sources of water pollution, as well as key indicators of offshore current conditions and seawater sediment and algal loads. The system was developed by the German-Chinese DELIGHT consortium, which was coordinated and led by DFD. Based on local analyses of requirements, it has been transferred to the Dongying administrative district.

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.

	Digitaler Atlas (01/2018 – 12/2021) Goal of this cross-section project was the creation of a catalog system and the collection of datasets in a geonetwork for common use and sharing geo-knowledge between different DLR institutes.
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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.

	e-DRIFT (ESA, 2018 - 2019) Expand Demand, Disaster RIsk Financing and Transfer
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ECoLaSS (H2020, 01/2017 – 12/2019)

The project "Evolution of Copernicus Land Services based on Sentinel data" (ECoLaSS) aims at improving existing Copernicus land monitoring services and developing new ones. The revised or new products - e.g. for agriculture - are to be proposed to the EU and relevant decision-makers in the form of prototypes for operational integration from 2020. A core component of ECoLaSS is the analysis of Sentinel mass data and the bridging of the associated challenges regarding computer infrastructure and effective algorithms and processing procedures for data analysis and product creation.

EO4HumEn+ (5/2016 – 4/2018)

The number of forcibly uprooted people rises every year. Humanitarian action as one part of the response to this situation relies on targeted, up-to date and reliable information to handle this challenge. Within precursor activities and a close collaboration with Doctors without Borders (MSF), Z_GIS has started developing Earth-observation (EO) based solutions for the humanitarian sector. The aim of the project EO4HumEn+ is to implement more automated routines to exploit the data stream of e.g. the Sentinel mission, improving the capabilities of EO methods to provide realistic population estimations also in urban areas as well as extend the established service portfolio to the diversifying needs of the humanitarian community, cooperating with a wide range of NGOs including ICRC, the Austrian Red Cross, SOS Children’s Villages, MSF and Groundwater Relief.

	EO4SD Urban (ESA, 2016-2018) Service Cluster for Urban Development Using Earth Observation
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EO4SOSCV (01/2016 – 03/2017)

01/2016 – 03/2017
Ethiopia-Harar SOS Children's Village
More than 1.5 million children and their families in over 130 countries around the world are currently receiving support from the humanitarian relief organisation SOS Children's Villages International. The Department of Geo-Risks and Civil Security at DLR is supporting the organisation to employ Earth Observation technology in developing a comprehensive emergency and disaster management concept. The study focused on disaster preparedness and early warning; emergency mapping; and humanitarian technologies as a whole. Pre-operational Emergency Mapping Services, as well as automated services for satellite based fire and flood information, were developed and tested.

EO-ALERT (01/2018 – 11/2021)

The time from the acquisition of satellite Earth Observation data to the delivery of products to the end user can be reduced by processing the data on board the satellite. For EO-ALERT, two groups of MF-SAR teamed up to create a prototype SAR processing chain running both L1 image generation and L2 processing of maritime products on an MPSoC board, combining an FPGA with an ARM CPU. Our partners did the same for optical image processing, data handling, and data transfer.

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.

ENDORSE (1/2011 - 12/2013)

ENDORSE is involved in the user-driven creation of so-called ‘downstream services’ for the renewable energies sector of the European Union’s Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) Programme. Based on the GMES services for land, atmosphere and security, specific applications will be developed together with users from the fields of solar energy, wind energy, distributed power networks, bioenergy and daylighting for buildings.

EO-CITI (01/2017 – 12/2018)

Cities are growing worldwide. In (Western) Europe and Germany, too, metropolises are growing at an ever faster pace, and the ongoing migratory pressure of the population will intensify even further. The associated increase in the consumption of energy, raw materials and land while at the same time maintaining the quality of life in cities requires a sustainable organization of the available space. For this, a sustainable urban development policy needs, among other things, detailed and up-to-date (geo)information about these processes. The project EO-CITI (Earth Observation for Monitoring of Sealing and Structure Types in Cities) aims at enabling operational monitoring of cities based on satellite-based Earth observation data using a novel method and at the same time creating an improved, consistent information basis.

