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BLOG: Happy Birthday DFD, IMF, EOC


On September 1, 1980 – 40 years ago today – the German Remote Sensing Data Center DFD began work on “Mission Remote Sensing” as an independent DLR entity.
Today, DFD is a component of DLR's Earth Observation Center EOC, and its 40th birthday joins two other important anniversaries in 2020: the 20th anniversary of the Remote Sensing Technology Institute IMF and of EOC and in 2021 the 25 Years Robot Archive (Neustrelitz) anniversary as a whole.

40 years German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD)


The German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) turns 40 years old. DFD has been receiving and analyzing images from earth observation satellites since 1980. More than 21 terabytes of data are processed and processed there daily. Today, the German Satellite Data Archive (D-SDA) established by DFD provides access to 29 petabytes of remote sensing data from four decades. The data volume corresponds to video material with a lifetime of more than 800 years.
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BLOG: 25 Years Robot Archive in Neustrelitz


15 March 2021
Anniversaries briefly interrupt the flow of our fast-paced lives and clear the way for a look back to the past as well as forward to the future. After last year’s major event celebrating 40 Years DFD, in Neustrelitz at least, the 25th anniversary of our robot archive is on the agenda. It is perhaps worth glancing back to that time of ferment when, among other changes, the integration of the Neustrelitz ground station as part of DFD was well advanced, but by no means complete. Combining two until then autonomously-functioning entities involves practical matters such as information channels and administrative changes like cost accounts, but it must also take place in parallel in the minds of all those involved.
Full article

40 Years DFD – 40 years of international cooperation


11 November 2020

by Gunter Schreier, at DFD since 1985

For more than eight months the whole world has been in the state of emergency that goes by the name of COVID-19. Like most of my DLR colleagues I too am working from home.
Meetings and conferences are being held virtually, if they take place at all. Now that DLR has adapted to Lync and Skype, telephoning from home is just as convenient as from the office, assuming a good internet connection. “Webinars” replace formerly scheduled meetings and conferences. One gathers in cyberspace instead of traveling to partners and colleagues or inviting them to Oberpfaffenhofen. One sits in front of a webcam, casually dressed instead of first fetching one’s best trousers, a jacket, or even maybe a suit from a roller suitcase, smoothing out the wrinkles in the steam from the hotel shower and then – if it’s a meeting at the height of summer and without air conditioning – taking off one’s suit jacket as soon as possible.
Full article

40 Years DFD – Beginning the Analysis of Remote Sensing Data


04 November 2020

by Hon.-Prof. Dr Rudolf Winter, DFD Remote Sensing Applications department head from 1980 until 1996

Looking back to 1978, I see a particularly competent team in Oberpfaffenhofen successfully taking in hand the brand-new topic of the digital image processing of remote sensing data. It was almost a Silicon Valley atmosphere. The point of departure was image data from the successful earth observation satellites Landsat (from 1972 on) and Spot (from 1986).
Full article

Origin and Development of the German Processing and Archiving Facility (D-PAF) for the ESA- ERS-1 Mission


30 October 2020

by Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Gredel, DFD Information Systems department head until 1998, and then head of Strategic Planning and Resources at DFD and EOC until December 2002
 

Winfried Markwitz has already incisively summarized the most significant events leading up to the establishment of DFD. Reading his retrospect brought back many memories, since Winfried Markwitz was my direct superior from 1967 until his retirement in September 1996. The implementation and in due course successful operation of the German Processing and Archiving Facility (D-PAF) for ERS-1 had, all in all, a substantial influence on the positive development of the Applied Data Technology department into the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), and it determined the main emphasis of my activities at DFD from the late 1980s into the 1990s.
Full article

The Genesis of DIMS


28 October 2020

by Kurt Schmidt, former head of the Information Technology Department (DFD-IT)

With the text that follows I am responding to the friendly request to supply a few remarks on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of DFD – making it by all means personal, if possible with a touch of humour, and perhaps focusing on the genesis of DIMS, in whatever way I see fit. DLR has been in my thoughts anyway, ever since I ceased working there; I drive past it almost daily. My memories are quite alive. For me, DLR is one of the felicitous institutions. I not only worked there, it was a big part of my life. And it is a pleasure to cast my eyes over the gently illuminated premises whenever I drive past in the evening: you might even call it the devotion of an engineer.
Full article

PART 4 – From Cluster AF to Earth Observation Center (EOC)


26 October 2020
A milestone of functional effectiveness and inner cohesion of Clusters AF in Oberpfaffenhofen was situating most of the departments in two neighbouring buildings, 121 (the traditional DFD premises since 1989) and 122, an old existing building that had its best years behind it and needed renovation.
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PART 3 – A larger context: establishing the applied remote sensing cluster


21 October 2020
br Prof. Stefan Dech
We were hardly used to our new roles when new structural adversities threatened. The Executive Board established a structure commission spanning individual institutes and physical locations to evaluate the two fields “earth observation” and “communication/navigation”. The chairman was Prof. Philipp Hartl, a cunning old fox and recognized expert in space matters from the very beginning. We as a young leadership team were surrounded by experienced directors who were up to every trick.
Full article

20 Years Remote Sensing Technology Institute


19 October 2020
by Prof. Richard Bamler, IMF Director since 2000
Full article

PART 2/4 – Cornerstones of the first two decades


16 October 2020
Any look back can easily be influenced by the vantage point of one’s own activities and perceptions. For that reason I want to first mention in Part 2 some additional fundamental decisions about the future course of DFD that continue to have an effect up to the present.
Full article

For Remote Sensing
Teil 1/4 - Meine ersten Jahre in der DFVLR


14 October 2020
by Prof. Stefan Dech, DFD Director since 1998
Full article

Origin and Early Years of the German Remote Sensing Data Center DFD


01 September 2020
as experienced by Prof. Winfried Markwitz, 1st DFD Director (1980-1996)
 
Beginnings ....
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Happy Birthday, DFD!


01 September 2020
On September 1, 1980 – 40 years ago today – the German Remote Sensing Data Center DFD began work on “Mission Remote Sensing” as an independent DLR entity. In August 1980 the executive board of what was then called the "German Test and Research Institute for Aviation and Space Flight" (DFVLR) decided to establish a new institute. Initially named "Applied Data Technology", it was placed under the leadership of Prof. Winfried Markwitz.
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