The federal government is opening a new chapter in digital earth observation. With the launch of CODE-DE Lab, a central portal is now available that simplifies access to huge amounts of data from space. The platform is the result of a cooperation between the Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space (BMFTR) and the Federal Ministry of Transport (BMV). It is intended to offer authorities, scientists and companies a uniform infrastructure in which they can find and directly process data from the European Copernicus missions, national earth observation data and commercial satellite images in one place.
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Previously, the capacities were distributed across two systems. While the CODE-DE project primarily took on operational administrative tasks, EO-Lab concentrated on the scientific area. With CODE-DE Lab, these worlds are merged technically and organizationally. The BMV and the BMFTR are jointly investing around 16 million euros in the concept, which is being implemented by the German Space Agency at DLR.
For users, this means above all an end to data silos: a single access is sufficient to carry out complex analyses. Users no longer have to laboriously download large data packages to local servers.
Bottleneck in data transmission
The cloud-based architecture of the platform plays an important role here. Earth observation produces data volumes in the petabyte range, the transfer of which via the conventional Internet often becomes a bottleneck. CODE-DE Lab solves this problem by using computing power to provide information – not the other way around. Users can run their algorithms directly in the platform’s cloud environment. Research Minister Dorothee Bär (CSU) described the European Copernicus program as the global gold standard. By supplementing national missions and commercial data, a digital toolbox is created with which Germany can consolidate its position as a space nation and generate economic added value.
One focus is on the integration of artificial intelligence methods. In the pilot phase, researchers used the cloud infrastructure to develop AI-based approaches to detect forest damage or to automatically identify protected areas. The data is also used to monitor critical infrastructure such as dams or to analyze flood areas.
Transport Minister Patrick Schnieder (CDU) underlines the importance of the initiative for a resilient state infrastructure. The authorities were already using the services for the atmosphere, climate and oceans intensively, for example to carry out environmental monitoring or to make the payment of agricultural subsidies more efficient.
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Experienced partners for digital public services
A consortium is responsible for the implementation. CloudFerro from Poland provides the infrastructure as well as the data and processing services. The German company Urbetho CF is responsible for project management, support and training. The partners were involved in previous projects, which should ensure a seamless transition.
With the launch of CODE-DE Lab, the federal government is responding to the growing need for precise real-time data in times of climate change and increased extreme weather events. Free access for authorized institutions is intended to lower the inhibition threshold for integrating satellite data into everyday work.
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