THE SRTM PROJECT: INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION AND TECHNICAL COORDINATION. A GERMAN PERSPECTIVE

Kurzfassung

The Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) project is a cooperative effort based on international agreements between the participating agencies. Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) were signed between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the US National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA) as well as NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). DLR and the Italian Space Agency (ASI) on the other hand signed a Letter Agreement (LA) controlling the respective responsibilities for Germany and Italy. To generate the near global DEM, the Earth was mapped with two different radar systems operating closely together to collect interferometric radar data for generation of a near global Digital Elevation Model (DEM), covering the Earth's surface in between –56 deg and +60 deg latitude. The payload consisted of C-radar subsystems, X-SAR subsystems and jointly used subsystems. Each system was operated individually but in close cooperation from a DLR and a JPL mission operations team at the NASA control center in Houston. The mission was a complete success. The first digital elevation model could be processed and presented only two hours after the first playback was received.