Time series of four MERIS L2 images acquired over northern Italy from August 2002 to July 2003. The subsets are collocated and refer to the band 13 TOA reflectance.

Reducing Time Spent on Preparing Earth Observation Data: ARD for ENVISAT MERIS FR now on EarthConsole®

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Preparing Earth Observation data for processing can be a time-consuming and complex task, requiring technical expertise or access to an in-house processing infrastructure which may not always be readily available. This is where Analysis Ready Data (ARD) becomes increasingly valuable, above all for non-EO experts. ARD simplifies the process by providing pre-processed, georeferenced and harmonized datasets that are ready for immediate use. By eliminating the need for complex data preparation, ARD ensures consistency and comparability across time and space, allowing scientific users to move quickly to deriving insights for their research.

Introducing ARD for ENVISAT MERIS FR on EarthConsole®

To facilitate the scientific community’s use of Earth Observation data, EarthConsole® now offers a new processor designed to generate Analysis Ready Data (ARD) from MERIS, an instrument onboard ENVISAT satellite that collected data about ocean colour, atmosphere and land surface between 2002 and 2012.

Developed by us at Progressive Systems, the company behind the EarthConsole® platform, the ARD for ENVISAT MERIS FR processor automates the process of accessing and preparing this data. It downloads the needed MERIS data directly from ESA dissemination service, then creates a subset based on the region of interest.

The subset is collocated per pixel with respect to a master image (raster or re-projected onto a Coordinate Reference System).

Time series of four MERIS L2 images acquired over northern Italy from August 2002 to July 2003. The subsets are collocated and refer to the band 13 TOA reflectance.

All of this is done using EarthConsole® parallel processing environment, which optimizes data access by leveraging the co-location of computing resources with the data archives.

This processor is critical for tasks like tracking changes over time (multi-temporal analysis) or artificial intelligence applications, where each image needs to be georeferenced and comparable at the pixel level. Thematically, this tool can be applied to a wide range of research areas, ranging from vegetation to water quality and land use studies.

The value of this tool increases even further when its outputs are combined with data from active Earth Observation missions, enabling even more comprehensive analysis on long-term environmental trends.

Practical Applications

The ARD for ENVISAT MERIS FR tool is already being used in important research projects, like the ESA River Discharge Climate Change Initiative. This project focuses on studying rivers worldwide and how their flow patterns are changing over time due to climate change.

Using this tool, 25,000 satellite images were processed, focusing on 45 specific locations around the world. The tool automatically prepared smaller, targeted datasets (about 72,000 in total) for these locations. These prepared datasets were then ingested in a machine learning model developed by the project team. To learn more, you can read our EarthConsole® Story on tracking and predicting changes in river systems with ENVISAT data.

Getting started with ARD for ENVISAT MERIS FR on EarthConsole® (FREE ACCESS):

This tool is available for free bulk processing via the Heritage Missions Virtual Lab hosted on EarthConsole®, a European Space Agency’s initiative aimed at valorising the use of data from Earth Observation missions which are no longer active in space. To request the service:

      1. Log in to www.earthconsole.eu.
      2. Request a free membership to the Heritage Missions Virtual Lab www.earthconsole.eu/groups/heritage-missions.
      3. Click on the card ‘Request the service you need’ and submit the service request using the dedicated form within the Lab.
      4. Wait for approval; it may take a few days as we process your request with ESA.
      5. Once approved, you’ll receive 100 free processing hours, which can be renewed for another 100 hours pending ESA approval.

For any questions, we will be happy to help at info@earthconsole.eu.