The Altimetry Virtual Lab

The Altimetry Virtual Lab is an ESA initiative offering a virtual space hosted on EarthConsole^® providing processing services for the exploitation of CryoSat-2, Sentinel-3 and Sentinel-6-Michael-Frielich SAR (Syntethic Aperture Radar) altimeters data, extending from L1A (FBR) products to SAR/SARin L2 geophysical products. It includes the SAR Versatile Altimetric TOolkit for Research & Exploitation (SARvatore) family of processing services, previously available on the ESA Grid Processing On-Demand (G-POD) environment.

Beyond processing capabilities, this virtual space is a collaborative hub fostering networking opportunities and facilitating the exchange of scientific knowledge, data, and resources.

Join the Lab

Free registration

What is Radar Altimetry?

Radar altimetry is a remote sensing technique used to observe several parameters of the surface topography profile.

Radar altimeters emit electromagnetic pulses toward the Earth’s surface, and by measuring the time it takes for the pulses to return, the distance between the satellite and the surface can be calculated. Since the orbit of the satellite is precisely known, by differentiating the orbit from the overall distance allows for the isolation of surface-related information.

This information is valuable for determining various parameters, including time-varying sea-surface height (ocean topography), sea ice thickness, altitude of large icebergs above sea level, river and lake levels and much more.

Learn more

The processing services available through the Lab

ALES+ SAR Retracker

Technical University of Munich

ALES+ SAR (Adaptive Leading Edge Subwaveform retracker, version +, for SAR) is a subwaveform retracker for open ocean and coastal zone SAR altimetry data. It provides the capability to process either official CryoSat-2 L1b products or Sentinel-3 WAT L1b products to produce ALES+ SAR L2 NetCDF products.

Read the user manual

Fully Focused-SAR for CS-2 and S-3

Aresys s.r.l.

The Fully Focused SAR service processes on line and on demand CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3 SAR data, from FBR data products until FF-SAR Level1b products. The service is based on the AREALT-FF1 Processor Prototype that has been developed by Aresys in the frame of ESA contracts for Sentinel-6 and CryoSat.

Read the user manual

SAMPY for Cryosat-2

European Space Agency (Cryo-TEMPO project)

Python implementation of the SAMOSA+ retracker developed within the ESA Cryo-TEMPO project enhanced by the ESA altimetry team to append the output of SAMOSA+ retracker to official L2 GOP products.

Read the user manual

SARINvatore for CS-2

European Space Agency

The SARvatore for CryoSat-2 processes on line and on demand CryoSat-2 SAR data, from L1a (FBR) data products until SAR Level-2 geophysical data products. It is based on the SARvatore processor prototype developed in the scope of the EOP-SER Altimetry Team in ESA-ESRIN. The processor has been further upgraded (SARINvatore) to accept in input L1a (FBR) SARIN data products and build SARIN Level-2 geophysical data products as well.

Read the user manual

SARvatore for CS-2

European Space Agency

Read the user manual

SARvatore for S3

European Space Agency

SARvatore for Sentinel-3 is a software processor developed by ESA/ESRIN to experiment with Sentinel-3 SAR Altimetry processing exploiting the SAMOSA retracking model and the Delay-Doppler principle. It can be used over open ocean or coastal zone, as well as over more difficult targets such as rivers, lakes, and sea-ice. The toolkit takes in input L1A Sentinel-3 SAR Altimetry data products and produces in output L2 data products in standard NetCDF format.

Read the user manual

TUDaBO SAR-RDSAR

University of Bonn

TUDaBo SAR-RDSAR is a processor developed to experiment with SAR mode data from L1A (FBR) to L2. Reduced SAR, SAR and LRMC data are generated for both CryoSat-2 and Sentinel-3 missions. For each mode dedicated signal processing options and retrackers are available, which allow the user to experiment with different configurations. All L1B/L2 products for reduced SAR, SAR and LRMC have the same geolocations and time tags allowing a direct comparison without interpolation.

Read the user manual

Request the processing service you need in 5 easy steps:

Register for free to the EarthConsole^® webapp.
Complete the P-PRO ON DEMAND form in all its parts.
Standby. We will assess your request and use the information submitted through the form to prepare a sponsorship request form for the ESA Network of Resources initiative, that we will send you for your review and approval. ESA NoR is an initiative that could allow you to use the selected service free of charge. It provides sponsorship opportunities for research, educational and pre-commercial projects to facilitate the use of cloud environments for the exploitation of Earth Observation data, including EarthConsole^®.
If the form is ok, sign it and e-mail it to to nor-sponsorship-requests@esa.int and put support@earthconsole.eu and info@earthconsole.eu in cc.
If your sponsorship request to the ESA NoR will be approved, it will grant you a voucher (max. 5.000 EUR for non-ESA projects) covering, partially or in full, the cost of the processing service you have selected. At this point we will contact you with further instructions on how to activate the selected service. Should the sponsorship request be declined, there is no obligation to purchase the service.

To learn more, you can check this Step-by-Step Manual.

Develop, prototype and integrate your own algorithm

If the processor you need is not available in our list of hosted processors, we provide solutions for either integrating your own algorithm into the platform or developing and prototyping a new one.

For both services, it is possible to request a voucher to the ESA Network of Resources (NoR) initiative, which may cover all or part of the associated costs.

Integrate your own algorithm

If you have an algorithm for processing SAR altimetry data, you can request its integration into the platform through the I-APP (Application Integration) service. This service facilitates the execution of extensive processing campaigns with your processor, utilizing datasets from the Copernicus Data and Information Access Service (DIAS). If needed, it is also possible to integrate your processor as an on-demand service made accessible through a web interface.

Develop and test a new algorithm

You can request a G-BOX cloud-based virtual machine to develop and prototype your algorithm, with a fast connection to datasets of the Copernicus Data and Information Access Services (DIAS). In addition, the virtual machine provides the possibility to upload non-EO data or your own data to be used as input in a processing chain. It also offers customised software for their analysis such as BRAT, Panoply and Python, among others.

By joining the Lab you’ll also get access to

A forum
To connect with other members of the Lab, share relevant information and find the support you need for your processing.
A dataset repository
To download processed datasets and avoid spending time and efforts on work that has already been done and made accessible by others.
An online library
To share your most recent publications and access the ones published by your colleagues.

Join the Lab

Free registration