Nest User Manual 5.1

Table of Contents
General
● Overview
● Definitions
● Supported Products
● Abstracted Metadata
DAT
● Display and Analysis Tool
Tool Views
❍ Tool Windows
❍ Project View
❍ Product View
❍ Pixel Info View
❍ Image View
❍ Navigation Window
❍ Colour Manipulation
❍ Layer Manager
❍ World Map
❍ WorldWind View
❍ Product Library
❍ Preferences Dialog
❍ Settings Dialog
❍ Wave Mode Polar View
Product Readers
❍ Open SENTINEL-1 Product
❍ Open ENVISAT Product
❍ Open ERS (.E1, .E2) Product
❍ Open ERS1/2 CEOS Product
❍ Open JERS CEOS Product
❍ Open Radarsat-1 CEOS Product
❍ Open Radarsat-2 Product
❍ Open TerraSarX Product
❍ Open Cosmo-Skymed Product
❍ Open ENVI Product
❍ Open PolsarPro Product
❍ Open ALOS PALSAR CEOS Product
❍ Open ALOS AVNIR2 CEOS Product
❍ Open ALOS PRISM CEOS Product
❍ Open GeoTIFF Product
❍ Open ImageIO Product
❍ Open BEAM-DIMAP Product
❍ Open LANDSAT 5 TM Product
❍ Open NetCDF Product
❍ Open HDF Product
❍ Open Generic Binary
❍ Open Complex Generic Binary
❍ Open GETASSE30 Tile
❍ Open GTOPO30 Tile
❍ Open ACE DEM Tile
❍ Open SRTM DEM Tile
❍ Import Geometry/Shape
Product Writers
❍ Export BEAM-DIMAP Product
❍ Export GeoTIFF Product
❍ Export HDF-5 Product
❍ Export NetCDF Product
❍ Export ENVI GCP File
❍ Export Displayed Image
❍ Export Google Earth KMZ
❍ Export Roi Pixels
❍ Export Transect Pixels
❍ Export Color Palette
Imaging Tools
❍ RGB-Image Profile
❍ No Data Overlay
❍ Bitmask Overlay
❍ Bitmask Editor
Analysis Tools
❍ Geometry Management
❍ Mask and ROI Management
❍ Product GCP Manager
❍ Product Pin Manager
❍ Product/Band Information
❍ Product/Band Geo-Coding Information
❍ Band Statistics
❍ Band Histogram
❍ Band Scatter Plot
❍ Band Transect Profile Plot
❍ Band Transect Co-ordinate List
❍ Compute ROI-Mask Area
Product Generation Tools

❍ Product Subset Dialog
❍ Band Arithmetic
❍ Arithmetic Expression Editor
❍ Reprojection
■ Reprojection Dialog
■ Resampling Methods
❍ Data Flip
❍ Attach Pixel-based Geo-Coding
❍ Create Elevation Band
❍ Create Filtered Band
❍ Complex to Detected Ground Range
Graph Processing
● Introduction
Graph Tools
❍ Graph Processing Tool
❍ Command Line Reference
❍ Graph Builder Tool
❍ Batch Processing
Analysis Operators
❍ Principle Component Analysis
❍ EM Cluster Analysis
❍ K-Means Cluster Analysis
❍ Data Analysis
Utility Operators
❍ Create Stack
❍ Create Subset
❍ Band Arithmetic
❍ Convert Datatype
❍ Over Sample
❍ Under Sample
❍ Fill DEM Hole
❍ Image Filtering
SAR Operators
❍ Apply Orbit Correction
❍ Calibration
❍ Remove Antenna Pattern
❍ GCP Selection
❍ Multilook
❍ Speckle Filter
❍ Multi-Temporal Speckle Filter
❍ Warp
❍ WSS Deburst
❍ WSS Mosaic
❍ S1 TOPSAR Deburst and Merge
Geometry Operators
❍ Create Elevation
❍ Range Doppler Terrain Correction
❍ SAR Simulation Terrain Correction
❍ SAR Simulation
❍ Geolocation Grid Ellipsoid Correction
❍ Average Height RD Ellipsoid Correction
❍ Map Projection
❍ Slant Range to Ground Range
❍ Mosaic
InSAR
❍ Interferometric functionality
❍ Computation and subtraction of 'flat earth' phase
❍ Estimation and subtraction of topographic phase
❍ Coherence estimation
❍ Azimuth filtering
❍ Range filtering
❍ Phase filtering
❍ Slant to height
❍ Differential InSAR
❍ Unwrapping
❍ Snaphu Data Export
❍ Snaphu Data Import
❍ InSAR Stack Overview
Ocean Tools
❍ Object Detection
❍ Oil Spill Detection
❍ Create Land Mask
❍ Wind Field Estimation
Development
● General Design
● Detailed Design
● Open Source Development
● Building the Source
● Developing a Reader
● Developing a Writer
● Developing an Operator
Tutorials
● Remote Sensing
● Quick Start With The DAT
● Coregistration
● Orthorectification
● Command Line Processing
F.A.Q.
