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	Special Issue of IEEE J-STARS 19 January 2010 The IEEE Journal of Selected Topics in Applied Earth Observations and Remote Sensing (J-STARS) special issue on Fostering Applications of Earth Observation of the Atmosphere is just being published.
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	“Focus on hemispheric asymmetries and planetary waves” - First NDMC-campaign successfully completed 13 November 2009 From September 01 to October 31, 2009, the first global NDMC (Network for the Detection of Mesopause Change) measurement campaign has been successfully conducted; over 20 members of the international NDMC association participated in this global experiment.
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DLR disseminates global atmospheric composition data in near-real-time via the WMO Global Telecommunication System

18 September 2009
The DLR Applied Remote Sensing Cluster continuously derives the global distribution of different trace gases in the atmosphere, based on data of the GOME-2/MetOp mission. Since August 2009, the data is also disseminated in near-real-time via the WMO Global Telecommunication System and can be received by all weather services worldwide within 2 hours from sensing.

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DLR cooperates with ESA implementing standardized OGC interfaces to serve GMES users with TerraSAR-X and IRS data

25 August 2009
The German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) of DLR is implementing standardized Heterogeneous Mission Accessibility (HMA) interfaces for the Data and Information Management System (DIMS) to serve TerraSAR-X and IRS earth observation satellite data to the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) users under contract of the European Space Agency (ESA).

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Set-up of DLR-receiving antennas for the TanDEM-X mission in INUVIK (North Canada) has been successfully

18 August 2009
By means of installing a 13m parabolic antenna in the north Canadian permafrost region near UINUVIK, the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD) has passed a further important milestone preparing for the TanDEM-X mission, scheduled to be launched late October. In Cooperation with the Canadian Center for Remote Sensing CCRS and the Swedish Space Corporation SSC the INUVIK station will provide the basic for the topographic mapping of the polar region and arctic environmental research.

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	WDC-RSAT receives the status of an official WMO world data center 04 August 2009 DLR and the World Meteorological Organization have signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Geneva on July 22nd, in which the World data Center for Remote Sensing of the Atmosphere (WDC-RSAT) operated by the DFD has been established as an official Worl Data Center of the WMO.
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	NDVI anomaly over central Europe reveals unusual warm beginning of spring 2009 25 May 2009 Data from the Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) sensor on board of the NOAA weather satellites are received and processed at DLR-DFD on a daily time scale since the beginning of the 1990.
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	2nd NDMC Meeting in Bad Reichenhall 18 May 2009 Scientists from around the world attended the 2nd NDMC Meeting from 4-8 May in Bad Reichenhall to present their scientific results and to discuss NDMC’s further development. Currently, scientists from 21 countries participate with their measurements at 48 sites around the globe.
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Mr. Horst Köhler, President of Germany, and Mr. Horst Seehofer, Prime Minister of the Free State of Bavaria, visited the Environmental Station "Schneefernerhaus (UFS)"

15 April 2009
On Tuesday, 14 April 2009, Mr. Horst Köhler, President of Germany, and Mr. Horst Seehofer, Prime Minister of the Free State of Bavaria, visited the Environmental Station "Schneefernerhaus (UFS)" on top of the mountain Zugspitze, Germany, to learn about the research work being performed at UFS.

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First successful TELIS flight

26 March 2009
TELIS (Terahertz and submillimeter LImbSounder) is a new remote sensing instrument measuring atmospheric trace gases from a stratospheric balloon platform in the submillimeter and far infrared spectral region. On March, 11th, 0:18 local time a 400.000 m3 helium balloon was launched in Kiruna / Sweden for a 12 hour flight reaching a maximum altitude of 36 km. TELIS operated without any problems during this first scientific mission. A large number of atmospheric trace gases especially instable species and water isotopologues were measured in the height range 12-36 km. TELIS data will improve the understanding of atmospheric processes (ozone, climate), support the investigation of long term atmospheric changes and can validate satellite measurements.

