By early September 2016, Sentinel-2 Level-1C products will start being distributed on the Sentinels Data Hubs in single-tile packages following the current product format and naming convention (PSD 13.1). This new packaging does not impose changes on downstream software applications compatible with the current PSD 13.1 product format.
Furthermore, by the end of October 2016, a new product format will be introduced.
This new format features the following main evolutions:
- The product naming (including the naming of folders and files inside the product structure) has been compacted to overcome the 256 characters limitation on pathnames imposed by the Windows platforms.
- The products distributed on the Sentinels Data Hub will embed one single tile of the tiling grid (as opposed to a set of tiles).
- A full resolution True-Colour Image (TCI) will be included in every product as a separate RGB composite image (in JPEG2000 format) and will be placed inside the Tile folder together with the original spectral band images.
This updated product format is described in detail in the Sentinel-2 Products Specification Document (PSD) (version 14.0). Change bars on the document highlight every single change made on the document with respect to the previous version (13.1).
Users are reminded that the PSD defines the generic format of Sentinel-2 products that includes several packaging/formatting options. In that respect, it is highlighted that the specific product format that will correspond to the Level-1C product published on the Data Hub will combine the features of both the “Compact Naming Convention” and the “Complete Single Tile” options described in the PSD.
The corresponding XSD schemas and test data in PSD 14.0 will be made available by mid September.
More details about the actual product format and naming convention and other Sentinel-2 related information, please see the dedicated website https://sentinel.esa.int.
Will it be scenes AND single-tile distribution, or single-tile INSTEAD OF scenes?