Space based automatic identification and monitoring system for large-scale railway transportation – GP-AIMS*

Abstract The globalized economy relies on fast, reliable and cost efficient ways of transporting goods over wide distances. Until the recent past, vessel and air transportation were the preferred choice for long distance transportation. Facing a problematical economic development as well as rising fuel costs, rail road transportation is getting more and more interesting. The GP-AIMS feasibility study investigates ways to achieve a space-based monitoring system for large-scale railway transportation in order to support the railroad sector by optimizing rail-workload and at the same time increasing security. The monitoring of the trains will be achieved by a small satellite system, which forwards sensor information from the train to a distant Mission Control Center. Furthermore, GMES data acquired by the two German Earth observation satellites TerraSAR-X and TanDEM-X deliver information about the current state of the track.