Virtual Flight Around K2 mountain - North Pillar Expedition 2011

DLR scientists support expedition with a highly accurate 3D model of mountain Considered one of the most beautiful mountains in the world and, at 8000 metres high, the most difficult to climb, K2 lies on the border between Pakistan and China. For scientists at the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), it is the perfect place for testing the latest processes for converting satellite data into 3D models. For mountaineers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits, DLR's 3D model provides an ideal opportunity to plan and analyse their ascent of K2 at the end of June. K2, in the Karakoram mountain range, is difficult terrain for both mountaineers and the researchers at the DLR Earth Observation Center (EOC). For high-altitude mountaineers, K2 is one of the most challenging mountains; for Stefan Dech, Director of the German Remote Sensing Data Center (Deutsches Fernerkundungsdatenzentrum; DFD) at DLR, the 8000-metre mountain is the most challenging relief o