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Microwaves and Radar Institute

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Alberto Moreira
Director of the Institute, Wessling

Microwaves and Radar Institute

With its know-how and expertise in passive and active microwave remote sensing, the Microwaves and Radar Institute contributes to the development and advancement of ground-based, airborne and spaceborne sensors. The focus of its research work is on the conception and development of new synthetic aperture radar (SAR) techniques and systems, as well as sensor-specific applications.

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100 Years of Tutankhamun: Discovering the valley of the kings with radar

16 February 2023
100 years ago, British archaeologist Howard Carter opened Tutankhamun's burial chamber. For years he had been searching for the pharaoh's tomb in the Valley of the Kings, northwest of the Upper Egyptian city of Luxor. Almost giving up, he found Tutankhamun's tomb in the winter of 1922. However, several months of careful preparations were needed before the archaeologist could penetrate the interior of the burial chamber. On February 16, 1923, Howard Carter and his team finally broke through the door between the antechamber and the burial chamber. Inside, they found a treasure trove of almost completely preserved burial objects and the sarcophagus of the pharaoh - still a sensational find today (IN GERMAN).

PermaSAR - DLR research in the Canadian Arctic

15 February 2023
Permafrost - the foundation of the Arctic and Antarctic - is changing drastically. DLR researchers can use radar to determine exactly which ice layers freeze and thaw and when. This is important in order to better understand the interplay with climate change and to be able to derive recommendations for action. In the Canadian Arctic, DLR's PermaSAR project team tested novel radar technologies that allow us to see inside the permafrost. The results will also serve future satellite missions for Earth observation, such as the Tandem-L mission proposal (IN GERMAN).

Solar tower power plants - sunlight becomes electricity on demand

18 January 2023
Solar energy is becoming an increasingly important source of energy worldwide. In Germany, photovoltaic systems are currently predominantly in use. For sunny countries, solar tower power plants with integrated heat storage systems are also a valuable addition. They store heat and can thus generate electricity at any time - even when the sun is not shining. The new highlight images from the TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X radar satellites present unique images of the Earth in transition and also show solar thermal power plants around the world.

Season´s Greetings and wishes from TanDEM-X!

23 December 2022
Our Christmas picture this year features Sharm El Sheikh, an iconic Egyptian resort on the Sinai Peninsula. This year, Sharm ash-Shaykh hosted the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 27), held in November 6-12, 2022. Although the final agreement did not include a decisive shift away from fossil fuels, a historic decision was made to establish and operationalize a loss and damage fund, particularly for countries most vulnerable to the climate crisis.

Despite all challanges we faced around the wolrd this year, we wish you have a satisfied reflection on the past, faith in tomorrow and hope for the future.

Continue to be on the lookout for news from TanDEM-X on www.dlr.de/HR.

The DLR Microwaves and Radar Instittute wishes you Merry Christmas 2022 and above all a healthy, successful year 2023!

DLR Magazin: Looking deep into the forest - A combination of remote sensing data provides new insights into the structure of forests

28 November 2022
Forests are gigantic carbon stores: Half of the carbon bound on earth is stored in them. They also control the transport of water and carbon dioxide between the soil and the atmosphere. Accordingly their role in mitigating climate change. However, changes in temperature and precipitation and worsening weather extremes pose a major threat to forests and their function. Therefore, it is important to know the condition of the Earth's forests and how their structure is changing. To investigate this, DLR scientists combined data from remote sensing missions. But that's not all: a future satellite mission could depict forest structure and how it changes over time in unprecedented quality. More: DLR Magazin

Icelandic volcano Fagradalsfjall awakened again

09 September 2022
Iceland's Fagradalsfjall volcano has been active again since August 3, 2022. It last awoke on the island in March 2021 after a 6,000-year hiatus. Now, almost a year and a half later, it is once again spewing lava and toxic gases. The volcano is located in the Meradali Valley, about 40 kilometers from the capital Reykjavik. Images taken by the TerraSAR-X radar satellite on August 5 and 27, 2022, show how the current eruption is changing the shape of the volcano and its surroundings.