● Installation
● General
NEST Overview
Next ESA SAR Toolbox
Overview
The Next ESA SAR Toolbox (NEST) is an open source (GNU GPL) toolbox for reading, post-
processing, analysing and visualising the large archive of data (from Level 1) from ESA SAR
missions including ERS-1 & 2, ENVISAT and in the future Sentinel-1. In addition, NEST
supports handling of products from third party missions including JERS-1, ALOS PALSAR,
TerraSAR-X, RADARSAT-1&2 and Cosmo-Skymed. NEST has been built using the BEAM
Earth Observation Toolbox and Development Platform.
Architecture Highlights
● Display and Analysis Tool (DAT): integrated graphical user-friendly interface

● Graph Processing Framework (GPF): user-defined processing chains
● Graphical or command-line execution
● Tiled memory management for working with very large data products
● Data abstraction models to handle all SAR missions in a common way
● Modular design for easy modifications and upgrades
● Users are able to add their own modules via APIs
● Multithreading and Multi-core processor support
● Integrated WorldWind visualisation
Main Features
● Statistics & Data Analysis

● Metadata handling
● Subset, Resample and Band Arithmetic
● Export to GeoTiff, HDF 4 & 5, NetCDF, Binary, Envi, Kmz formats
● LUT and Layer Management
● ROI tools, layer stacking
● Absolute calibration (Envisat ASAR, ERS 1&2, ALOS, RADARSAT-2, TerraSAR-X, Cosmo-
SkyMed)
● Multilooking & speckle (single and multitemporal) filtering
● ERS-ASAR precise orbit handling (Doris, Prare and Delft orb.)
● Coregistration of detected and complex products
● Debursting of ASAR WSS
● Range-Doppler Terrain Correction
● Radiometric normalization during Terrain Correction
● SAR simulation
● Layover and shadow masks
● Simulated SAR Terrain Correction
● Ellipsoid correction, Map Reprojection, Mosaicking
● Automatic SRTM DEM download and tile selection
● Product library for scanning and cataloguing large archives efficiently
● Ocean tools: basic routines for oil spill detection, ship detection and wind field
estimation from SAR data
● Fully integrated and featured InSAR processor (JLinda) for Stripmap and Zero-Doppler
focused data
● Compatibility with PolSARpro Toolbox (Reader, Writer)
NEST is being developed by Array Systems Computing Inc. of Toronto Canada under ESA
Contract number 20698/07/I-LG. InSAR functionalities are being developed by PPO.labs
and Delft University of Technology.
Supported Product Formats:
SAR Data Products
❍ ENVISAT ASAR, MERIS, AATSR

❍ ERS AMI 1 & 2 (CEOS & Envisat format from PGS and VMP)
❍ JERS SAR
❍ ALOS PALSAR
❍ ASAR Wave Products
❍ RADARSAT 1
❍ RADARSAT 2
❍ TerraSar-X
❍ Cosmo-Skymed
Common EO Data Formats
❍ DIMAP
❍ GeoTIFF
❍ HDF 4 & HDF 5
❍ NetCDF
❍ ENVI
❍ PolsarPro
❍ Generic Binary
Digital Elevation Models
❍ SRTM
❍ ASTER Global DEM
❍ ACE
❍ GETASSE30
❍ GTOPO30 tiles
For further details on which products are support, please see the Supported_Mission-
Product_vs_Operators_table.xls
Source Code
The complete NEST software has been developed under the GNU public license and comes
with full source code in JavaTM.
An Application Programming Interface (API) is provided with NEST to allow easy extension
by users to add new data readers/writers of other formats and to support data formats of
future missions. Plug-in modules can be developed separately and shared by the user
community. Processors can be easily extended without needing to know about the
complexities of the whole software.
Supported Platforms
NEST is programmed in Java™ to allow a maximum portability. The NEST software has
been successfully tested under MS Windows™ XP®, Vista and 7 as well as under Linux,
Solaris® and Mac OS X operating systems.