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	Explosive eruption of Mt. Redoubt, Alaska on 23rd March 2009 25 March 2009 After an inactive phase of 20 years Alaska’s Mount Redoubt volcano erupted explosively on 23rd March 2009 at 5:38 UTC. Four further eruptions followed. A 60 hours forecast provides the dispersion of the ash cloud and trace gases over North America.
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	First EnMap Workshop on October 13/14, 2009 in Potsdam 24. März 2009 The German Space Agency (DLR) and the German Research Centre for Geosciences (GFZ) jointly organize the first national EnMAP Workshop. The workshop addresses scientific as well as application oriented users in Germany.
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	GOME-2 detects stratospheric warming in the Northern Hemisphere 11. Februar 2009 Stratospheric warmings are one the most dramatic phenomena of the atmosphere: this spontaneous warming of the winter stratosphere is sometimes even linked to a reversal of the large scale circulation.
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	DLR-UN-Spider Capacity Building Workshop on Water related Disasters and emergency management in Namibia 5. Februar 2009 In January 2009, the German Aerospace Center, DLR in collaboration with UN-SPIDER are carrying out a national Capacity Building Workshop and technical training on earth observation technology for flood mapping and emergency management in Namibia.
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	New GMES Project „SAFER - Services und Applications for Emergency Response“ with strong involvement of DLR started 4. Februar 2009 On January 01, 2009, the EU-project „SAFER - Services und Applications for Emergency Response“ started. Aim of SAFER is to develop the existing satellite based emergency response service into an operational service (ERCS - Emergency Response Core Service).
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	DLR Competition of visions: DFD proposal EDDY receives award 02 February 2009 The EDDY-proposal of DFD has been selected for promotion by DLR's board of directors in the "Competition of Visions 2009".
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Kickoff-Meeting of G-MOSAIC

28. Januar 2009
The official kick-off meeting for the FP-7 project GMES Services for Management of Operations, Situation Awareness and Intelligence for regional Crisis (G-MOSAIC, duration of project 01.01.2009 – 31.12.2011) was held in Rome on 20th and 21st of January. Within the context of the GMES initiative, the G-MOSAIC Collaborative Project aims at identifying and developing products, methodologies and pilot services to provide geo-spatial information to support EU external relations policy and to define and demonstrate sustainability of GMES global security perspective. Researchers from Applied Remote Sensing Cluster will provide significant contributions to G-Mosaic.

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Prince Albert II of Monaco visited the German Antarctic Receiving Station of DFD in O’Higgins

13. Januar 2009
On January 7, 2009, Prince Albert II of Monaco visited the German Antarctic Receiving Station of DFD in O’Higgins. Local staff representatives of both DFD and BKG took the opportunity to present the role of the receiving station and the activities towards long-term observation of the Antarctica with ERS-1 and ERS-2, and the recent support of the TerraSAR-X background mission. Prince Albert II was escorted by the commander of the adjacent Chilean Station and by Brigadier Salgado from the Chilean Air Force, who is in charge of the implementation of the Chilean Earth-Observation (SSOT) programme.

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TerraSAR-X image of the month: Oil disaster off the Australian coast

27 November 2009
On 21 August 2009, the Montara offshore oil platform in the Timor Sea, to the northeast of Australia, started leaking oil. Over a period of ten weeks, more than two million litres of oil were lost into the sea, forming a 2000 square kilometre slick. The German radar satellite TerraSAR-X followed the growth of the slick as it occurred. The picture shows the platform and the slick spreading out from it, visible as a dark area.

First autumn-school of the network EOS

01 November 2009
From Oktober 26 to 29 the first autumn school of the network EOS has been held at the „Haus der Bayerischen Landwirtschaft” in Herrsching. The workshop convened more than 30 PhDs and 20 further experts in order to discuss their work on the seven topics of the network. Both the organization and conduction of the event were in the responsibility of the "Cluster for Applied Remote Sensing" of DLR.

Earthquake in Indonesia (Padang, Sumatra) on September 30, 2009

01 October 2009
On September 30, 2009, a severe earthquake took place in the Indian Ocean with a magnitude of 7.9 and several aftershocks. The epicentre was registered about 50 km north-eastern of Padang in a depth of 85 km. Heavy shocks caused the collapse of many buildings and bridges, fires broke out and major parts of the technical infrastructure failed. More than 500 people died, much more than 1000 are missing (data from October 1, 2009).

Flash floods near Istanbul, Turkey, September 11th, 2009

12 September 2009
Heavy rainfall has caused severe flooding in Istanbul and northwestern Turkey on September 8, 2009, killing at least 30 people, destroying bridges and flooding houses and streets. The maps, produced from DFD, show pre-event water extents (as detected on March 24, 2009) in the area west of Istanbul, compared to those analysed on September 11, 2009, after the event. Also annotated are areas which appear moist in the radar data.

