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Department Satellite SAR Systems (Dr. Manfred Zink)

The Satellite SAR Systems department works on spaceborne SAR systems with a focus on the development, operation and calibration of SAR missions. The department works in close collaboration with the Radar Concepts department and follows and supports their mission concept development in early preparatory project phases. If a mission proposal is approved – usually at the end of phase A or B – the Satellite SAR Systems department takes over the project management and guides and directs the implementation of the mission. The experienced team assumes responsibility for system engineering on mission and ground segment levels, and closely follows the space segment and especially the SAR instrument development.

The department’s vast expertise in SAR systems and spaceborne projects was gained from the experience with three Space Shuttle missions (SIR-C/X-SAR and SRTM), with the TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X and Tandem-L projects, with ESA’s ENVISAT and Sentinel-1 missions, and from the work on several spaceborne SAR system studies. The team is competent in SAR system engineering, overall SAR system performance analysis, in SAR calibration and algorithm development, mission planning and SAR instrument operations. In the last years, its portfolio has been extended to cover the generation of large-scale information products, such as the global TanDEM-X forest map. The DLR SAR calibration center has been developed and is being operated by the Satellite SAR Systems department.

Research and Project Groups

Systems Engineering (Christo Grigorov)

This group is responsible for the development and the operation of ground segment systems relevant to SAR sensors on satellite platforms. One particular task is the management of the sub-project System Engineering and Calibration (SEC) that comprises the Institute’s contributions to the TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X ground segment. The understanding of SAR system concepts and the knowledge obtained during the development of the SAR instrument is essential for a successful radar mission and ensures maximum exploitation of the sensor capabilities. In addition to this expertise, the group has in-depth experience in systems engineering on mission and ground segment levels.

Mission Engineering (Dr. Markus Bachmann)

The Mission Engineering group is focused on overall mission aspects of satellite SAR systems. The portfolio of the group covers the derivation of observation concepts and the planning of acquisition for running and future SAR missions, the monitoring of relevant mission, instrument, and processing parameters and their adjustment, control and feedback. It also involves project management, commissioning and planning and tasks.

TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X Mission Manager (Dr. Stefan Buckreuss)

The Mission Manager is responsible for providing data products to both the scientific and commercial customers in order to ensure the achievement of the TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X mission objectives. He coordinates the utilization of the mission in accordance with the regulations agreed with Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, also taking into account legal boundary conditions. The tasks cover the monitoring and coordination of the complete satellite activities including the operation of the SAR instruments and the interfaces to the secondary payloads. In case of anomalies or contingencies, the Mission Manager has to approve actions that go beyond the nominal satellite operation. He tracks the implementation of Advisory Board decisions in the Ground Segment and monitors the integration of changes and the configuration of the Ground Segment. The Mission Manager reports regularly to the Advisory Board, to the TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X project manager of DLR Space Research and Technology as well as the DLR Space Administration.

System Performance (Dr. Paola Rizzoli)

The System Performance research group covers essential aspects of spaceborne SAR systems development, focusing on the design, analysis and monitoring of SAR performance parameters. The research group is responsible for the SAR performance verification of nominal products as well as experimental modes of the TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X missions, together with the development of new remote sensing methods to support on-going and future SAR missions, such as the study of innovative data reduction algorithms. Moreover, we also focus our interest on remote sensing research topics and support the scientific community by developing algorithms and providing large-scale geo-data in different fields of interests, such as the cryosphere and the biosphere.

Calibration (Dr. Marco Schwerdt)

The main objective of the calibration group is the development of concepts and methods for the calibration and verification of imaging radar systems and their products – an important research field at the Institute for more than 25 years. Based on this longstanding expertise, the group has developed and established a service facility – the DLR SAR Calibration Center. In addition to several analysis and evaluation tools, accurate reference targets are developed and the DLR calibration site is maintained and operated to support international spaceborne SAR missions.

Contact

Dr.-Ing. Manfred Zink
Head of Department Satellite SAR Systems
Microwaves and Radar Institute, Satellite SAR Systems
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling
Tel.: +49 8153 28-2356
Fax: +49 8153 28-1449

M.Sc. Christo Grigorov
Head of the Systems Engineering Group
German Aerospace Center
Microwaves and Radar Institute, Satellite SAR Systems
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling
Tel.: +49 8153 28-2369
Fax: +49 8153 28-1449

Dr.-Ing. Markus Bachmann
Head of the Mission Engineering Group
Microwaves and Radar Institute, Satellite SAR Systems
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling
Tel.: +49 8153 28-2395
Fax: +49 8153 28-1449

Dr.-Ing. Stefan Buckreuss
German Aerospace Center
TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X Mission Manager
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling
Tel.: +49 8153 28-2344
Fax: +49 8153 28-1149

Dr.-Ing. Paola Rizzoli
Head of the System Performance Group
Microwaves and Radar Institute, Satellite SAR Systems
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling
Tel.: +49 8153 28-1785
Fax: +49 8153 28-1449

Dr.-Ing. Marco Schwerdt
Head of the Calibration Group
German Aerospace Center
Microwaves and Radar Institute, Satellite SAR Systems
Oberpfaffenhofen-Wessling
Tel.: +49 8153 28-3533
Fax: +49 8153 28-1449