Definitions, Acronyms, Abbreviations
Definition of Terms
Product An object that contains remote sensing data for a scene on the earth. A
product can contain meta-data, geo-coding information, tie-point grids and
bands. All band raster datasets within a product have the same pixel
resolution and share the same geo-coding.
Band A raster dataset of a product. The band's sample values are usually the
measurements of a sensor.
Tie-point grid An auxiliary (geophysical) raster dataset of a product. Tie-point grids
usually provide less sample values than a band. Missing values, with
respect to the full pixel resolution of a product, are obtained by a linear
interpolation. The tie-point grid data normally does not originate from the
sensor which provided the product's measurement data.
Geo-Coding Provides the geodetic co-ordinates for a given pixel of a product. An image
is geo-coded if it is somehow possible to find the geographical latitude and
longitude values for any pixel. ENVISAT products store their geo-coding
information in the tie-point grids named latitude and longitude. If a
product has been map transformed, it is known to be geo-referenced and
as such, tie-point information is no longer required.
Geo-Reference An image is geo-referenced if any point in the image can be found in a
corresponding reference map by a linear transformation. Every pixel in the
image has the same size if expressed in map units. Geo-referencing a geo-
coded image includes image warping, applying a well known map projection
and pixel re-sampling.
Map Graphic representation of the physical features (natural, artificial, or both)
of a part or the whole of the Earth's surface, by means of signs and
symbols or photographic imagery, at an established scale, on a specified
projection, and with the means of orientation indicated.
Map Projection Orderly system of lines on a plane representing a corresponding system of
imaginary lines on an adopted terrestrial or celestial datum surface. Also,
the mathematical concept for such a system. For maps of the Earth, a
projection consists of a graticule of lines representing parallels of latitude
and meridians of longitude or a grid.
Graticule Network of parallels and meridians on a map or chart. A geographic
graticule is a system of coordinates of latitude and longitude used to define
the position of a point on the surface of the Earth with respect to the
reference ellipsoid.
Grid In connection with maps: a network of uniformly spaced parallel lines
intersecting at right angles. When superimposed on a map, it usually carries
the name of the projection used for the map – that is, Lambert grid,
transverse Mercator grid, universal transverse Mercator grid.
Pixel coordinates Pixel values always refer to the upper left corner of the pixel. Pixel co-
ordinates are always zero based, the pixel at X=0,Y=0 refers to the upper
left pixel of an image and the upper left corner of that pixel.
Pixel value In general a composite of red, green and blue sample values resulting in a
colour as part of an image.
Geodetic co-ordinates Geodetic co-ordinates are given as latitude and longitude values and always
refer - if not otherwise stated - to the WGS-84 ellipsoid. The geodetic co-
ordinates of a pixel, always refer to the upper left corner of the pixel.
Acronyms, Abbreviations
AATSR Advanced Along Track Scanning Radiometer
ADS Annotation Data Set in an ENVISAT data product
ASAR Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar
BEAM Acronym for Basic ENVISAT Toolbox for (A)ATSR and MERIS
COTS Commercial Off-The-Shelf Software
ECSS European Co-operation for Space Standardisation (documents available at ESTEC at the
Requirements and Standards Division)
EnviView Software developed at ESTEC to visualise and analyse the Envisat data. See User
services section at http://envisat.esa.int/
EO Earth Observation
ESA European Space Agency (see http://www.esa.it/export/esaCP/index.html)
ESRIN European Space Research Institute (see http://www.esa.it/export/esaCP/index.html)
ESTEC European Space Research and Technology Centre (see http://www.esa.it/export/esaCP/
index.html)
ENVISAT ESA satellite (see http://envisat.esa.int/)
GADS Global Annotation Data Set in an ENVISAT data product
HDF Hierarchical Data Format (see http://www.hdfinfo.com/)
HDF-EOS Extended HDF format (see http://ecsinfo.gsfc.nasa.gov/iteams/HDF-EOS/HDF-EOS.html)
MDS Measurement Data Set in an ENVISAT data product
MERIS Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer Instrument (see http://envisat.esa.int/)
MODIS Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (see http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/
MODIS/)
MPH Main Product Header in an ENVISAT data product
NEST Next ESA SAR Toolbox
OSSD Open Source Software Development
SAR Synthetic Aperture Radar (http://earth.esa.int)
SPH Specific Product Header in an ENVISAT data product
SW Software
NEST Supported Products
Product Readers
NEST is able to ingest a variety of data products into a common internal representation.
