Microwaves and Radar Institute

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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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News

Using principles from painting – creating 3D-effect satellite images in true colour

29 March 2021
How can an impression of three-dimensionality be created using a two-dimensional medium? In art, this question arose centuries ago. Certain painting techniques have since evolved to simulate effects of light and shadow, creating a 3D effect for the viewer. Such effects are referred to as trompe-l'œil – they 'deceive the eye'.

Harmony: A mission for Earth's future

01 March 2021
'Harmony', its focus is Earth observation, space, global change, is intended to answer important scientific questions about changes to oceans, ice and land. ESA has selected 'Harmony' as a future mission in the field of Earth observation. Understanding the changes happening to Earth and its delicate balance is of ever increasing importance. "With the Harmony mission, we have the opportunity to gain new insights into processes that take place within the Earth system. This represents a considerable scientific and technical challenge," says Alberto Moreira, Director of the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR) Microwaves and Radar Institute.

Global Change: The Earth System

18. January 2021
‘Global change’ is not a recently invented term – it has been used since the 1980s to describe changes in the Earth system driven or triggered by human activities. In contrast to climate change, which only deals with one specific issue, global change takes into account a larger range of processes. For many years, DLR has been researching global change with a wide variety of missions. It develops archiving and processing technologies, devises algorithms for extracting relevant parameters from EO data and analyses the results.

Season´s Greetings and wishes from TanDEM-X!

22. Dezember 2020
Our Christmas star (Download [11 MB]) this year comes from Italy and was observed by the TanDEM-X satellite mission. The municipality of Palmanova, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is located in the Veneto region. It was laid out at the end of the 16th century as a fortified city of the Republic of Venice, and its star-shaped layout followed the concept of Renaissance city planners for an ideal city. In this TanDEM-X image, the surface elevation is shown in colors (dark blue is 12 m and red is 38 m above mean sea level), while the brightness is proportional to the radar backscatter intensity. TanDEM-X was launched in 2010 and has been operating since then together with its twin TerraSAR-X as a bistatic SAR interferometer. This year we are commenmorating 10 years of TanDEM-X operations in close formation flight. The global digital elevation model (DEM) of TanDEM-X has been available since 2016 for commercial and scientific applications. A new edition of this global dataset, denoted as Change DEM, will be available soon.

Look out for further news on TanDEM-X on www.dlr.de/HR.

The Microwaves and Radar Institute wishes you Merry Christmas 2020 and a Happy New Year 2021!

On to new heights - 10 years of TanDEM-X

20 December 2020
IN GERMAN: Seit Dezember 2010 bilden die Zwillingssatelliten TerraSAR-X und TanDEM-X, die im engen Formationsflug um die Erde kreisen, ein einzigartiges Radarinterferometer. Was bis 2010 nur in 2D erfassbar war (Bildteil in Schwarz-Weiß), gewann mit dem Satelliten TanDEM-X eine Dimension dazu. Zu sehen ist das Lenadelta in Russland. Der Fluss mündet hier nach 4.294 Kilometern in die Laptewsee, ein Randmeer des Arktischen Ozeans. Die etwa 1.500 kleinen Inseln im Delta ändern permanent ihre Form, weil das mitgeführte Material sich als Sediment ablagert und das Wasser umlenkt. In einem Atlas wäre das gesamte Gebiet nur in einer Höhe dargestellt. TanDEM-X sieht die Unterschiede viel differenzierter – mit einer Genauigkeit, die zwei Meter Auflösung noch übertrifft. Bereits 2016 erstellten DLR-Wissenschaftlerinnen und -Wissenschaftler ein exaktes 3D-Höhenmodell der gesamten Erdoberfläche aus den Daten der Mission TanDEM-X. Seitdem sammeln die Zwillingssatelliten Daten für ein zweites globales Höhenmodell. Das soge-nannte Change DEM (Digital Elevation Model) dokumentiert Veränderungen der Erdoberfläche in drei Dimensionen. Erste Auswertungen zeigen dramatische Entwicklungen wie das Abschmelzen von Gletschern und Eisschilden oder die ungehemmte Abholzung tropischer Wälder.

Glacial retreat in the Alps – first comprehensive documentation

08 July 2020
A research team from Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg (FAU) conducted the first study of area and elevation changes for all Alpine glaciers over a period of 14 years. This involved comparing three-dimensional terrain models obtained from the German radar satellite mission TanDEM-X and the German-US Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) between 2000 and 2014. The team combined the elevation models with optical images from NASA’s Landsat satellites. They found that the Alps have lost approximately 17 percent of their total ice volume since the turn of the millennium. The team recently published the results of their study in the journal Nature Communications.

Congratulations, TanDEM-X – 10 years of 3D mapping from space

25 June 2020
A new era in radar remote sensing began 10 years ago, on 21 June 2010, when the radar satellite TanDEM-X was launched. Since then, it has been orbiting Earth in close formation flight with TerraSAR-X, its three-year-older 'twin'. The distance between the satellites varies between several kilometres and sometimes only 120 metres. This enables the radar sensors to obtain a 3D view of Earth. This is referred to as a bistatic interferometer in space, which allows the terrain structure to be recorded in three dimensions in just one pass. This space mission continues to be globally unique.