OceanSAR 2009 Workshop

07 September 2009
The 2009 workshop on SAR Ocean Remote Sensing was helt at "Haus der bayerischen Landwirtschaft" in Herrsching, Germany from September 7-11, 2009. The workshop was hosted and organized by the Remote Sensing Technology Institute IMF of the German Aerospace Center DLR.

Early warning – DLR contributes to international Space Weather Service

02 September 2009
On September 2nd 2009 the German Remote Sensing Data Center DFD of DLR has launched the reception of data from the US satellite „Advanced Composition Explorer“ (ACE). The receiving facility in Neustrelitz is the European contribution to the global space weather observation system, it is characterized by uninterrupted recording of data from sunrise to sunset. The space weather service will provide operators and users of telecommunication-, navigation-, and earth observation systems with crucial information about corrections and disturbances on a long term base.

Forest Fires in Greece

24 August 2009
Several forest fires have occurred since August 21, 2009 in the prefecture Attika, north-eastern of Athens, Greece. The fires, fanned by strong winds, destroyed thousands of hectares of forest land, farming fields and olive groves. Many residents had to be evacuated from their homes.

Hyperspectral Workshop 2010 / Submission of abstracts until November 13, 2009

6 August 2009
From March 17 to 19, the Hyperspectral Workshop 2010 will take place at ESA´s Earth Observation Center (ESRIN) in Frascati, Italy. Conference details are provided at www.congrex.nl/10C02. Deadline for the submission of abstracts is November 13, 2009. The workshop will be jointly organized by the European Space Agency (ESA), the German Aerospace Center (DLR) together with the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), and the Italian Space Agency (ASI). The workshop will focus on the current and future hyperspectral / imaging spectroscopy capacity in Europe. It aims to combine the established user community of the ESA CHRIS Proba mission with the European and International user communities in preparation for the future hyperspectral missions PRISMA (ASI) and EnMAP (DLR/GFZ).

Cost free access to RapidEye data for scientists

5 August 2009
DLR enables scientists in Germany cost free access to data from the RapidEye satellites. In the framework of the public-private partnership with the commercial partner for the development of the RapidEye system, and supported by the Federal Ministry for Economics, DLR was granted a user license for an area of 29,4sqm. These data will be recorded over seven years. Through the RESA web portal at resaweb.dlr.de scientist may apply for free access to RapidEye data. The decision about the allotment will then be taken by a board of independent reviewers. (Image: Copyrights 2009 RapidEye AG)

High-precision aerial photographs of the Landslide in Nachterstedt

24 July 2009
In the context of the project ARGOS (Airborne Wide Area High Altitude Monitoring System) DLR has produced high-resolution aerial imagery of the Nachterstedt (Saxony-Anhalt) region that has been recently affected by a landslide. The imaging instrument was mounted on a Cessna Caravan.

TerraSAR-X Image of the Month: Ship identification in the Kiel Fjord and the Baltic Sea

22 July 2009
This image – from the German TerraSAR-X radar satellite - shows the city of Kiel and the Kiel Fjord, an approximately 17-km long fjord or firth of the Baltic Sea on the northeastern shore of Schleswig-Holstein. The ships that were in this area at the time the image was captured are each marked with a circle. The high resolution of TerraSAR-X images makes them ideally suitable for the rapid identification of ships. The image was taken on 18 June 2009. It was acquired in stripmap mode with a resolution of three metres.

Venus' atmosphere observed – SCIAMACHY on Envisat looks elsewhere

17 July 2009
Scientists at the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Netherlands Institute for Space Research (SRON) have found a new area of deployment for the SCIAMACHY atmospheric instrument on the European environmental satellite ENVISAT. In March and June 2009, the spectrometer was directed away from its normal target, Earth, towards our neighbouring inner planet Venus and investigated its radiation at visible light and near-infrared wavelengths.

TerraSAR-X image of the month: The volcano 'Piton de la Fournaise' on the island of La Réunion

26 June 2009
The image, taken by the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X, shows the volcano 'Piton de la Fournaise' (Furnace Peak) in the south of the island of La Réunion (Indian Ocean). This is the last active volcano on the island and is 2631 metres high. By means of very precise repeat-pass interferometric measurements, TerraSAR-X is able to detect even small movements of the Earth's surface, thus supporting volcano monitoring.