EO-Miners (02/2010 - 10/2013)

02/2010 - 10/2013
“Earth Observation for Monitoring and Observing Environmental and Societal Impacts of Mineral Resources Exploration and Exploitation” (EO-MINERS) is a medium-scale focused research project funded by the EU Seventh Framework Program. It aims at integrating new and existing earth observation tools to further best practice in mining activities and to reduce the mining-related environmental and societal footprint. Interaction between the mineral extractive industry and society is to be improved in the direction of sustainable development and acceptability.

EO4_Lake_Kivu (07/2021 – 12/2021)

The Lake Kivu and Ruzizi River basin is especially vulnerable to fluvial induced soil erosion triggered by extreme precipitation events. The soil erosion risk is amplified by unprotected soils due to low vegetation cover caused by land management or droughts. For the investigation of this complex setting in the study region, the project assesses vegetation dynamics by the analysis of time-series Earth observation data and the integrative analysis of climate and in-situ data. The objective of the project is to contribute to the adaptive water- and land management in the region.

	ExtremeEarth (01/2019 – 12/2021) The ExtremeEarth project develops Artificial Intelligence and Big Data technologies that scale to the petabytes of big Copernicus data, information and knowledge, and applies these technologies in two of the thematic exploitation platforms of the European Space Agency: the one dedicated to Food Security and the one dedicated to the Polar regions.
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SO2-Monitoring and Volcano Surveillance (EVOSS, SACS and SMASH) (2010 - 2013)

2010 - 2013
Volcanic eruptions not only seriously endanger local populations; they can also be a more or less long-term hazard for air traffic. Ash clouds released by volcanic eruptions can damage airplane engines. Aircraft operators are accordingly greatly interested in receiving timely information about volcanic eruptions so that flight paths can be modified as necessary.

	FE4ErSiGG (12/2021 – 12/2022) To define settlement structures on the basis of spatial use patterns such as development and settlement densities in a realistic manner using remote sensing methods - this is the goal of the IF-Bund innovation project "Remote Sensing for the Determination of Settlement Structure Boundaries and Area Units" (FE4ErSiGG).
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	FIDUCEO (03/2015 – 08/2019) The Horizon2020 project FIDUCEO (Fidelity and Uncertainty in Climate data records from Earth Observations) developed standards for quantifying uncertainties in satellite-based Earth observation data and demonstrates them on selected examples. DFD conducted an application example on aerosol retrieval (aerosol optical thickness) from AVHRR data.
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FloodAdaptVN (Phase 1)(07/2019 – 03/2021)

Central Vietnam is characterized by rapidly advancing urbanization. Due to climate change, increasing precipitation is expected and, in combination with land use changes, will lead to more frequent and intense flood events. FloodAdaptVN will contribute to adaptive and sustainable urban development in Central Vietnam by integrating ecosystem-based approaches to flood risk management.

G-MOSAIC (2009 – 2011)

The G-MOSAIC (GMES Services for Management of Operations, Situation Awareness and Intelligence for regional Crisis) project focuses on identifying and developing with the help of reference users products, methodologies and pilot services which provide information gathered from space for EU foreign policy makers. Services will be established which facilitate decision making based on satellite data.

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.
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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.

GeoForpy (05/2020 – 08/2022)

Over the past 40 years, Paraguay has lost the majority of its natural forest cover, thus becoming one of the countries with the highest deforestation rates in the world. Uninterrupted deforestation practices in the Paraguayan Chaco between 1987 and 2012 resulted in the loss of 27% of its original cover, accounting for almost 44,000 km2 of forested areas depleted. The rapid expansion of the agricultural frontier, cattle ranching, and illegal logging has converted the last forest remnants into isolated patches, thus endangering their continuity and biodiversity within them.

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.

Geoland 2 (01/2009 - 02/2013)

01/2009 - 02/2013
Geoland2, a project which is part of the EU Seventh Framework Program, is a joint initiative of the European Commission and the European Space Agency ESA. The goal is to lay the groundwork for the routine operation of the GMES Land Monitoring Core Services at local, continental and global levels by developing Core Mapping Services (CMS) and Core Information Services (CIS). As part of the Land Monitoring focus, the Core Mapping Services will provide basic geoinformation on land use and land cover as well as their seasonal and annual variations.

	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.
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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.