Press Release: 15 years in space and as fit as at launch - the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X

14 June 2022
15 years - who would have thought it! The German radar satellite TerraSAR-X was designed for a lifetime of five and a half years, until the end of 2012, when it was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 8:14 a.m. local time on June 15, 2007. Since then, it has provided data of outstanding quality, regardless of weather conditions, cloud cover or daylight. The TerraSAR-X scientific mission and the satellite are operated by the German Aerospace Center (DLR).
Mehr: Süddeutsche Zeitung

Press Release: Radar measurements for efficient agriculture

07 June 2022
Droughts and dry spells are increasingly threatening arable farming. In Europe, this particularly affects the Mediterranean region with its important fruit, vegetable and cereal areas. In order to continue to safeguard harvests in the face of global climate change, the water supply must be adapted. One important factor is soil moisture. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) is testing new radar technologies that should make it possible to map moisture distribution in plants and the top layers of soil so that targeted measures can be taken. Together with the Italian Institute for Electromagnetic Environmental Sensors IREA, the researchers conducted the first of two multi-day test campaigns in Italy in April 2022. The second campaign will take place from June 14 to 17, 2022. The data collected will be used to apply and test procedures for deriving the "soil moisture" information product with respect to current as well as future European radar satellite missions. The distribution of soil moisture in the mapped region is shown geographically in the form of a map. The results of the measurement campaigns are of particular importance for the radar satellite mission Tandem‑L, which in the future could take a global look at soil moisture in addition to other climate variables.
More: Niedersachsen AVIATION

Press Release: F-SAR flights at the North Sea coast

06 May 2022
Press releases (in GERMAN). The local press reports, e.g. the Ostfriesische Kurier "Projekt nimmt Küste in den Blick - Befliegung vor Baltrum und Langeoog: Zukunftstechnik im Einsatz" or Baltrum online: "Ein „Inselflieger" der besonderen Art machte vor diesem Hintergrund jetzt ungewöhnliche Luftaufnahmen des Küstengebietes bei Baltrum und Langeoog. Bei den Bemühungen um möglichst genaue digitale Gelände- und Oberflächenmodelle kam dabei ein spezieller Sensor des Deutschen Zentrums für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) zum Einsatz."
More: Baltrum Online, NLWKN Niedersachsen

DLR Security and defense research at the DWT conference

04. April 2022
The research conference "Applied Research for Defense and Security in Germany" of the German Society for Defense Technology (DWT) took place in Bonn from March 8 to 10, 2022. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) presented current research results from the fields of defense and civil security research to the 500 participants. The conference is the largest defense and security technology conference in Germany in the field of research and technology.

Shipwreck of the 'Endurance' found – safe navigation thanks to satellite data

11 March 2022
Over a century ago, Ernest Shackleton's ship Endurance sank in Antarctica, trapped and crushed by the ice. The crew survived and the incredible rescue operation made the polar explorer's expedition legendary. The wreck has now been located with the support of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR). DLR provided TerraSAR-X satellite images that enabled safe navigation through the ice-covered Weddell Sea. DLR researchers on board the expedition’s ship also studied the properties of sea ice to improve navigation in polar regions.

Ice-ocean interactions are accelerating melting in West Antarctica

11 March 2022
An analysis of Antarctica’s Pope, Smith and Kohler glaciers by researchers at the University of California, Irvine, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the University of Houston and other institutions has revealed an aggressive pattern of retreat connected to high melt rates of floating ice in the Amundsen Sea Embayment sector of West Antarctica.

In a paper published recently in Nature Geoscience, the team reports that the grounding line — where ice moves off the land and begins to float — of Pope Glacier retreated 3.5 kilometers in 3.6 months for an average of nearly 12 kilometers per year in 2017. Between 2016 and 2018, the western portion of Smith Glacier retreated at 2 kilometers per year and Kohler Glacier at 1.3 kilometers per year.

More: Nature Geoscience UCI News

Satellites for Earth remote sensing – helpers in times of climate change

07 March 2022
IN GERMAN: Der neue Bericht des Weltklimarates (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC) macht es deutlicher denn je: Die Weltgemeinschaft muss jetzt handeln! Wenn nicht geeignete Maßnahmen für den Klimaschutz und die Anpassung an den Klimawandel ergriffen werden, dann schließe sich das Fenster der Gelegenheit, eine lebenswerte und nachhaltige Zukunft für alle zu sichern. Bereits jetzt seien mehr als 3,3 Milliarden Menschen in hohem Maße von den Auswirkungen des Klimawandels wie Dürren, Hitzewellen oder Überschwemmungen betroffen, heißt es in dem Bericht. Um die biologische Vielfalt zu erhalten, müssten zwischen 30 bis 50 Prozent der Ökosysteme – Land-, Süßwasser- und Meeresflächen – geschützt werden. Nur so könnten sich diese an die veränderten Bedingungen anpassen.

