Questionnaire for projects seeking access to TerraSAR-X data
within the UNESCO/DLR Cooperation Agreement
The UNESCO/DLR Cooperation Agreement
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the German
Aerospace Center (DLR) have agreed in December 2007 to cooperate for an initial period of three
years, renewable, against the background of the UNESCO Open Initiative on the use of space
technologies to support the World Heritage Convention (in short: “Open Initiative”). One of the key
elements of this cooperation is the free access to primary/processed remote sensing data of DLR’s
remote sensing satellite TerraSAR-X, launched in 2007.
Such free of charge access to TerrSAR-X data can be granted to scientifically sound projects that
make a robust contribution to the World Heritage Convention or UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere
programme.
Objective of this questionnaire
Through this questionnaire, the German Commission for UNESCO, on behalf of UNESCO, will
evaluate whether the scope and objectives of the proposed project are covered by the Open Initiative
and thus, whether free access can be granted to TerraSAR-X data. This questionnaire does not ask for
the scientific quality or the financial and managerial robustness of the project proposed. Such
questions are addressed during the registration procedure for any project in the TerraSAR-X Science
Service System (SSS).
The result of the evaluation of this questionnaire can be negative, while the registration of the project
with DLR can be successful – in this case, the applicant will have to pay the ordinary prices for
(scientific) users.
If the registration of the project with DLR is unsuccessful, the results of the evaluation of this
questionnaire are irrelevant.
This questionnaire does not ask for information to check the admissibility of a project in terms of the
German law on remote sensing data and their implications on national security (SatDSiG), since
neither the German Commission for UNESCO nor UNESCO are the providers of the data.
Steps needed before completing this questionnaire
Before completing the questionnaire, please submit your proposal to the TerraSAR-X SSS at
http://sss.terrasar-x.dlr.de. Please send the subsequent questionnaire together with a copy of the
“acknowledgment of submission” of the TerraSAR-X SSS to the following address:
Deutsche UNESCO-Kommission, Dr. Lutz Möller, moeller@unesco.de or by fax: +49 228 60497 30
Title of the project
Proposal registration number of the TerraSAR-X Science Service System
Short description of the project (max. 1.500 letters)
How does the project contribute to the goals of the World Heritage Convention or the ”Man and
the Biosphere” programme of UNESCO?
Which site(s) is/are to be covered by the project? (Please specify as exactly as possible, where
appropriate using coordinates [including source of coordinates] or by attaching maps)
Do you seek access to a single set of data, a series of data or a continuous coverage for a longer
period (please demonstrate that the requested amount of data is necessary)?
Do you seek access to a set of data from TerraSAR-X archives or do you request access new
satellite images to be taken?
Applicant organization (including main contact person, address, telephone, fax and email)
Legal status of the applicant organization (in the target country and/or in other relevant
countries such as Germany)
Which partner organizations are involved in the project (please indicate that the partner
consortium contains enough capabilities to process the data)?
Which partner organizations will have access to the original TerraSAR-X data? How is it
safeguarded that local partners benefit from the access to this data?
Please describe the relation of the applicant organization to the national/provincial/local
administration responsible for the site and/or the site managers. Are they actively involved in
the project?
Please describe your efforts in the project to build local capacities to improve site conservation,
monitoring and/or site development.
Are national/provincial administrations informed about this application and have they given
their consent (if not: please comment, why their consent is not relevant)?
Please comment on any commercial aspects/implications that the project has or might have
(please be aware that a frequent monitoring of large-scale areas might be considered as
commercial):
O
We will provide to the German Commission of UNESCO (on behalf of UNESCO) reports incl
graphical material of good quality (e.g. Powerpoints) describing the project and showing
the results, to be used by UNESCO to promote the objectives of the Open Initiative.
(Signature of representative of the applicant organisation
having legal capacity)
Date