GRAZE (10/2018 – 03/2019)

The biodiversity of the South Caucasus is of global importance, but the huge variety of species and the proper functioning of the ecosystems are under threat. Especially the grassland areas of Azerbaijan are under heavy anthropogenic pressure, including unsustainable management practices, overgrazing, land use conversion to crop land, infrastructure projects, and climate change. The objectives of the Ministry of Agriculture of Azerbaijan and of the GIZ IBiS (Integrated Biodiversity Management, South Caucasus) program are therefore to put a hold on further degradation of grasslands, to conserve and sustainably use winter and summer pastures and hay meadows, and to increase the productivity of those areas.

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

	GUF@EPFL (EPFL, 2015 - 2016) Assessing the Suitability of DLR’s Global Urban Footprint Data for Evaluating Typologies of Urbanization Patterns and Global Scaling Invariant Urbanization Processes 0,3 PJ

	GUF@WorldBank (WBG, 2015-2016) Validation and Enhancement of Global Urban Footprint Data Set for World Bank Group. 0,8 PJ

HEIMDALL (05/2017 – 10/2020)

HEIMDALL aims at improving preparedness of societies to cope with complex crisis situations by providing a flexible platform for multi-hazard emergency planning and management, which makes use of innovative technologies for the definition of multi-disciplinary scenarios and response plans, providing integrated assets to support emergency management, such as monitoring, modelling, situation and risk assessment, decision support and communication tools. HEIMDALL fosters data and information sharing among the relevant stakeholders, maximises the accuracy of valuable information and improves population awareness.

HI-CAM (07/2019 – 12/2021)

In recent years extreme events such as droughts, hurricanes, and floods have impacted humanity around the globe. Although such events occur naturally, they have increased in frequency due to climate change. The new Helmholtz Climate Initiative (HI-CAM), launched in July 2019, is a two-year project which seeks the effective communication of strategies to face climate change and its impact on several fields of the human development.
Within the framework of the HICAM Project “Agricultural and Aquatic Systems”, the Team Agroecosystems and Phenology of the Earth Observation Center at DLR will collaborate with the Department of Soil System Science and the Department of River Ecology of the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research, on the topics of climate change, and its impact on agricultural and aquatic ecosystems.

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.

IKEBANA (02/2019 – 10/2020)

One of the largest drivers for deforestation is the transformation of forest into agricultural areas. By 2030, deforestation shall be eliminated from the delivery chains of agricultural resources according to the New York Forest Declaration by the UN (2014). One proposed measure is to minimize the loss of natural forests by expansion of agriculture land into already degraded areas.

	JOSEFINA (2016 – 2019) Joint Bavarian Slovenian Endeavor for Innovative Air Quality Analysis The aim is to create for the first time an area-wide fine dust mapping for Bavaria from historical and new satellite data of different missions from 1999 until today.
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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.

	KliSAW (01/2015 – 12/2019) Klimarelevanz von atmosphärischen Spurengasen, Aerosolen und Wolken: Auf dem Weg zu EarthCARE und MERLIN
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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.

LinKER (12/2009 – 12/2012)

LinkER, a Service Contract financed by the EC, is the Preparatory Action intended to support the operational use of GMES Emergency Response Service products across the whole European Union. This goal is being reached through customized tools installed within each national/EC user community, represented by its own National User Focal Point (FP) as well as the EC Focal points in the DG ENV (Civil Protection), DG RELEX (Delegations) and DG ECHO (humanitarian aid). All Focal Points will have direct access to GMES Emergency Response Service products and will be supported to easily integrate them into the respective operational workflows of each Participating State. Both technical and procedural developments will be supported by adequate training and exercises.

LISA (02/2021 – 06/2022)

For a better comprehension of climate change it is fundamentally important how well we understand the general condition (dynamics and chemistry) in the atmosphere. Aeolus wind measurements enable for the first time the derivation of atmospheric wave structures on different temporal and spatial scales and wind gradients in particular above the oceans, where wind measurements from ground-based instruments are sparse. These measurements will help us to better understand the atmospheric dynamics.

	LOOSE (02/2020 – 05/2022) In the LOOSE project, innovative, technological solutions for the organization, analysis and distribution of long, remote sensing-based time series are being developed. The goal is to enable mass data processing using cloud-based infrastructures and to facilitate higher-value analyses on derived and harmonized products (Analysis Ready Data).
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	LUDWIG (08/2014 – 09/2017) International Investigation of Atmospheric Wave Dynamics in Mountain Ranges. A contribution toward characterizing gravity waves observed in OH airglow in the Alpine region.
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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.

