Egbert Schwarz

TerraSAR-X Payload Data Processing: Results from Commissioning and Early Operational Phase

TerraSAR-X, the first national German radar satellite, was launched in June 2007. It carries an X-band high-resolution synthetic aperture radar instrument featuring Stripmap, ScanSAR and, particularly, Spotlight imaging in a variety of different polarization modes. The mission completed its commissioning phase (CP) in December 2007, the provision of the SAR products for both the scientific and commercial user community was started in January 2008. One central TerraSAR-X element on ground is the pay-load ground segment PGS. From the beginning of the mission, PGS was nominally operated. About ten thousand data takes were already acquired and processed in 2007, not only for SAR verification and calibration purposes, but also for the operational ground segment validation. This paper provides the commissioning and early operational phase results from the SAR payload data processing perspective addressing data reception and SAR processing. Specifically the tuning and adjustment of the TerraSAR-X multi-mode SAR processor TMSP to meet the in-orbit data characteristics and to optimize the SAR focusing results is addressed. Relevant issues are the high-bandwidth chirp replica processing, side lobe suppression, Doppler frequency determination, processor normalization and phase-preservation.

The TerraSAR-X ground segment in service for nine years: Current status and recent extensions

This paper reports on the current status and recent extensions of the TerraSAR-X ground segment in its ninth year of operation.

First Tests on Near Real Time Ice Type Classification in Antarctica

In this paper, we explore the capabilities of an algorithm for ice type classification. Our main motivation and exemplary application was the recent incident of the research vessel Akademik Shokalskiy, which was trapped in pack ice for about two weeks. Strong winds had driven ice floes into a bay, forming an area of pack ice, blocking the ships advancement. High-resolution satellite images helped to assess the ice conditions at the location. To extract relevant information automatically from the images, we apply an algorithm that is aimed to generate an ice chart, outlining the different ice type zones such as pack ice, fast ice, open water. The algorithm is based on texture analysis. Textures are selected that allow recognition of different structures in ice. Subsequently, a neural network performs the classification. Since results are output in near real time, the algorithm offers new opportunities for ship routing in ice infested areas.

Processing framework to support maritime surveillance applications based on optical remote sensing images

Nowadays, maritime security faces many kinds of problems – environmental hazards, unlawful actions such like piracy, cargo theft, illegal border crossing etc. These challenges bring the situational awareness of this domain to a high level of importance. Optical satellite images, captured during cloudless weather conditions, are valuable source of information about situation at sea. On the one hand, modern very high resolution (VHR) optical sensors (e.g. WorldView family) taking images with spatial resolution higher than 0.5 m per pixel, enabling to perform object (ship) detection tasks. On the other hand, high resolution (HR) sensors like Landsat-8 and Sentinel-2A(B) are able to cover relatively large areas and are suitable for environment monitoring tasks. Developed at the German Remote Sensing Data Center (DFD), part of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Maritime Security Lab Processing Framework is intended to support the operational maritime surveillance near real time (NRT) services based HR and VHR optical satellite data. The Framework supports automated request driven processing from different satellite missions provided by a network of different ground stations and service providers. Actionable information products are created in an automatic processing chain including image pre-processing, data transcription and GUI based interactive value adding and validation. The paper will focus on the overall architecture of the framework including workflow of data handling, the interfaces and components, needed to enable fast data access for operator analysis and supervision.

Ten Years of TerraSAR-X Operations

The satellite of the TerraSAR-X mission, called TSX, was launched on 15 June 2007 and its identically constructed twin satellite TDX, which is required by the mission TanDEM-X, launched on 21 June 2010. Together they supply high-quality radar data in order to serve two mission goals: Scientific observation of Earth and the provisioning of remote sensing data for the commercial market (TerraSAR-X mission) and the generation of a global digital elevation model (DEM) of Earth’s surface (TanDEM-X mission). On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the mission, the focus will be on the development of the TerraSAR-X system during this period, including the extension of the ground segment, the evolution of the product portfolio, dedicated mission campaigns, radar experiments, refinement of the satellite operations and orbit control, and the results of the performance monitoring. Despite numerous interventions in the overall system, we managed to incorporate new scientific and commercial requirements and to improve and enhance the overall system in order to fulfill the increasing demand for Earth observation data without noticeable interruptions to ongoing operations.

On the Pathway to Success: Becoming a Leading Earth Observation Centre Through the EXCELSIOR Project

This paper presents the pathway towards the establishment of the ERATOSTHENES Centre of Excellence (ECoE), through the upgrade of the existing Remote Sensing & Geo-Environment Group - ERATOSTHENES Research Centre (ERC), within the Cyprus University of Technology (CUT). The ECoE aspires to become a sustainable, viable and autonomous Centre of Excellence for Earth Surveillance and Space-Based Monitoring of the Environment. The ECoE will provide the highest quality of related services in the National, European, Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East and Northern Africa areas (EMMENA). Therefore, drawing on the capitalization of experience and knowledge from previous projects and the research areas and international networks of the ERC, this papers highlights the importance of the establishment of the ECoE in the EMMENA area.