NEST includes readers for the following data products:
● ENVISAT ASAR ( IODD 3H to 4B )

❍ ASA_APG_1P, ASA_APM_1P, ASA_APP_1P, ASA_APS_1P, ASA_AP__BP
❍ ASA_IMG_1P, ASA_IMM_1P, ASA_IMP_1P, ASA_IMS_1P, ASA_IM__BP
❍ ASA_WSS_1P, ASA_WSM_1P, ASA_WS__BP
❍ ASA_WVS_1P, ASA_WVW_2P, ASA_WVI_1P
❍ ASA_GM1_1P, ASA_GM__BP
❍ ASA_XCA_AX
● ERS AMI 1 & 2 (PGS in ENVISAT Format)
❍ SAR_IMG_1P, SAR_IMM_1P, SAR_IMP_1P, SAR_IMS_1P, SAR_IM__BP
● ERS AMI 1 & 2 (VMP & PGS in CEOS Format)
❍ SLC, PRI, GEC
● JERS SAR CEOS
❍ SLC, PRI, GEC
● ALOS PALSAR CEOS
❍ FBS, FBD, PLR, WB1 at levels 1.1 and 1.5
● Radarsat 1 CEOS
❍ SLC, SGF, SGX, SSG, SCN, SCW
● Radarsat 2
❍ SLC, SGF, SGX, SSG, SPG
● TerraSAR X
❍ MGD, GEC, EEC, SSC
● Cosmo-Skymed
❍ SCS, DGM, GEC
● Beam DIMAP
● ENVI
● Generic Binary
● PolsarPro
● GeoTiff
● NetCDF
● HDF 4 & 5
● ImageIO
❍ JPG, BMP, PNG, GIF
● Digital Elevation Maps
❍ GETASSE30, ACE, GTOPO30, SRTM, ASTER
● Orbit Files
❍ DORIS DOR_VOR_AX, DOR_POR_AX (ENVISAT)
❍ DELFT Precise Orbits (ERS 1, ERS 2, ENVISAT)
❍ PRARE Precise Orbits (ERS 1, ERS 2)
● Optical
❍ ENVISAT MERIS (1b/L2 RR/FR/FRG/FSG)
❍ ERS ATSR and ATSR-2
❍ ALOS AVNIR-2 (1A, 1B1, 1B2)
❍ ALOS PRISM (1A, 1B1, 1B2)
❍ Landsat 5 TM in FAST format
An API is provided with NEST to allow users to add data ingestion of other formats and to
support data formats of future missions.
Supported Products Table

A complete list of the currently supported products with respect to each operation can be
found here.
Product Writers
NEST supports various data conversion options and output to common georeferenced data
formats for import into 3rd party software.
The following data format writers are available:
● Beam DIMAP
● GeoTiff
● HDF 5
● NetCDF
● ENVI
● JPG
● BMP
● PNG
● Google Earth KMZ
New Writer Plugins could also be developed with the easy to use API
Abstracted Metadata
Abstracted Metadata
A variety of data products can be ingested into a common internal representation. For metadata, this is done
using the Abstracted Metadata.
The Abstracted Metadata is an extract of information and parameters from the actual metadata of the product.
The idea behind this is firstly to list the needed parameters to run tools and algorithms and secondly to modify
these in line with the processing over the product. In fact, the parameters read from the abstracted metadata can
be changed as the result of any processing. According to this concept, the abstracted metadata can be considered
a dynamic header.
Each Product Reader knows how to read a particular file format and map the metadata to the Abstracted
Metadata. For any fields that do not exist in a product, a default dummy value of 99999 is used.
The abstracted metadata can be edited and changed after having saved the product in the internal BEAM
DIMAP format. Therefore if external information is available, for instance the user can modify and update the
dummy values in the abstracted metadata.
You may search through the metadata by clicking on the Search Metadata menu item in the SAR Tools Menu. Enter
a partial string of a metadata field name and all entries will be shown in a metadata table.
Importing Metadata
If you are importing a file with no metadata, for example a bitmap or JPEG with the ImageIO reader or
extra metadata for an ENVI product, you can create an XML file that will be read in as the Abstracted Metadata
and be used within the processing.
