IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2014 - 60

only fundamental questions of the "Living Planet Program" of our system Earth are answered through dedicated missions, but also the preparation of new missions
take place, the operations of the missions is managed and
the exploitation of the data is stimulated.
The German EO Program complements the three
above mentioned programs by the provision of unique
skills and technologies, by the development of methods, missions and services
urgently needed by the
users. The uniqueness of
our national missions (high
OuR buSINESS IS TO
resolution X-band TanDEMDEVELOP INNOVATIVE SPACE
X mission will provide a
TECHNOLOGIES, SATELLITES
global Digital Elevation
AND APPLICATIONS AND
Model (DEM) with unprecTHuS INSPIRE NEw IDEAS
edented accuracy, the hyperTO ExPLORE OuR SYSTEM
spectral mission EnMAP
EARTH.
will enhance the insight
into the geosphere and into
the biosphere, GRACE and
GRACE Follow-on (FO)
will enable the monitoring of the dynamics of the Earth's
interior, MERLIN will measure the atmospheric methane,
and METimage will secure the presence of a radiometric
imager on the MetOp SG satellites), the attractive ground
segment infrastructure, the advanced value-adding landscape and the large number of research facilities in Germany working on algorithms, models and technology are
the results of the strategy of Germany's EO program.
II. THE GERMAN SAR PROGRAM
Since ERS-1 and 2, ASAR, TerraSAR-X, TanDEM-X and
Sentinel-1 Europe and Germany are at the forefront of the
exciting development in radar satellite imaging. With the
launch of the TanDEM-X satellite in 2010 Germany operates the first-ever satellite-based bi-static interferometer
in space.
To reach the primary mission goal of a global DEM of
the entire Earth a number of new technologies and capabilities were introduced: the control of a close formation
flight in the novel HELIX formation as well as the bi-static
operation of the two satellites requiring careful synchronization of the two Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) instruments. Today the global DEM acquisition is finalized.
TerraSAR-X [2] and TanDEM-X [3] are the first space
projects in Germany that have been realized in a publicprivate partnership (PPP), with a considerable financial
contribution by industry. The partnership model is based
on a cooperation agreement that was signed by DLR and
Astrium (today Airbus D&S) in March 2002. Pursuing
different objectives, both sides are contributing their
resources, jointly implementing the project and utilizing
its results afterwards. The advantage of this approach is
that it permits meeting scientific goals while supporting
industrial marketing needs at the same time. Industry set
60

up a distribution system and commercializes the radar
satellite imaging data and products. After 3½ years of
operation, the global DEM is now available for science
and for commerce. This strong and successful national
radar program has become possible through long-term
strategic planning and the continuous support by the
German Government. What comes next? The concept
of a High-Resolution Wide-Swath system seems to be a
promising option for the next generation SAR system. It
overcomes the limitations of conventional instruments
and provides continuous, high-resolution coverage and
thus high mapping performance. Therefore, the DLR
SAR roadmap clearly focuses on the continuation of the
X-band line with a next generation satellite [4] and is aiming at a transfer of this technology into a sustainable business. The TerraSAR initiative originally started as an Xplus L-band concept. Therefore, DLR is still looking into
possibilities of an L-band complement [5] to the national
X-band line.
III. EnMAP-THE HYPERSPECTRAL MISSION
The aim of the German Earth observation satellite EnMAP
(Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) [6] is
obtaining a diagnostic characterization of the Earth's surface and record environmental changes using hyperspectral sensors. EnMAP offers, therefore, unique opportunities to measure land use and its changes in several regions
of the Earth at short temporal intervals and with excellent spectral resolution and opens up new possibilities to
study global biosphere and geosphere processes. Scientific
principal investigator and the EnMAP Scientific Advisory
Group is located the German Research Center for Geosciences (GFZ), the space segment is contracted to KayserThrede GmbH and the ground segment is developed and
will be operated by DLR's research institutes and the German Space Operations Center GSOC.
IV. METIMAGE ON METOP SG
The EUMETSAT Polar System is the European polar orbiting meteorological satellite MetOp, flying in constellation
with the NOAA satellites. MetOp opened new ways to observe the Earth's weather, climate and environment with a
significant improvement in numerical weather prediction.
The second generation of this system is now under development. The METimage instrument is a German in-kind
contribution to the new system. It is a high-performance
multi-spectral imaging radiometer, a so-called Visible-Infrared Imager. METimage is a multi-purpose instrument,
especially designed for information on clouds, land surface properties as well as for measurements of sea, ice, and
land surface temperature.
V. THE GERMAN-FRENCH LIDAR MISSION MERLIN
Methane is one of the strongest anthropogenic greenhouse
gases. To better understand the extensive methane cycle,
the use of spaceborne observing techniques is necessary
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Magazine - June 2014