Carmen Wegge, Member of the Bundestag, in the ZKI Operations Room ©Team Carmen Wegge MdB
On December 8, 2022, Carmen Wegge, SPD Member of the Bundestag, was hosted at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Oberpfaffenhofen. She informed herself about the current research, especially with regard to her activities in the Interior and Legal Affairs Committees of the German Bundestag and for her local constituency of Starnberg-Landsberg-Germering.
DLR site manager Zekeriya Ceyanli welcomed Carmen Wegge and gave her an overview of the most important facts about the site in Oberpfaffenhofen. The member of the Bundestag then visited the Institute of Atmospheric Physics, the Earth Observation Center (EOC), the Institute of High Frequency Technology and Radar Systems, and the German Space Operations Center (GSOC).
At the EOC and specifically at the Satellite-based Crisis Information (ZKI), she was informed about the potentials of Earth observation in the area of crisis information. In the event of natural and environmental disasters, for humanitarian relief activities, during major events and for civil security, satellite images, aerial photographs and further geodata can be used to provide up-to-date situation information. As the head of the ZKI, Dr. Monika Gähler, explained, Earth observation data can be obtained, analyzed and processed before, during or after crisis. DLR is already working closely with the Federal Ministry of the Interior in this area, due to the "IF-Bund" framework agreement (Innovative Remote Sensing for the Federal Administration). IF-Bund brings together research, applications and the demands of the administration.
Carmen Wegge also showed high interest in Tandem-L, a proposal from the Institute of High Frequency Technology and Radar Systems for an innovative satellite mission for the global observation of dynamic processes on the Earth's surface. The mission is expected to enable the collection of essential climate variables at a yet unachieved quality and resolution. Tandem-L can provide essential information to address urgent scientific questions on global change that are also key research areas of the EOC.