DLR - Earth Observation Center - Projects: Geo-Risks and Civil Security

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Applications and Projects: Geo-Risks and Civil Security

Establishing linked services for global environmental monitoring, developing early warning systems and disaster management gains increasing importance against a background of climate change. EOC participates in numerous relevant EU and ESA projects, cooperates with national and international organizations such as the UN Spider office and Germany’s disaster aid organization THW, and operates the Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information ZKI.

FE4KB (01/2023 –12/2023)

The Fe4KB project is an innovation project of the IF-Bund framework contract for the application of novel remote sensing methods in the federal administration. It builds on the results of the IF-Bund innovation project FE4ErSiGG. The duration of the project is from January to December 2023 and it is developed together with the Federal Institute for Population Research (BiB) and the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR).

	SaiNSOR (01/2023 –12/2025) The aim of the SaiNSOR project is to develop basic technologies and methods and to translate them into concrete measurement systems for cross-program applications. The main objective is the close integration of sensor technology and data processing with artificial intelligence (AI) methods.
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TRIQUETRA (01/2023 – 12/2025)

Cultural heritage (CH) is about all tangible and intangible aspects of society and culture. Our CH sites can be exposed to extremely unfavourable external conditions, which are becoming more pronounced, especially in the context of climate change. Understanding these challenges and how to address them is important, if these sites are to be preserved and passed on to future generations.

	GEOCON (01/2023 – 12/2025) In the GEOCON project ("Satellite based geoinformation in urban conflict regions for supporting humanitarian activities") led by DFD-GZS, demand-oriented information products are created for conflict regions, such as Ukraine, in an interactive situation display for humanitarian aid activities.
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	iFOODis (01/2023 – 12/2027) The project "Improving the sustainability of food cycles through intelligent (robotic) systems" (iFOODis) contributes to the improvement of sustainable food production by establishing an intelligent robotic monitoring network for the continuous assessment of the state of terrestrial and surface water ecosystems in relation to agricultural activities.
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TEMA (12/2022 – 11/2026)

In the TEMA project, technologies and processes are being developed to provide the best possible support to authorities and first responders in preparing for natural disasters and in disaster management. One focus of the research work is on the further development of the AI-based extraction of forest fire and flood events from remote sensing data as well as the integration of other, heterogeneous data sources into the analysis process. Users will be informed at an early stage when it will be possible to update the situational picture with information from earth observation.

	IFAS (10/2022 – 09/2024) In the case of a crisis event, information, also from remote sensing data, is often available quite late and rarely in high spatial resolution. In order to avoid time delays in the future, an "early triggering" approach is being developed in the project " Indicator Monitoring for Early Acquisition of Innovative Satellite Sensors in Natural Disasters".
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	GFM (10/2020 – 10/2026) Im Rahmen eines Auftrags des Joint Research Centers (JRC) der Europäischen Kommission erfolgt durch die sog. Expert Flood Monitoring Alliance (EODC, DLR, LIST, GeoVille, TU Wien, LIST, CIMA) der Aufbau und Betrieb eines automatischen und globalen Sentinel-1 basierten Hochwassersystems für den Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS).
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PARATUS (10/2022 – 09/2026)

Die Verflechtungen zwischen Naturgefahren und kaskadierenden Effekten führen häufig zu zerstörerischen Folgen für Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Akteure des Katastrophenrisikomanagementes stehen vor der Herausforderung, Risikominderungsstrategien und Notfallpläne entsprechend anzupassen. PARATUS hat zum Ziel eine Plattform zu entwickeln, die es den Nutzern ermöglicht, die Dynamik in komplexen Risikosituationen sektorübergreifend abzubilden.