DLR Magazin: On the traces of time

31 January 2022
IN GERMAN: Mit dem Start des Radarsatelliten TanDEM-X begann im Jahr 2010 eine neue Ära in der Radarfernerkundung. Seitdem umkreist er im engen Formationsflug mit seinem drei Jahre älteren „Zwilling“ TerraSAR-X die Erde. Zusammen liefern die beiden Satelliten Daten für Höhenmodelle der ganzen Welt. Diese stellen eine unentbehrliche Grundlage für kommerzielle Anwendungen und wissenschaftliche Fragestellungen dar, denn bis dahin existierten für weite Teile der Erde nur grobe, uneinheitliche oder lückenhafte Höhenmodelle unterschiedlicher Datenquellen und Erhebungsmethoden. Die Mission TanDEM-X änderte dies mit ihrem Digital Elevation Model (DEM), einem digitalen Höhenmodell der gesamten Landoberfläche der Erde in einheitlicher Qualität und bislang unerreichter Genauigkeit. Das ist den DLR-Wissenschaftlerinnen und -Wissenschaftlern aber noch nicht genug.

Glaciers are melting much faster than expected

28 January 2022
IN GERMAN: Der Südpol hat neue Sorgenkinder. Eine Gruppe von kleineren Gletschern schmilzt schneller als erwartet: Pope, Smith und Kohler. Bisher standen die benachbarten Eisgiganten Thwaites und Pine Island im Fokus der Forschung, da sie sehr fragil sind und den globalen Meeresspiegel um bis zu 1,2 Meter ansteigen lassen könnten. Das Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) hat die Veränderungen in der Westantarktis gemeinsam mit internationalen Forschungspartnern aufgedeckt und analysiert. Den Ursachen für die rapiden Abschmelzungen der kleineren Gletscher kamen sie mithilfe spezieller Radardaten der Satellitenmissionen TanDEM-Xund COSMO-SkyMed auf die Spur.

Die gewonnenen Erkenntnisse sind wichtig, um Gletscherprozesse besser zu verstehen und so die Entwicklung der gesamten Antarktis vorherzusagen. Klimaforschende können dann künftig noch genauer berechnen, wie stark der Meeresspiegel ansteigen wird und welche Schutzmaßnahmen am wirkungsvollsten sind. Die neue Studie ist aktuell im Fachjournal Nature Geoscience veröffentlicht. Sie ist das Ergebnis einer Zusammenarbeit von der University of Houston, dem DLR-Institut für Hochfrequenztechnik und Radarsysteme, der University of California, der Université Grenoble Alpes sowie der italienischen Raumfahrtagentur ASI.

More: sueddeutsche.de astronews.com merkur.de gispoint.de heise-online Raumfahrer.net

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Microwaves and Radar Institute

100 Years of Tutankhamun: Discovering the valley of the kings with radar

PermaSAR - DLR research in the Canadian Arctic

Solar tower power plants - sunlight becomes electricity on demand

Season´s Greetings and wishes from TanDEM-X!

DLR Magazin: Looking deep into the forest - A combination of remote sensing data provides new insights into the structure of forests

Icelandic volcano Fagradalsfjall awakened again

Press Release: 15 years in space and as fit as at launch - the German radar satellite TerraSAR-X

Press Release: Radar measurements for efficient agriculture

Press Release: F-SAR flights at the North Sea coast

DLR Security and defense research at the DWT conference

Shipwreck of the 'Endurance' found – safe navigation thanks to satellite data

Ice-ocean interactions are accelerating melting in West Antarctica

Satellites for Earth remote sensing – helpers in times of climate change

DLR Magazin: On the traces of time

Glaciers are melting much faster than expected

SAR Technology

Radar Concepts

Satellite SAR Systems

Reconnaissance and Security