MAP-BORealis (07/2019 – 06/2021)

Ship traffic in the Arctic is rising, but navigational decisions in ice-infested seas are still subject to great uncertainty, even if sufficient remote sensing information and weather forecasts are available. It is hard to access and analyze large amounts of data manually on board a ship. Innovative approaches are required to translate the abundance of data into decision-making support. The aim of MAP-BORealis was to investigate to what extent it is possible to give optimized route recommendations using spaceborne ice information.

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.

	MOSAIK (BMBF, 06/2016 – 05/2019) The goal of Mosaik (Model-based city planning and application in climate change) is the development of an innovative city climate model (PACE), which should be able to simulate the city micro-climate in large cities with a spatial resolution of less than 10m. The model will be developed as a user-friendly tool, which can be used by users in urban planning.
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MOSAIK-2 (11/2019 – 10/2022)

11/2019 – 10/2022
In MOSAIK-2 the urban climate model PALM-4U, developed in the first phase of MOSAIK, will be extended and improved. The model simulates the urban climate in large cities with spatial resolutions of less than 10 m. The work package of DLR-LAX focusses on the spatial input data for the model. With the state-of-the-art but labor intensive input data set derived in the first phase of MOSAIK, now the focuses is on the possibilities of the use of German or globally free available data and the automated preprocessing thereof.

	MOVE (07/2016 – 06/2019) The ongoing population growth leads to a continuously progressive expansion and densification of settlement areas. This development can pose a threat to fauna, since important habitats within the important habitats within the settlement areas are lost and adjacent natural areas experience increasing anthropogenic encroachment.
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MPC - CCN5 (03/2021 – 12/2021)

In MPC CCN5, DLR IMF-ATP is testing and adapting the TROPOMI/S5P Level-2 UPAS algorithms following the update of S5P Level-1 product to Version 2 (L1 v2). For this a representative S5P L1 v2 test dataset was processed, the L2 algorithms were updated and the results verified the L2 data to be of expected quality. Finally, support for prosEO (being developed at DFD) has to be performed, i.e. preparation of docker containers; support during the UPAS integration in prosEO; support for the verification of selected UPAS test products generated with prosEO.

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.

	NAVIGATOR (10/2019 – 09/2021) In October 2019, together with colleagues from Cyprus University of Technology (CUT), the project NAVIGATOR - Copernicus Earth Observation Big Data for Cultural Heritage started. This project runs within the European „RESEARCH PROMOTION FOUNDATION PROGRAMMES FOR RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND INNOVATION – RESTART 2016 – 2020“.
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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.

obsAIRve Your Business (2014 – 2015)

Laut einer Studie der Weltgesundheitsorganisation (WHO) sterben allein in Europa ca. 600.000 Personen pro Jahr frühzeitig an den Folgen von schlechter Luftqualität. Viele Städte in Deutschland versuchen schon seit Jahren, die EU-Grenzwerte mit neuen und innovativen Mitteln einzuhalten. Die obsAIRveYourBusiness App präsentiert auf intelligente und leicht verständliche Weise Informationen über die Luftqualität in der Region Augsburg.

OptiMED-Water (09/2018 – 08/2021)

This project aims to overcome the lack of local and regional information on the main parameters of water and carbon cycles (as soil moisture, vegetation biomass and crop water status) by using the potentials offered by new satellite systems in both microwave and optical domain and advanced modeling. The overarching goal of Optimed-Water is to define an optimized management of water resources for cultivated lands on the Egyptian Delta (Northern part) and Tunisian territory.

OPUS-GMES (11/2012 – 10/2017)

The objective of the research and development project OPUS-GMES is to support activities for the preparation and establishment of a Copernicus Center in Germany. This center is to ensure national access to satellite data of the European Sentinel program, provide processing and archiving functions, and take over national and European functions for supplying users with data, products and services.

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.