	Sat4GWR_IF-Bund (10/2021 – 12/2024) In dem IF-Bund Innovationsprojekt „Sat4GWR_IF-Bund- Fernerkundung & KI für den Registerzensus“ sollen Algorithmen entwickelt werden, die in der Lage sind, Gebäude und Unterkünfte auf Satelliten- bzw. Luftbildern zu erkennen sowie bestimmte Merkmale abzuleiten.
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	MaiSHU (01/2022 – 12/2024) The project "Multimodal Perception and Human-Machine Interfaces of Semi-Autonomous Intelligent Systems for Humanitarian Assistance in Uncertain and Unstructured Environments" (MaiSHU) aims to develop innovative technologies that enable assisted teleoperation of vehicles for humanitarian assistance and delivery of goods in challenging, unstructured environments.
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International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" (01/2020 – 12/2024)

The International Charter "Space and Major Disasters" is an association of space agencies and satellite operators with the aim of providing a unified system for the rapid acquisition and delivery of satellite data in case of a disaster or crisis situation. The Charter members thus enable the free availability of satellite data to authorised users in the event of a disaster, such as relief and civil protection organisations or defence and security organisations, to support relief operations in the event of humanitarian or natural disasters.

Ecosystem services of the urban forest (12/2021 – 11/2024)

Urban trees provide diverse ecosystem services to improve climatic and hydrological conditions as well as contribute to climate change adaptation in cities, for example through cooling, shading, carbon storage and biodiversity conservation. In this project, the complete stock of trees in the urban area of Munich will be identified based on aerial and satellite data with very-high spatial resolution, and their structure, dimensions, and environmental parameters will be recorded.

KLIPS (10/2020 – 03/2024)

Ziel von KLIPS ist die Entwicklung einer KI-basierten Informationsplattform zur Lokalisierung und Simulation von städtischen Hitzeinseln. Hitzeinseln sind nicht nur ein Gesundheitsrisiko, sondern verursachen auch hohe Schäden an der Infrastruktur. Durch den Klimawandel werden Hitzeinseln immer häufiger auftreten und unsere Städte vor ein Dilemma stellen: Während sie sich einerseits immer weiter verdichten müssen, leistet andererseits gerade dies der Entstehung von Hitzeinseln Vorschub. Umgekehrt verringern Maßnahmen zur Bekämpfung von Hitzeinseln die Flächen für Wohnen, Arbeit und Verkehr. Um diese Konkurrenz um städtische Flächen zu entschärfen, ermöglicht KLIPS ein integriertes Flächenmanagement, das die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Hitzeinseln einerseits sowie Wohnen, Arbeiten und Verkehr andererseits ganzheitlich erfasst.

GFSS (Global Flood Service based on Sentinel Data) (07/2021 – 06/2024)

Due to their global coverage as well as high spatio-temporal resolution, the European Sentinel satellites offer unprecedented potential for dynamic monitoring of water areas. In order to quickly retrieve relevant information in case of a crisis event, not only intelligent analysis algorithms are needed, but also modern and scalable data processing approaches.

	DatKI4BKG (10/2021 – 04/2024 ) Mit dem Projekt „DatKI4BKG - Aufbau eines Datenmanagementsystems (DMS) und Entwicklung KI-basierter Methoden in der Fernerkundung für Anwendungsbereiche des BKG“ bauen BKG und DLR für das BKG Fernerkundungsdatensysteme für große Datenmengen auf und übertragen KI-Anwendungen aus der Forschung in die Verwaltungspraxis.
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RIESGOS 2.0 (03/2021 – 02/2024)

Increasing numbers of people worldwide are being exposed to natural hazards, particularly in densely populated cities and conurbations. Effective prevention and risk management can save lives. Hazards are rarely isolated: If an earthquake triggers a tsunami, this in turn can generate further environmental disasters and disruptions. Torrential rain can cause landslides and lead to rivers bursting their banks, resulting in flooding. These chain reactions can compound a disaster and quickly overwhelm victims and rescue workers. Information systems can help planners and emergency services to pre-emptively draw up multi-risk scenarios and to take targeted precautions.

