Institute of Planetary Research Berlin-Adlershof

The FOCUS Project
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The concern of scientific communities and international politicians about climate change and environmental degradation has highlighted the requirement for better information on the dynamics of biomass burning at all scales from local to global, in order to evaluate the role of fire as an agent of change.

Only spaceborne observation can provide the required information on High Temperature Events (HTE), such as wildfires but also volcanic activities, on a global scale.

Existing spaceborne sensors are able to provide globally information on fire risk as well as to monitor burnt areas. However, existing spaceborne sensors -- used for active fire recognition -- suffer from serious limitations.

Taking into account these limitations a feasibility study on a Fire Recognition Satellite System (FIRES) was conducted by DLR and OHB-System in 1994-95.

Two dedicated spaceborne precursor missions for fire recognition are in preparation now as a continuation of the FIRES initiative:

• The Bi-spectral IR Detection - BIRD - small satellite mission of DLR, and
• The Intelligent Infrared Sensor System FOCUS to be flown as an early external payload of the International Space Station (ISS) Ð as proposed by DLR to ESA in reaction of an Announcement of Opportunity in 1997.

FOCUS is a prototype mission combining a number of proven and new technologies and observation techniques to provide the scientific and potential operational user community with key data for the classification and monitoring of HTE and their gaseous and aerosol emissions. European industry partners Ð led by the Prime Contractor OHB-Systems - and science partners are working on FOCUS on request of ESA. The DLR Institute of Space Sensor Technology and Planetary Exploration -- with the Principal Investigator Hans-Peter Röser -- and the DLR Remote Sensing Technology Institute are involved in the FOCUS project. Please see for more details the FOCUS web page of the FOCUS Prime Contractor OHB-Systems: http://www.fuchs-gruppe.com/eo/focus/.