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Resolution
Satellite images come in different resolutions, depending on the satellite the resolution can be anywhere from a few hundred meters per
pixel to around half a meter per pixel for civilian usage. While images from 10-meter resolution onward are often available freely, better
resolutions are usually commercial products.
Aside from this spatial resolution there is of course also the temporal resolution. What is the revisitation time (the time it takes for the
satellite to look at the same location again) of the satellite or the satellite system? Will you get an image once a day, once a week, or
maybe only once a month?
I mention resolution because sometimes journalists ask for “the original picture in full resolution” and are somewhat disappointed at what I
could send them.
This close-up of Boston demonstrates very clearly the difference between 10-meter and 0.8-meter resolution. In the SkySat image you can
also see the “leaning” effect of the skyscrapers, not imaged at nadir (from directly overhead) but at a slight angle.
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Sentinel-2
The 10-meter resolution of the Sentinel-2A satellite seems not very attractive in this close-up, however, don’t let that fool you. When
showing bigger areas, the 10-meter resolution delivers superb images, as can be seen here in this image of the Sermilik Fjord and
surrounding glaciers in Greenland.
Landsat
The Landsat satellites have a similar resolution with 15 meters per pixel and deliver comparable results. Because the Landsat program is
much older, the archives of images are especially interesting and important for time-series stretching over a longer period of time to show
changes and monitor slow processes.
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Atmospheric correction
Atmospheric correction can be used to
reduce the impact of the atmosphere on
the image quality. Some data providers
deliver images that already are corrected,
but sometimes you have to do it on your
own.
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Not seeing the Earth in visual light but also other wavelengths bands allows us to see things, that would otherwise be hard to see, or could
even be completely invisible. Here is a comparison of an image in visual light and near infrared/short wave infrared combination.
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As you can see the burn scar pops out in a very distinct red in the infrared view, while healthy vegetation appears in greenish colors. This
kind of view is very common in satellite imagery. The burn scar can be seen in visual light as well, but the infrared makes it so much easier
to see the difference here. If you use images using not only visual light you should always state that fact, as otherwise the colors might
look odd to the casual reader expecting something completely different.
Blue snow…
Another common source of confusion is snow. In infrared images snow and ice often appear in cyan/bluish colors. Since infrared images
are so common, this is something you should know about. Take a look at the snow on top of the mountains of the Novaya Zemlya
archipelago. You should also note that water can appear quite dark blue or even almost black in these infrared views.
However, with some manipulation it is also possible to generate infrared images in which the snow appears white, possibly making it
easier to understand but also making it harder to distinguish snow and ice from clouds. See an example below.
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Different band combinations can also be used to distinguish between different types of rock. In this image the Jabal Arkanu (in the top part
of the image) shows a more or less circular granite intrusion (showing up slightly purplish in the NIR/SWIR image), flanked by a sandstone
component (greenish in the NIR/SWIR image) in the north-east. The Gabal El Uweinat (bottom part) also has a circular granite intrusion,
with sandstone and siltstone components surrounding much of the intrusion, pretty much looking like a big “hand of sandstone” holding a
“granite ball“. If you are interested, you can read more on it here.
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Another combination that is used quite often produces images like this one. Healthy vegetation appears in bright red, while burn scars
appear dark red/brown to black. This image has additionally highlighted hot spots. These red false color images are quite popular, they
work reasonably well to show the burn scars and the red color, especially combined with bright hot spots, usually helps to create interest in
the image.
Here is an image showing three different way to show the same area. Left in natural colors, the middle a NIR/SWIR image, and on the
right a version highlighting the water in the image. Depending on what you are writing about, I would recommend to always also show a
natural color image, as most people find those easier to understand/read, image sliders as I have used above are also a nice way to do
this.
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I will not talk about how to get an image with the Sentinel Hub EO Browser, as it is so dead simple, you should just head over and do it
yourself. Many different visualizations are available as presets, making it easy to have a look at your area of interest in different ways. But
it doesn’t stop there. Thanks to custom scripting you can get even more functionality out of the EO Browser. An example would be my
script for wildfire visualization I wrote about here. But there is also a repository with many other scripts, and you can of course always try
your own ideas.
And while there are a lot of different possibilities to get satellite data or processed images, Sentinel Hub in my opinion stands out, as it
allows to process satellite data to very usable images with little to no knowledge and background in satellite data processing, making it an
ideal tool for journalists.
Another advantage is the license situation, as media can freely use the images created in EO Browser in accordance with the CC BY 4.0
license.
Scientists or fire-fighters will be perfectly fine with some gray-scale images of a fire perimeter and burn scars if they are easily readable
and accurate. The general public, however, is not a big fan of gray-scale images. To grab their attention, a natural-color image or a punchy
false-color image will be working much better. So to get attention, at least the lead image of your story should be something that appeals
to your audience, you can always add additional imagery within the story or in galleries for readers who would like some more detail and
background.
GIMP, Photoshop, and more Example of some post-processing in Photoshop (Click to enlarge)
QGIS
With QGIS you can even get a
free geographic information system (GIS) Using Sentinel imagery as decorative, yet thematically fitting element
Keep it real
Keep it real with your images. By that I
mean that you should communicate to
your audience what can be seen. I’m
processing a lot of wildfire images, many of
which ended up in some media
publications. I like to create images
combining natural colors with an IR
highlights overlay, like this image on the
right. This way zones with active fires and
lots of residual heat are very visible in the
image. The resulting image looks a lot like
you could really see the fire, as the zones
of high IR emissions line up with the
smoke emanating from the fires. Here is
where you should keep it real and tell your
audience that what can be seen are not Wildfire in the Amur Oblast in Russia, natural colors with NIR/SWIR overlay to show IR emissions
actual fires but actually an IR overlay that
to some degree lines up Diese
with the active fires and hot spots.