	PARLU (2012 - 2016) PARLU aims to foster a balance among human activities and the use of the forest by incorporating a REDD + program.
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	PASODOBLE (2010 – 2013) PASODOBLE - The GMES Downstream Service Project for Air Quality - develops local and regional air quality services to provide information for the public, people at risk, tourism, sports and health authorities. PASODOBLE also provides information and consultancy services in support of political decision-making by local and regional authorities.
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The Polycentricity of German Metropolitan Areas - developing and testing a remote-sensing-based procedure to measure morphologic polycentricity (...)

The evolution of polycentric metropolitan areas is one of the most incisive structural changes of the past 30 years. The current decentralized structure of metropolitan areas in western industrialized countries is described as a complex, network of centres and subcentres organized according to a functional division of labour. To what extent this transformation process from monocentric to polycentric settlement structures in German metropolitan regions has progressed has only begun to be systematically researched.

	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.
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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.

QSP Big-Data-Plattform (6/2018 – 12/2021)

The focus of the project "Big Data Platform" (BDP) is a methodical "data science" platform for cross-focus analyses of heterogeneous, distributed data. For this purpose, Big Data and cloud computing technologies are addressed. In addition to its use in DLR's big data applications, the platform supports users from industry, government and the public in building complex value chains and creates new opportunities for action and planning, for example in the areas of mobility, environment and security.

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.
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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).

RIESGOS (11/2017 – 02/2021)

11/2017 – 02/2021
In recent decades people have become increasingly endangered worldwide by natural disasters – especially in densely settled urban areas. In the collaborative research project RIESGOS (spanish, “risks”) 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.

	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.
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RS4AIM (01/2022 – 12/2022)

The RS4AIM project (Remote Sensing for large-scale Agricultural Investment Monitoring in Ethiopia) is financed by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), a service provider assisting the German government in the field of international cooperation for sustainable development. In this project methods to monitor land use and classify field crops in Ethiopia are being developed and the corresponding information products generated. Special classification challenges are the sometimes small-scale field structures and the extensive cloud cover in the regions being investigated.

	SAFER (01/2009 – 2012) The EU SAFER project (Strategies and Actions for Flood Emergency Risk Management) is designed to convert the existing satellite-based emergency mapping system into a routinely operating service (ERCS - Emergency Response Core Service).
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	SALDi (11/2018 – 11/2022) South Africa Land Degradation Monitor South Africa will be affected to a large extent by climate change and weather extremes in the coming decades, which will also be reflected in the shifting of vegetation zones. Together with strong population growth, the risk of land degradation and thus permanent loss of land areas is therefore increasing.
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SAMUM (2004 - 2010)

The Sahara is a huge reservoir for the introduction of dust into the atmosphere, which can be carried as far as the Americas in air currents. In the SAMUM (Saharan Mineral Dust Experiment) project, the optical effects of mineral dust will be investigated in detail. A team of eight national institutes will take in-situ aerial as well as remote sensing measurements and combine them with models to derive information on the spatial distribution and transport of these dust layers as well as their physical and chemical composition.

	SAR4Urban (2015 – 2017) Implementation of a novel service for delineating maps past and current extent of urban areas by means of ERS/ASAR archive and/or Sentinel-1 data.
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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)

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.

	SatVal-A (10/2007 – 03/2011) Einrichtung einer nationalen Kontaktstelle für die Koordination von Validierungsaktivitäten für satellitenbasierte Messungen in der Atmosphäre (SatVal-A) als Element des Zentrums für Höhen- und Klimaforschung Schneefernerhaus
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SAUBER (10/2018 – 09/2021)

Ziel von SAUBER (Satellitenbasiertes System zur Anzeige, Prognose und Simulation von Luftschadstoffen für eine nachhaltige Stadt- und Regionalentwicklung) ist es, eine Informationsplattform für eine nachhaltige Stadt- und Regionalentwicklung aufzubauen. Dabei sollen die in der Praxis bislang kaum genutzten Daten und Services des Raumfahrtprogramms Copernicus erschlossen und in digitale Dienste für eine nachhaltige Stadt- bzw. Regionalentwicklung überführt werden. Das Projekt wird vom Bundesministerium für Verkehr und2 digitale Infrastruktur (BMVI) gefördert und gehört zur Forschungsinitiative mFUND, die sich mit digitalen datenbasierten Anwendungen für die Mobilität 4.0 befasst.

