The RapidEye RESA Germany Mosaic provides a nearly cloud-free view of the country’s geography, natural resources, and infrastructure. It is composed of 374,240 sqkm of multi-spectral RapidEye imagery, acquired between April and October 2015. The product is being provided in the framework of the RapidEye Science Archive (RESA) agreement. Co-funded by the German Federal Government, the fleet of RapidEye satellites were launched from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan in 2008. The satellites are now owned by Planet Labs, Inc. The RapidEye Earth observation system comprises five satellites equipped with high-resolution optical sensors. With a spatial resolution of 6.5 m the 5-band instruments operate in the visible and near-infrared portions of the electromagnetic spectrum. With its high repetition rate the RapidEye constellation can image each point on the Earth’s at least once per day.

The FireBIRD mission consists of two small satellites, TET-1 and BIROS. Together, the two satellites are on an Earth observation mission that aims to detect forest fires, or high-temperature events, from space. The new infrared system provides high-quality data that is capable of measuring the spread of the fire and the amount of heat generated with great accuracy very early on - almost in real time - meaning that FireBIRD can serve as an early warning system. The data acquired from this Earth observation mission can also be used as a basis for scientific climate research. In addition to the main payload of the cameras, further experiments have been planned for developing the technology on board the small satellites. Further information can be found on the following website: http://www.dlr.de/firebird/en/ and in the FireBIRD brochure available at: http://www.dlr.de/firebird/en/Portaldata/79/Resources/dokumente/FireBIRD_Broschuere_HighRes_v3_english.pdf