German TanDEM-X radar satellite now complete

15 June 2009
In early 2009, Friedrichshafen-based aerospace company Astrium completed construction of the German radar satellite TanDEM-X. This satellite was created in collaboration with the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). The satellite, five metres in length and weighing 1.3 tons, has now been transported to Ottobrunn, a town near Munich. In special-purpose test facilities operated by Astrium and IABG, the satellite will undergo trials until mid-September 2009 to confirm its suitability for operation in outer space. It will be subjected to extreme temperatures and radiation and, in particular, the loads experienced during launch will be simulated. Once the tests are completed, the satellite will be transported to the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

TerraSAR-X image of the month: L’Aquila after the earthquake of April 6, 2009-05-28

27 May 2009
The image of the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X shows the region of L’Aquila in central Italy after the earthquake of magnitude 6.3 on April 6th. The so-called interferogram was computed from two records of TerraSAR-X, one of them taken 2 months before the event , the other one 6 days after the hazard.

Animated aerial- and satellite-imagery for the 60th anniversary of the German Constitution

27 May 2009
The post-war development of both German states is also reflected by the architectural concepts, the buildings, streets and places – in particular in Berlin. These historical architectural changes have now been elaborated by scientists of the Geo-Visualisation Center (GeoVis) of DFD. Using aerial photographs and satellite imagery from 1928 to 2009 they have produced video-animations showing distinctly the damages by war, the reconstruction progress, the wall and other DDR buildings, the renovating period after reunification and the recent status of Berlin.

Northern ice front of Wilkins Ice Shelf is becoming unstable

28 April 2009
Following the loss of an ice bridge on the Antarctic Wilkins Ice Shelf, the northern ice front is now becoming unstable. The first icebergs broke off at this point on 20 April 2009. This was observed by scientists using the TerraSAR-X Earth observation satellite operated by the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). "We anticipate that, over the next days and weeks, an area of 570 to 3370 square kilometres will break away before – hopefully – a new and more stable northern ice front will form", states Dr Angelika Humbert, a glaciologist at the University of Münster's Geophysics Institute.

TerraSAR-X Image of the Month: The Wadden Sea in North Frisia

21 April 2009
The image shows the mudflats near the island of Sylt. It was compiled from two satellite images that were taken by the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X in April and May 2008. The individual pictures are coloured red and green respectively. The difference in the reflected radar signals is especially large over the areas of water, as it is here that there were the most changes between when the first picture was taken in April and the second in May. The blue coloured strip has been used to highlight this. The resulting image can be used to extensively study the morphology, sediments and habitats in the Wadden Sea.

Direct Broadcast Mode auf dem Satelliten Terra reaktiviert

26. März 2009
Ausfall des Direct Broadcast Modes auf dem Satelliten Terra
26. März 2009
Auf dem Satelliten Terra steht der Direct Broadcast Mode auf Grund technischer Schwierigkeiten derzeit nicht zur Verfügung. Die NASA hofft, diesen in absehbarer Zeit wieder reaktivieren zu können. Aus diesem Grund wurde der Empfangsbetrieb des DLR vollständig auf den Satelliten Aqua umgestellt.
MODIS Level 1b Daten von Aqua sind derzeit ausschließlich über DIMS/EOWEB mit ca. einem Tag Zeitverzug zu erhalten.

Special Issue of IEEE J-STARS

“Focus on hemispheric asymmetries and planetary waves” - First NDMC-campaign successfully completed

DLR disseminates global atmospheric composition data in near-real-time via the WMO Global Telecommunication System

DLR cooperates with ESA implementing standardized OGC interfaces to serve GMES users with TerraSAR-X and IRS data

Set-up of DLR-receiving antennas for the TanDEM-X mission in INUVIK (North Canada) has been successfully

WDC-RSAT receives the status of an official WMO world data center

NDVI anomaly over central Europe reveals unusual warm beginning of spring 2009

2nd NDMC Meeting in Bad Reichenhall

Mr. Horst Köhler, President of Germany, and Mr. Horst Seehofer, Prime Minister of the Free State of Bavaria, visited the Environmental Station "Schneefernerhaus (UFS)"

First successful TELIS flight

Explosive eruption of Mt. Redoubt, Alaska on 23rd March 2009

First EnMap Workshop on October 13/14, 2009 in Potsdam

GOME-2 detects stratospheric warming in the Northern Hemisphere

DLR-UN-Spider Capacity Building Workshop on Water related Disasters and emergency management in Namibia

New GMES Project „SAFER - Services und Applications for Emergency Response“ with strong involvement of DLR started

DLR Competition of visions: DFD proposal EDDY receives award

Kickoff-Meeting of G-MOSAIC

Prince Albert II of Monaco visited the German Antarctic Receiving Station of DFD in O’Higgins

OceanSAR 2009 Workshop