Sen2Cor v2.10 installation packages are provided as standalone installers. For a short introduction of how to install the standalone version of Sen2Cor, read the installation steps described in section 4 of the release note S2-PDGS-MPC-L2A-SRN-V2.10.0.pdf
The main new features in the Sen2Cor v2.10 release include:
- Support of the L1C generated with the current (14.9) and previous (14.6, 14.5 and 14.2) Products Specification Document as input.
- Improvement of Scene Classification: Reduction of the false cloud detection on bright targets using a novel algorithm using the parallax properties of the MSI instrument. Reduction of the false snow/ice detection in high altitude ice clouds. Dilation of the cloud mask as well as of the cloud shadow mask. Reduction of the number of unclassified pixels. Improvement of the topographic shadows computation. Reduction of false cloud shadow occurrences.
- Improvement of Atmospheric Correction: In case of missing dark dense vegetation pixels (areas like deserts, snowy or ice landscapes, water only regions) to perform the aerosol estimation retrieval, Sen2Cor can use aerosol estimate from meteorological CAMS auxiliary data (read from L1C AUX_DATA), leading to a more consistent aerosols correction over the complete datastrip.
- Provision of band B01 also at 20m resolution.
- Addition of L2A Quality Indicators (new fields in tile metadata + additional L2A_QUALITY.xml report in the QI_DATA folder).
- Usage of the Copernicus DEM@90m horizontal resolution.
- Addition of a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) in the L2A metadata according to CARD4L SR Specifications.
It is important to know, that the default configuration of the L2A algorithm provided with Sen2Cor version 2.10 is the same configuration as for the L2A “Core” Products processing in Sentinel-2 Ground Segment with L2A processing baseline 04.00. Therefore, no further tuning should be required on user side to get L2A Products similar to L2A Core Products.
In order to generate products compatible with the L2A Core Products it is necessary to set the usage of a Digital Elevation Model to improve Scene Classification and have the activation of ESA-CCI data-package to be downloaded here and installed. The usage of ESA CCI data package for Sen2Cor v2.10 is detailed in the dedicated Software User Manual: S2-PDGS-MPC-L2A-SUM-V2.10.0.pdf.
In addition, users are informed now that Sen2Cor 2.10 is currently prepared to make use of the Copernicus DEM@90m horizontal resolution. The usage of the Copernicus DEM is detailed in the dedicated Software User Manual (section 2.2.8): S2-PDGS-MPC-L2A-SUM-V2.10.0.pdf. A separate communication will follow shortly with the dates of the upcoming availability of the Copernicus DEM server (to be set in Sen2Cor configuration file as
Using the Copernicus DEM@90m, the only differences between L2A “Toolbox” and L2A “Core” Products are reported in the following table:
| Category of Difference | Difference | L2A Toolbox | L2A Core Products |
| Product Format | HTML Folder | No | Yes |
| Manifest | Same Set of Items but arranged in different order | ||
| Product Quality Metadata | Copied from L1C | Generated by L2A On-line Quality Check (OLQC) | |
| JPEG2000 encoding library | OpenJPEG | Kakadu | |
| Processing baseline | 99.99 | Official, e.g. 04.00 | |
The evolution of the processing baseline used to process Sentinel-2 L2A Core Products in Ground Segment are reported in the L2A Data Quality Report.
For any questions about the usage of Sen2Cor, please follow the general STEP forum area dedicated to Sen2Cor: https://forum.step.esa.int/c/s2tbx/sen2cor.
Latest release:
- 2.10 – It was released on 10 January, 2022. This version runs on the operating systems: Linux, Mac OSX and Windows (64 bit is mandatory). For details about the features and fixes, see the release note.
- Standalone installers:
Linux installer: Sen2Cor-02.10.01-Linux64.run
Mac installer: Sen2Cor-02.10.01-Darwin64.run
Detailed information on all changes implemented in the new format of Sentinel-2 L2A product is available in the dedicated documentation online: Sentinel-2 Products Specification Document (PSD). The Sentinel-2 Level 2A Algorithm Theoretical Baseline Document (ATBD) provides the user with a very good insight of the algorithm.
Release Note: S2-PDGS-MPC-L2A-SRN-V2.10.0.pdf
Software User Manual: S2-PDGS-MPC-L2A-SUM-V2.10.0.pdf
Sentinel-2 Level 2A Product Definition: S2-PDGS-MPC-L2A-PDD-V14.9-v4.9.pdf
Sentinel-2 Level 2A Input Output Data Definition: S2-PDGS-MPC-L2A-IODD-V2.10.0.pdf
The schemas of the GIPP file, GIPP AC, SC, and PB files relative to Level-2A products are attached to the IODD document as a *.zipp attachment. The attachment should be saved, and renamed as .zip to enable it to be opened.
Enjoy!