German Space Weather Initiatives

DLR (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt)

The DLR - Institute for Communication and Navigation have established a permanent service providing maps of the vertical total electron content (TEC)

• over the European area
• and over the Northern polar cap (lat. > 50 deg):
  

The TEC data are computed from ground based GPS measurements obtained from the global GPS station network of the International GPS Service (IGS). The maps are produced by assimilating the data into regional TEC models especially developed for the European and the polar region, respectively. Maps are computed from the previous day's data in the early morning hours.

DLR is also a partner in the CHAMP mission

CHAMP (CHAllenging Minisatellite Payload)

CHAMP is a German small satellite mission for geoscientific and atmospheric research and applications, managed by GFZ, Potsdam. Launched on 15th July 2000, the main objective of CHAMP is the simultaneous generation of highly precise gravity and magnetic field measurements over a 5 year period. This will allow detection of the spatial and temporal variability of these fields. In addition CHAMP will become a pilot mission for the pre-operational use of space-borne GPS observations for atmospheric and ionospheric research and applications in weather prediction and space weather monitoring.

Max-Planck-Institut fur Extraterrestrische Physik    

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