ESA is developing free open source toolboxes for the scientific exploitation of Earth Observation missions under the the Scientific Exploitation of Operational Missions (SEOM) programme element. STEP is the ESA community platform for accessing the software and its documentation, communicating with the developers, dialoguing within the science community, promoting results and achievements as well as providing tutorials and material for training scientists using the Toolboxes.
The ESA toolboxes support the scientific exploitation for the ERS-ENVISAT missions, the Sentinels 1/2/3 missions and a range of National and Third Party missions. The three toolboxes are called respectively Sentinel 1, 2 and 3 Toolboxes and share a common architecture called SNAP. They contain some functionalities of historical toolboxes such as BEAM, NEST and Orfeo Toolbox that were developed over the last years.
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The following results have been obtained thanks to the Sentinel Toolboxes :
Sentinel-2 LAI over Amazon Forest
Sentinel-2 Leaf Area Index (LAI) over Amazon Forest (green indicates high LAI value). Processing was performed with ESA SNAP Toolbox including Biophysical Processor. S2A data were downloaded from the Sentinel-2 Scientific Data Hub
Sentinel-2 for aqua-culture facilities detection
Sentinel-2 second Normalized Difference Water Index (NDWI2) included in the Radiometric Indices Processor of the ESA SNAP Toolbox. In the NDWI2 product, it is easy to distinguish the aquaculture facilities in the Gulf of Gaeta (Lazio, Italy). S2A data were downloaded from the Sentinel-2 Scientific Data Hub
Sentinel-2 Red-Edge Bands Combination
The three 20m ‘red edge’ bands of Sentinel-2 multispectral instrument provide key information on the state of vegetation. Using the ESA SNAP Toolbox was performed the resampling, the RGB combination and the rendering. S2A data from 6 August 2015 acquired in the Po Valley (Pavia, Italy) were downloaded from the Sentinel-2 Scientific Data Hub
Sentinel-2 NDVI over Midi-Pyrenees
Sentinel-2 Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) included in the Radiometric Indices Processor of the ESA SNAP Toolbox. The NDVI product, exploits the strength and the vitality of the vegetation on the earth's surface, so much more active the chlorophyll of the plants, so much bigger is the boost of the reflection level at the near infrared (0,78 - 1 µm). S2A data from 30 July 2016 acquired near Toulouse (Midi-Pyrenees, France) were downloaded from the Sentinel-2 Scientific Data Hub
Amatrice Earthquake
Ground displacement from Italy’s earthquake obtained by using Sentinel-1 products
Ireland composite from Sentinel-1A using SNAP/S1 Toolbox
Multi-temporal colour composite by Sentinel-1A features land coverage and use across Ireland.
Volcán de Fuego from Sentinel-2A using SNAP
A Sentinel-2A image of the active Volcán de Fuego in Guatemala on the 10th of February 2016.
The Lefkada 2015 earthquake (Greece) from Sentinel-1A using SNAP
Preliminary co-seismic TOPS differential interferogram
S1A Country Mosaic over Europe
Generated with SNAP using 400 ascending scenes from May to July 2015.
S1 TOPS co-seismic interferogram of the Pishan earthquake
A Sentinel-1 TOPS co-seismic interferogram of the Pishan earthquake in Western China on the 3rd of July 2015.
S1A Country Mosaic of Estonia
A dual polarization colour composite of Switzerland using six Sentinel-1A GRDH products acquired between October 2014 and January 2015.
S1A Country Mosaic of Hungary
A dual polarization colour composite of entire Hungary using eleven Sentinel-1A GRDH products acquired between October and December 2014.
S1A Country Mosaic of The Netherlands
A dual polarization colour composite of The Netherlands using three Sentinel-1A GRDH products acquired within March 2015.
S1A Country Mosaic of Romania
A dual polarization colour composite of entire Romania using fifteen Sentinel-1A GRDH products acquired between October and November 2014.
S1A Country Mosaic of Switzerland
A dual polarization colour composite of Switzerland using six Sentinel-1A GRDH products acquired between October 2014 and January 2015.
