DLR: GMES Sentinel satellite

The ground segment for GMES (Global Monitoring for Environment and Security) is starting to take shape in Oberpfaffenhofen.

It will be the European data centre for GMES satellites Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-3.

"DLR's expertise in Earth observation, data repositories and data processing is fundamental for the successful establishment of the European data centre planned by ESA," explained Hansjörg Dittus, DLR Executive Board Member for Space Research and Technology.

On 24 July, Volker Liebig, ESA Director of Earth Observation, DLR's Hansjörg Dittus, and the director of DFD, Stefan Dech, signed a contract in Oberpfaffenhofen to establish a GMES Processing and Archiving Center (PAC).

"With its unique combination of research and engineering abilities, DFD has been a reliable partner of ESA for many years in designing and operating complex systems for the reception, processing and archiving of Earth observation data," emphasised Volker Liebig.

In 2013, data from Sentinel-1, and later also data from the Ocean and Land Colour Instrument (OLCI) on the Sentinel-3 satellites will be processed to yield information products that will be distributed to users and archived for the long term.

ESA is providing 13.6 million Euro over seven years to establish and operate the data centre. This new GMES data centre is, to a large extent, based on existing infrastructure.

The existing computer systems and national data archive at DLR will be expanded in the coming months to handle the additional data requirements of over two petabytes to be processed annually. T-Systems has been awarded a subcontract to expand the network infrastructure.