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Spotlight on Third Party Mission provider: Airbus
Airbus' space technologies have a growing impact on people's daily life: from deep-space exploration and scientific missions, to today's most reliable secure telecommunications and Earth observation (EO) satellites.
How much data may I request in a Project Proposal?
Access to some restrained data collections distributed by ESA require submission of a Project Proposal. These collections are typically for Third Party Missions when the data provider can only offer a limited amount of data.
How to use space data to probe humankind’s ancient past
Data disseminated by ESA’s Third Party Missions (TPM) programme are enabling archaeological investigations that could help to unravel the mysteries of past societies and cultures.
Commercial and international data for fire monitoring
As climate change sparks a surge in the frequency and intensity of wildfires, satellite data disseminated through ESA’s Third Party Missions (TPM) programme are helping scientists to track and investigate these potentially damaging natural events.
Twin satellites - TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X
DLR's TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X are twin satellites flying in close formation to acquire SAR data of unique geometric accuracy. Operating together, the missions deliver data that are used to generate Digital Elevation Models of Earth.
International collaboration: Summarising ESA’s Third Party Missions
ESA’s Third Party Missions programme consists of more than 50 missions from around the world. Learn more about the Third Party Missions in this video.
Showcasing success stories from ESA's Third Party Missions
ESA’s Third Party Missions programme consists of more than 50 missions from around the world.
Tracking mountainous glaciers using TanDEM-X
Ice melting from mountain glaciers is one of the largest contributors to sea-level rise outside the large ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland. New research leveraging the vast data from the TanDEM-X mission, has successfully mapped glacial elevation change over multiple mountainous regions of the world.
National missions in the spotlight at the Living Planet Symposium
In the framework of ESA’s Third Party Missions (TPM) programme, the agency offers access to the full data archives of almost 50 satellite missions, which are owned by organisations around the world.
How ESA uses space data to explore deep Earth
As anthropogenic activities continue to unbalance our environment, scientists strive to fully understand the intricate interactions within Earth’s system.
TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X WorldDEM data now available to users
WorldDEM products have been added to the TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X offering and are now available to users for research and application development following submission of a project proposal subject to evaluation and acceptance by ESA and the data owner.
An overview of ESA's Third Party Missions programme
ESA’s Third Party Missions programme consists of almost 50 satellite missions, which are owned by organisations around the world. ESA has agreements with these organisations to acquire, process, and distribute data from their missions
Earth Observation data to improve navigation risk modelling and shipping routes
With the increased frequency of shipping activities, such as tourism and transport of freights, navigation safety has become a major concern. Even if new technologies have already supplied aids to pilots for navigation risk reduction, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) reports that the majority of accidents could have been avoided by providing suitable input to the navigation decision-making process — this is where Earth Observation data can represent complementary information, to improve traffic monitoring and guidance along safe routes.
ESA Third Party Missions timeline
We've released a new timeline to illustrate the history of the ESA Third Party Missions.
TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X full archive and tasking
TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X full archive and new tasking products can be acquired in six image modes with flexible resolutions (from 0.25 m to 40 m) and scene sizes and are provided in different packages: Staring SpotLight (basic, Interferometric pack, and Maritime pack) High Resolution SpotLight (basic, Interferometric pack, and Maritime pack) SpotLight (basic, Interferometric pack, and Maritime pack) StripMap (basic, Interferometric pack, and Maritime pack) ScanSAR (basic and Maritime pack) Wide ScanSAR (basic and Maritime pack) Product Overview Products SAR-ST SAR-HS SAR-SL SAR-SM SAR-SC SAR-WS Instrument mode Staring Spotlight High Resolution SpotLight SpotLight StripMap ScanSAR Wide ScanSAR Available resolutions (up to) 0.25 m 1 m 2 m 3 m 18 m 40 m Scene size 4x3.7 km2 10x5 km2 10x10 km2 30x50 km2 (up to 30x1650) 100x150 km2 (up to 100x1650) 270x200 km2 (up to 270x1500) Available processing levels SSC (Single Look Slant Range Complex): azimuth - slant range (time domain) MGD (Multi Look Ground Range Detected): azimuth - ground range (without terrain correction) GEC (Geocoded Ellipsoid Corrected): map geometry with ellipsoidal corrections only (no terrain correction performed) EEC (Enhanced Ellipsoid Corrected): map geometry with terrain correction, using a DEM Format SSC: DLR-defined COSAR binary MGD: GeoTiff GEC: GeoTiff EEC: GeoTiff Spatial coverage Worldwide Interferometry package InSAR-ST, InSAR-HS, InSAR-SL, InSAR-SM Only SSC At least five ordered scenes within six months from first order N/A N/A Maritime Monitoring package MmSAR-ST, MmSAR-HS, MmSAR-SL, MmSAR-SM, MmSAR-SC, MmSAR-WS Only SSC, MGD, GEC At least 75% of the scene area is water More than five ordered scenes in three months The following WorldDEM products can be requested: Products Description WorldDEMcore WorldDEMcore is output of interferometric processing of StripMap data pairs without any post-processing WorldDEMTM WorldDEMTM is produced based on WorldDEMcore, representing the surface of the Earth (including buildings, infrastructure and vegetation). Hydrological consistency is ensured WorldDEM DTM In additional editing steps, WorldDEMTMis transformed into a Digital Terrain Model (DTM) representing bare Earth elevation WorldDEM Bundle Includes WorldDEMTM, WorldDEM DTM, and Quality Layers The main specifications of the WorldDEM products are: Horizontal Coordinate Reference System: World Geodetic System 1984 (WGS84-G1150) Vertical Coordinate Reference System: Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM2008) Absolute Horizontal Accuracy: <6 m Vertical Accuracy: 2 m Relative, 4 m Absolute Quality Layers (including water body mask) can be requested as an option with the WorldDEM and WorldDEM DTM Auxiliary Layers are delivered together with the WorldDEMcore product As per ESA policy, very high-resolution data over conflict areas cannot be provided.
PolSARpro v6.0 (Biomass Edition) software new release
Download the latest version of ESA's Polarimetric SAR data Processing and Educational Toolbox (PolSARpro).
VH-RODA and CEOS SAR workshop
The workshop provided an open forum for the presentation and discussion of current status and future developments related to the calibration and validation of space borne very high-resolution SAR and optical sensors and data products.
Third Party Missions Brochure
This brochure summarises ESA's Third Party Missions programme, providing a timeline and examples of content related to some of the missions.
Technical Note on PAZ-TSX-CSK Intercomparison Quality Assessment
Technical Note on PAZ-TSX-CSK Intercomparison Quality Assessment
WorldDEM-Product-Specification-Summary.pdf
This document summarises the WorldDEM product from TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X data, offered by Airbus.