TSUNAMI_RISK (03/2021 – 02/2024)

2018 ereigneten sich zwei katastrophale Tsunamis in Indonesien. Auslöser dafür waren Hangrutschungen in der Nähe von Palu (Sulawesi) und ein Flankenversagen am Vulkan Anak Krakatau in Folge vulkanischer Eruptionen. Auf Grund der nicht-seismischen Anregungen der Tsunamis war das bestehende Tsunami-Frühwarnsystem nicht ausreichend in der Lage, effiziente Warnmeldungen zu liefern. Ziel des Projekts TSUNAMI_RISK ist es daher, durch gemeinsame Forschung mit indonesischen Partnern zu einem verbesserten Katastrophenrisikomanagement bei nicht-seismisch induzierten Tsunamis beizutragen.

	ACIS (03/2022 – 12/2023) In the ACIS project "Anticipation of Conflicts using Information from Satellites," satellite and geospatial data are being examined for their suitability in predicting conflicts with greater spatial and temporal precision.
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Noise2NAKO(AI) (11/2020 – 10/2023)

Sophisticated spatial and spatio-temporal exposure models are urgently needed to better reflect real-life exposures and to comprehensively determine and understand the long-term impact of environmental factors on health. Furthermore, advanced statistical and data science approaches are needed to elucidate and understand the complex interplay between the environment and population health. Currently available models are hampered by the trade-off between complexity and interpretability as well as the biased nature of population-based cohort data.

MetaMap3 (07/2021 – 06/2023)

Digital metadata solutions for the Health domain are urgently needed to bring together the numerous existing epidemiological cohorts for joint analysis of the effects of complex risk factor profiles on health. In addition, the environment plays an increasingly important role for human health and efficient linkage with the multitude of environmental and earth observation data is crucial to quantify human exposures.

MultiSaT4SLOWS (07/2021 – 06/2023)

Ein automatisiertes Detektionssystem zur Früherkennung von Hangbewegungen und Bewertung der Hangstabilität ist die Voraussetzung für ein wirksames Hangbewegungs-Warnsystem. Die mit Sentinel-1 nun in großer Anzahl verfügbaren SAR Aufnahmen, ermöglichen es, unabhängig vom Wetter, neue Lösungen für die satellitengestützte Notfallkartierung und die Gefahrenabschätzung zu entwickeln. Das Projekt MultiSaT4SLOWS zielt auf die Entwicklung eines multiskaligen satellitengestützten Ansatzes zur Datenfusion ab, bei dem eine Kombination von optischen und Radardaten für eine nahezu in Echtzeit erfolgende Erkennung von Hangrutschungen und von Anzeichen des Hangversagens erfolgt.

AIFER (02/2021 – 10/2023)

Artificial Intelligence for analysis and fusion of Earth Observation and internet data to support situational awareness in emergency response
Frequency and intensity of natural disasters are steadily increasing. Authorities and organisations with security tasks (BOS) are facing increasingly greater challenges with regard to the availability and use of near-real-time and large-scale information for assessing the disaster situation. In addition, there are currently no solutions for automated analysis and fusion of heterogeneous big data, such as Earth Observation and internet data, in such a way that a holistic and dynamically updated situation picture is created. AIFER develops artificial intelligence (AI) methods to automatically extract and fuse information from satellite, aerial image and drone data as well as from geo-social media and news.

	FOPOS (12/2020 – 05/2023) Ziel des Projekts „Forschung und nutzerkonforme Produkte für nationale und internationale BOS“ ist die intelligente Informations-fusion zu nutzerspezifischen ZKI- Produkten für BOS Akteure.
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	Drones4Good (01/2021 – 12/2022) In order to make the use of drones in disaster management safer, the project “Drones4Good” was launched. It uses EOC’s AI methodologies to derive information from aerial images collected by drones to support the coordination of local relief efforts.
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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.

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.

	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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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.

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.

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.

	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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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.

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.

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.

	ZKI-DE – ZKI Service for Federal Agencies (2013 – today) The German Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) established a framework contract which enables national authorities and other authorized users to order products of the Center for Satellite Based Crisis Information (ZKI), beginning from January 2013.
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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

	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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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.

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.

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.

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.

	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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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.

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-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.

	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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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.