SDGs4Namibia (11/2020 – 04/2021)

Das Projekt „Assessment and Monitoring of SDG Indicators utilizing Satellite Remote Sensing“ wird von der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) finanziert und ist als Machbarkeitsstudie konzipiert. In der Studie werden – in enger Zusammenarbeit mit der Namibian Statistics Agency – die Indikatoren für drei Nachhaltigkeitsziele (SDGs) der Agenda 2030 mittels Erdbeobachtungsdaten errechnet und die Rahmenbedingungen für ein kontinuierliches nationales Monitoring und Reporting analysiert.

	Sen4Rus (ERA-Net RUS Plus, 2016 – 2019) Exploiting Sentinels for Supporting Urban Planning Applications at City and Regional Levels in Russia
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SENSUM (01/2013 – 12/2014)

Framework to integrate Space-based and in-situ sensing for dynamic vulnerability and recovery Monitoring:
As millions of people are exposed to significant natural hazards every year, the GMES/Copernicus FP 7 project “SENSUM – Framework to integrate Space-based and in-situ sENSing for dynamic vUlnerability and recovery Monitoring” responds to the urgent need to monitor and map time-dependent hazard and vulnerability. By the combination of space-based and in-situ data collection for test sites in and outside Europe, the project aims to develop a comprehensive approach and methodology for dynamic, multi-resolution monitoring of pre-disaster vulnerability and post-disaster recovery planning and monitoring. Under the lead management of GFZ and a consortium of eight prominent international scientific institutions including the DLR, the project is meant to set a new standard for future mapping of vulnerabilities.

So2Sat (2017 – ...)

In 2050, it is expected that three fourths of the world’s population will live in metropolises. This transition will inherently alter the physical dimensions and configurations of cities at all scales, which is a fact presenting an enormous challenge to urban planners and logisticians. Yet, our understanding of urbanization at these scales is primarily based on United Nations population figures, but these statistics do not provide information on the distribution, pattern, and evolution of the built environment. For example, the knowledge of the spatial evolution as well as the posulation density of informal settlements such as slums or refugee settlements in many mega-cities is far from sufficient for a sustainable planning.

	SOIL-DE (07/2018 – 12/2022) SOIL-DE is a project financed by the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture to assess soil used for agricultural purposes in Germany. Multispectral and hyperspectral data are employed to analyse soil functionality, intensity of use and vulnerability, both at present and retrospectively.
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Stadtklima im Wandel - 3DO (06/2016 – 05/2019)

06/2016 – 05/2019
Ziel ist die Entwicklung eines innovativen Stadtklimamodells, das in der Lage sein soll, für Städte der Größe von Stuttgart bis Berlin mikroskalige atmosphärische Prozesse auf Gebäudeebene aufzulösen, d.h. mit Gitterweiten von weniger als 10 m zu arbeiten. Damit können fachübergreifende Analysen durchgeführt und Maßnahmen zur Sicherung und Verbesserung des Stadtklimas oder der Luftreinhaltung geplant werden.

	SULU (2017 - 2019) Within SULU methods are developed and improved to achieve a "climate-smart" land use planning that takes into account not only biodiversity and carbon content, but also hydrological dynamics and greenhouse gas conservation potentials.
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TAPESTRIES (04/2020 – 03/2021)

Im Rahmen der Kooperation mit Äthiopien sollen Informationen aus Erdbeobachtungsdaten zur Verfügung gestellt werden, die die Überwachung und Folgenabschätzung der aktuellen hin zu Planung einer nachhaltigen Landbewirtschaftung in Äthiopien unterstützen können. Ziel des DLR ist es, Schlüsselinformationsprodukte der Erdbeobachtung, wie Vegetationsindizes (NDVI) und Anteile der Vegetation an der Bodenbedeckung (FCOVER) aus Sentinel-2 Zeitserien abzuleiten.

	TecVolSA(– 05/2022) Wir planen ein intelligentes Verarbeitungssystem für Erdbeobachtungsdaten zur Beobachtung des Erdbebenzyklus und der vulkanischen Aktivität in Südamerika.
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TerraFirma - Pan-European Ground Motion Hazard Information Service (2003 – 2012)

2003 - 2012
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.