DLR manufactures medical auxiliary equipment for Fürstenfeldbruck Hospital

09 June 2020
Since the beginning of the corona crisis, the 3D printers of the German Aerospace Center (DLR) have been doing their work outside of aerospace research. The specialists from the Systemhaus Technik successfully converted the systems and were thus able to deliver the first auxiliary medical equipment. Among others, the Microwaves and Radar Institute at the Oberpfaffenhofen site was also involved in this project (IN GERMAN).

50 Years "Earth Day" - Satellites observe dramatic changes on Earth

21 April 2020
IN GERMAN: Millionen Menschen gingen am 22. April 1970 - heute vor 50 Jahren - in den USA auf die Straßen, um gegen Ölpest, Umweltverschmutzung, Walfang und Giftmüll zu demonstrieren - und sie begründeten damit eine Initiative, die schon bald den gesamten Globus erfassen sollte: Die Umweltbewegung, an die der heutige "Earth-Day" erinnert, hat unsere Zivilisation geprägt - vielfach mit wesentlichen Erkenntnissen aus dem Weltraum. In Corona-Zeiten lautet auch hier die Devise #EarthDayAtHome - unter diesem Hashtag sind beispielhaft Aktionen und Informationen zusammengestellt, die wir von zu Hause aus tun können, um unser Bewusstsein für die Verletzlichkeit und Einzigartigkeit unseres blauen Planeten zu schärfen.

Deutschland ist seit dem Start des ersten deutschen Forschungssatelliten AZUR im November 1969 zu einem der weltweit wichtigsten Partner für die friedliche Erforschung der Erde aus dem All geworden. Das Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt (DLR) spielte und spielt hier eine Schlüsselrolle mit eigenen Missionen wie dem deutschen Radarsatelliten-Zwillingspaar TerraSAR-X und TanDEM-X und ab 2021 der EnMAP-Mission sowie den deutschen Beiträgen an ESA-Erdbeobachtungssatelliten wie dem ersten europäischen Wettersatelliten Meteosat in den 1970-er Jahren, gefolgt von ERS und Envisat bis hin zum aktuellen europäischen Satellitennetzwerk des Copernicus-Programmes.

Earth observation using radar interferometry: Development of the Patagonian Ice Fields reveals the enormous complexity of physical interactions

10 December 2019
The glaciers and ice fields in the South American region of Patagonia have been in retreat since the Little Ice Age between the early 14th century and the mid-19th century. In recent decades, the loss of ice masses associated with tropospheric warming has accelerated. From 2000 to 2016 the Patagonian Ice Fields contributed approximately six percent to the eustatic sea level rise of 0.74 millimetres per year.

Brazil delegation visits DLR

04 December 2019
IN GERMAN: Brasilien und Deutschland blicken auf eine seit fast fünf Jahrzehnten bestehende erfolgreiche Zusammenarbeit zurück. Die Schwerpunkte der wissenschaftlich-technologischen Zusammenarbeit (WTZ) sind seit 1969 Aktivitäten in den Bereichen Raumfahrt und Aeronautik, begleitet von Projekten in Werkstofftechnologie sowie Energie- und Verkehrstechnik.

News Archive

Departments of the Institute


TanDEM-X Latest News


TanDEM-X DEM Gallery

TanDEM-X Images [6 MB]

TanDEM-X Forest Map


TerraSAR-X Info

TerraSAR-X Picture Gallery


Tandem-L Latest News


Compact Test Range

Airborne SAR (F-SAR)

Mechanical Lab


E-SAR and F-SAR Picture Gallery


EUSAR 2020


HR Institute Seminar

Scientific Colloquium DLR Oberpfaffenhofen


GRSS Webinar: IEEE GSIS Spaceborne Imaging Spectroscopy TC: Running and planned spaceborne imaging spectroscopy missions and related activitiese

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Status Report 2011 – 2018 (52.3 MB)

Status Report 2006 – 2011 (31.83 MB)

Status Report 2000 - 2005 (11.12 MB)

Research and Projects (10 MB)

HR-Brochure (1.94 MB)

TerraSAR-X Brochure (9.06 MB)

TanDEM-X Brochure (8.05 MB)

Tandem-L Brochure (3.28 MB)

Helmholtz Alliance "Remote Sensing and Earth System Dynamics" (5.85 MB)

TanDEM-X - Die Erde in 3D (1.63 MB)


HR Institute on YouTube

Institute's History: A Retrospective 1908 - 2008 (PDF 34.39 MB)

Microwaves and Radar Institute

Using principles from painting – creating 3D-effect satellite images in true colour

Harmony: A mission for Earth's future

Global Change: The Earth System

Season´s Greetings and wishes from TanDEM-X!

On to new heights - 10 years of TanDEM-X

Glacial retreat in the Alps – first comprehensive documentation

Congratulations, TanDEM-X – 10 years of 3D mapping from space

DLR manufactures medical auxiliary equipment for Fürstenfeldbruck Hospital

50 Years "Earth Day" - Satellites observe dramatic changes on Earth

Earth observation using radar interferometry: Development of the Patagonian Ice Fields reveals the enormous complexity of physical interactions

Brazil delegation visits DLR

SAR Technology

Radar Concepts

Satellite SAR Systems

Reconnaissance and Security