Das Projekt "New opportunities for altimetry in hydrology" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Bundesanstalt für Gewässerkunde durchgeführt. General Information: The objective of N.O.A.H. is to demonstrate that the use of Earth Observation (EO) data provides a significant improvement in the field of hydrology and hydraulics, and particularly for flood prevention. Earth observation techniques enable us to measure terrain relief from space. These techniques include interferometry, which is based on ERS SAR data, and optical stereoscopy, which uses SPOT imagery. Data obtained through such processing techniques give access to precise and comprehensive information on the terrain characteristics, on a regional level (5 to 10 meters precision): relief, catchment basins, and slopes. Earth observation also provides adequate information on land use. EO data and derived high-level product information will be integrated into hydrological and hydraulic models over a pilot area (The Moselle Basin) to better understand the issues involved in the management of land use with respect to the risk of flooding, and to better serve user needs in this domain. The first year of the project will be devoted to the collection and the analysis of user requirements, the generation of suitable high-level products derived from EO data, and the development of tools to integrate this data into hydrological and hydraulic models. The second year will involve the implementation of the models with the full integration of the EO data gathered, the generation of the flood-related outputs (e.g. risk maps), and a final assessment of the results from a commercial, technical and scientific viewpoint. Finally, N.O.A.H. will include communication activities in interaction with the CEO services, to develop awareness of the contribution of EO data in the domain of flood prevention. The N.O.A.H. project responds to an urgent need in Europe concerning the prevention of flood events which cause considerable damage every year. From a scientific and operational point of view, N.O.A.H. represents a new tool for hydrological studies and a focal point for European hydrology institutes. From a technological and industrial point of view, N.O.A.H. valorizes the ERSl/ERS2 tandem mission as well as the SPOT programme, and the production of DEMs. Thus, it provides a good leverage for the development of the use of EO data in such important application domains. The proposal for N.O.A.H. is presesnted by a team lead by Cemagref, and consisting of other major hydrology institutes (Delft Hydraulics, BfG), major EO data providers (Spot Image, ISTAR) as well as scientific and technical entities which will act as interfaces to operational end-user communities (ICHR, EGERIE). Prime Contractor: Centre National du Machinisme Agricole, du Genie Rural, des Eaux et des Forets; Lyon; France.
Das Projekt "Entwicklung des Einsatzes der Altimetrie fuer Klimastudien" wird vom Umweltbundesamt gefördert und von Max-Planck-Institut für Meteorologie durchgeführt. General Information: The objective of DUACS is to develop new applications of satellite altimetry in the field of climate monitoring and forecasting. DUACS is coordinated by the Space Oceanography Division of CLS (Collected Localisation Satellites) and includes four major climate research groups in Europe: ECMWF, CERFACS, the UK Met. Office and the Max-Planck Institute fur Meteorologie. DUACS aims at: a) making climate specialists familiar with altimetry through a close collaboration with altimetry specialists; b) demonstrating the usefulness of altimetry for various climatic applications, including seasonal forecasting. High-level altimetric data sets will be prepared by CLS. They will be defined/ refined in close interaction with the climate specialists. The data sets will be a long time series (7 years) of Homogenous Historical (HH) altimetric data from TOPEX-POSEIDON, ERS-1 and ERS-2. Near Real Time (NRT) data acquisition, processing and distribution will also be performed during 2 years, using both TOPEX-POSEIDON and ERS-2 data. The tasks of the 4 climate groups will be (a) to assess the altimeter data information content, (b) to adapt their data assimilation schemes to include altimeter data and (c) to use altimeter data for climate studies and seasonal forecasts. NRT data will be of special interest to actually perform seasonal forecasts. At the end of the project, the climate groups will provide a thorough assessment of the usefulness of altimeter data for climate studies/forecasts. Other DUACS tasks include setting up a user support service, on-line data distribution to DUACS partners and distribution of HH products on CD-ROMs to the wider Earth Observation Community. DUACS will also contribute to the CEO Enabling Services and provide information on the project through WWW DUACS server. Keywords: altimetry, climate, seasonal forecasting, real time data acquisition, data processing, data advertising, WWW server. Prime Contractor: Collecte Localisation Satellites SA, Toulouse; France.