TIMELINE (2013 - )

TIMELINE stands for “TIMe Series Processing of Medium Resolution Earth Observation Data assessing Long -Term Dynamics In our Natural Environment”.
The TIMELINE project will generate long and homogenized time series of NOAA and METOP AVHRR data over Europe and North Africa using the historical data archive of DFD-DLR. The time series will be provided to the public using a free and open data policy, covering a wide range of traditional and innovative remote sensing products covering different processing levels. The long time series of about 30 years of daily acquisitions and the implementation of sound operational algorithms and state of the art validation techniques ensure a unique product set that conforms to requirements that rise directly from the scientific community.

TEP Urban (ESA, 2015-2018)

Settlements and urban areas represent the cores of human activity and development. Besides climate change, urbanization represents one of the most relevant developments related to the human presence on the planet. Both global trends challenge our environmental, societal and economic development. In this context, the availability of and access to accurate, detailed and up-to-date information will impact decision making processes all over the world. The suite of Sentinel Earth Observation (EO) satellites in combination with their free and open access data policy contributes to a spatially and temporally detailed monitoring of the Earth’s surface.

	TraK (DLR, 2018 – 2021) DLR, 2018 – 2021 Transport and climate: climate protection in times of increasing global and national traffic (DLR, 2018-2021).
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Transport und Klima (TraK) (01/2018 – 12/2021)

Global gesehen trägt der Transport-Sektor mit 23 % zu den energiebedingten Treibhausgasemissionen bei und diese sind weiterhin ansteigend (IEA). Mit dem Projekt "Transport und Klima" (TraK) werden am DLR eine Referenzentwicklung für den globalen Verkehr sowie Fallstudien möglicher Maßnahmen und alternativer Entwicklungen berechnet. Dabei wird unter anderem untersucht, welchen Beitrag Fernerkundungsdaten leisten können. Hierbei liegt ein Schwerpunkt auf Verkehr in globalen Metropolenregionen.

	Urbanfluxes (H2020, 2015 – 2018) URBan ANthropogenic heat FLUX from Earth observation Satellites
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VABENE++ (2014 – 2018)

The goal of DLR transport research is to devise approaches for convincing solutions to relevant traffic problems. In order to achieve efficient and focused traffic management for large public events and major catastrophes, a reliable system is to be developed to optimize joint decision-making by public authorities, organizations with security responsibilities, and public transport agencies. In the VABENE project, up-to-date traffic information and forecasts will be used for situation assessment, and decision options will be presented with the help of an integrated management and visualization tool. The required data will be obtained in real time through aerial traffic and infrastructure monitoring with the help of optical and radar instruments.

	Visual Earth Lab (11/2017 – 06/2018) Over 50,000 visitors a year visit the ESA site in Frascati. The visitors, e.g. High-ranking delegations from member states, representatives of industry, politics and national and international space agencies have been given an introduction to ESA's earth observation missions in the „Control Room Earth Observation Platforms“.
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	WASCAL-Coop (2019 – 2022)
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WASCAL - West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (2012 - 2016)

With climate change being one of the most severe challenges to rural Africa in the 21st century, West Africa is facing an urgent need to develop effective adaptation and mitigation measures.
WASCAL (West African Science Service Center on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use) is a large-scale research-focused program designed to help tackle this challenge and thereby enhance the resilience of human and environmental systems to climate change and increased variability. It does so by strengthening the research infrastructure and capacity in West Africa related to climate change and by pooling the expertise of ten West African countries and Germany.

	WISDOM The transdisciplinary, BMBF-funded WISDOM project deals with the region of the Mekong Delta in the south of Vietnam, as well as in the future in parts with the entire Mekong catchment area comprising six countries. WISDOM stands for "Water related Information System fort he Sustainable Development of the Mekong Delta".
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WISDOM (2007 - 2013)

2007 - 2013
The WISDOM information system developed at DFD makes it possible to incorporate relevant planning information from a wide range of sources (remote sensing, GIS, and sensor data, digital maps, field maps, reports and documents, statistics, etc.) and retrieve it for specific problem contexts. It provides access to all the project data from the German-Vietnamese WISDOM project and makes an important contribution to developing and establishing an integrated water and land information system for the Mekong Delta in Vietnam.