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I have seen this explanation very rarely, and without it those images are to some degree misleading. But good examples of how to
communicate it can be seen here in Discover Magazine Blog by Tom Yulsman and here in Engadget by Steve Dent .
A Sentinel-2 image of the Salton Sea with modifications to make the natural color image visually more appealing.
An annotated map of the Xe-Namnoi dam breach made by Simon Gascoin. Make sure to read the whole thread for more information. It
also shows that simple annotations can be really helpful in conveying the meaning of an image.
Simon Gascoin
@sgascoin
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Very impressive is this animation of the Pine Island Glacier calving, created by Stef Lhermitte from 108 Sentinel-1 images.
Stef Lhermitte
@StefLhermitte
Pine Island Glacier: the movie. From Oct 2014 to recent calving
in 108 #sentinel1 images @CopernicusEU @ESA_EO
Comparison animation of forests between Moena and Predazzo after heavy rain falls in Italy by Annamaria Luongo.
Annamaria Luongo
@annamaria_84
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HD
@HarelDan
Antti Lipponen
@anttilip
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Thousands of cars filling up Volkswagen’s Diesel graveyard in Victorville, California, by Kamil Onoszko.
Kamil Onoszko
@Onosz
The EO Browser is a work in progress. Some of the more exciting updates planned for the future are data combination (for example using
Sentinel-2 data and Sentinel-5p data in a single image), the ability to build time lapses from data of multiple satellite missions, additions to
the education pages regarding volcanoes and air pollution, and, maybe especially interesting for journalists to visualize things, the ability
to create 3D-images of scenes within the EO Browser by combining data from the Sentinel satellites and a digital elevation model.
There are also updates planned for the more advanced users, the new API V2.0 will support POST requests, removing the char number
limit in URLs. We will also see multi-part responses, e.g. GeoTiff (for raster data) + JSON (for meta-data or some script debugging
information), better support for machine learning, and the possibility to get raw satellite data e.g. unchanged Sentinel-2 reflectance values.
Useful Resources
Some useful resources toDiese
get Website
some more information. Interesting Twitter accounts to follow for Sentinel images (and satellite images in
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general) as well as some articles/blog posts explaining some aspects of image processing in greater detail.
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Twitter Accounts
Copernicus EU , the official account of the European Union Earth Observation Programme. You’ll get all sorts of information about the
Sentinels as well as a nice selection of images. They are also helpful with any questions you might have about the Sentinels or the
Programme itself.
Copernicus EMS , the Copernicus Emergency Management Service providing mapping products based on satellite imagery together
with forest fires Flood and drought early warning products.
ESA EarthObservation , more information about the European Earth Observation endeavors as well as Sentinel imagery.
Sentinel Hub , for news about the EO Browser and the Sentinel Playground as well as a stream interesting satellite images
Simon Gascoin , if snow and glaciers are your thing, you might want to follow Simon. But even aside from those topics he’ll surprise
you with nice usage of Sentinel imagery.
Stef Lhermitte , just as Simon, Stef likes to look at the colder things on Earth. Follow him for some nice timelapse animations and
informative use of imagery, especially glaciers.
Antti Lipponen , you should follow Antti for a beautiful selection of storm images from a variety of different satellites and some excellent
data visualizations. Also take a look at his Flickr here .
Harel Dan , bringing you interesting images and especially (timelapse) animations from Sentinel satellites.
Kamil Onoszko , tweeting interesting Landsat and Sentinel images with a focus on forests and areas in Poland.
Annamaria Luongo , who is posting all kinds of different Sentinel images with some very interesting GIFs, showing how to present
satellite data in an engaging way.
Further Reading
A lot of these are not meant for the Sentinel Hub EO Browser but rather deal with manual image processing, however, they give you a
deeper insight into the processing of good satellite images and the methods behind it and are all well worth reading. I would recommend to
especially read the first one, as it will help you to understand the general process of creating a natural color image from the raw data of the
satellite.
I would also like to remember you of what I have said earlier. Don’t restrict yourself to one tool. The EO Browser is versatile, quick, and
easy to use. But you should see it as a starting point. Sometimes you can use images right out of the browser, sometimes a little tweaking
with tools like GIMP or Photoshop can get you far ahead in terms of image quality and usefulness for your audience. So some knowledge
of all of this is always a plus.
Acknowledgements
Once again thanks to the team at Sentinel Hub, patiently, and quickly, answering all of the annoying questions I might have had and for
making the EO Browser available to the general public.
I would also like to thank all of you who gave me some form of feedback when I bugged them with questions.
Landsat 8 data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey, Resourcesat data courtesy of ISRO and the U.S. Geological Survey, Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data [2016, 2017,
This article is amazing! I will say it is very informative and educative. This is a great material for enhancing my remote sensing skills .
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Thank you!
Reply
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Simon says:
February 16th, 2019 at 10:37 pm
PierreDiese Website benutzt Cookies. Wenn du die Website weiter nutzt, gehen wir von deinem Einverständnis aus.
Markuse says:
February 19th, 2019 at 11:39 pm Verstanden Datenschutzerklärung
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Veronika says:
April 2nd, 2019 at 10:45 am
Hi Pierre,
I also appreciate your article very much. You are very good at explaining difficult things in a simple language. What a great skill! Thank you.
Reply
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Gerardo says:
August 7th, 2019 at 2:30 pm
So much remote sensing knowledge and information concentrated in a few words… Congratulations and thank you so much.
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