The filename for the metadata data should be called either metadata.xml or filename.xml when importing
filename.hdr or filename.jpg
The format of the file should be as follows:
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<Metadata>
<AbstractedMetadata>
<attrib name="PRODUCT" value="ProductName" type="10" />
<attrib name="PRODUCT_TYPE" value="protuctType" type="10" />
<attrib name="SPH_DESCRIPTOR" value=" " type="10" />
<attrib name="MISSION" value="ENVISAT" type="10" />
<attrib name="PROC_TIME" value="09-MAY-2008 19:53:39.000000" type="51" unit="utc" />
<attrib name="CYCLE" value="68" type="12" />
<attrib name="REL_ORBIT" value="257" type="12" />
<attrib name="ABS_ORBIT" value="32375" type="12" />
<attrib name="STATE_VECTOR_TIME" value="09-MAY-2008 19:12:47.666422" type="51" unit="utc" />
<attrib name="VECTOR_SOURCE" value="FP" type="10" />
<attrib name="first_line_time" value="09-MAY-2008 19:24:42.913160" type="51" unit="utc" />
<attrib name="last_line_time" value="09-MAY-2008 19:25:18.745011" type="51" unit="utc" />
<attrib name="SWATH" value="IS6" type="10" />
<attrib name="PASS" value="ASCENDING" type="10" />
<attrib name="SAMPLE_TYPE" value="DETECTED" type="10" />
<attrib name="mds1_tx_rx_polar" value="VV" type="10" />
<attrib name="ALGORITHM" value="SPECAN" type="10" />
<attrib name="AZIMUTH_LOOKS" value="8" type="12" />
<attrib name="RANGE_LOOKS" value="10" type="12" />
<attrib name="RANGE_SPACING" value="75.0" type="31" unit="m" />
<attrib name="AZIMUTH_SPACING" value="75.0" type="31" unit="m" />
<attrib name="pulse_repetition_frequency" value="1705.227294921875" type="31" unit="Hz" />
<attrib name="LINE_TIME_INTERVAL" value="0.0113141304" type="31" unit="s" />
<attrib name="srgr_flag" value="1" type="20" unit="flag" />
<attrib name="isMapProjected" value="0" type="12" unit="flag" />
<attrib name="ant_elev_corr_flag" value="1" type="20" unit="flag" />
<attrib name="range_spread_comp_flag" value="1" type="20" unit="flag" />
<attrib name="replica_power_corr_flag" value="0" type="20" unit="flag" />
<attrib name="abs_calibration_flag" value="0" type="20" unit="flag" desc="Product calibrated" />
<attrib name="calibration_factor" value="8282833.5" type="31" unit="" />
<attrib name="range_sampling_rate" value="19.20768" type="31" unit="MHz" />
</AbstractedMetadata>
<tie-point-grids>
<slant_range_time unit="" desc="">
<row value="6551873.5,6883743.5" />
<row value="6555548.0,6887433.0" />
</slant_range_time>
<incident_angle unit="" desc="">
<row value="38.975224,42.915314" />
<row value="38.978363,42.916718" />
</incident_angle>
<latitude unit="" desc="">
<row value="45,45" />
<row value="-45,-45" />
</latitude>
<longitude unit="" desc="">
<row value="-90,90" />
<row value="-90,90" />
</longitude>
</tie-point-grids>
</Metadata>
Only name and value are required for each attribute the others could be optional. Also, not all attributes are
required. If any are missing then
defaults will be used.
Any elements placed in tie-point-grids will be imported as a tie-point grid band and be interpolated to the
image raster dimensions at run time.
The latitude and longitude tie points will be used to create the product geocoding.
You can export the metadata from a currently opened product by clicking on Export Metadata in the Product
Writers menu.
DAT Application
Display and Analysis Tool Overview

The DAT is the visualisation, analysing and processing application. It has a clear and intuitive user interface
allowing new users to get started quickly.
The DAT let's you organize your product datasets using Projects and allows you to manage multiple products within
a tree view. A Products View manages all open products and lets you examine their raster data and metadata, and
a comprehensive pixel information view displays the geophysical values readouts.
The Tool Windows of the DAT provide access to tools. These windows can be floating, docked or tabbed. All
changes you apply to the layout will be saved for the next start of the DAT.
Note: The open command is used to open any product format which is supported, the save command stores
data products in the BEAM-DIMAP format. You can also import any data product by using the corresponding
product reader in the file menu which allows you to open a subset of a data product.
A new image view is simply created by double-clicking on a tie-point grid or spectral/geophysical band. You can
open as many images as your computer's RAM allows. After you have opened an image view you can inspect
the images with the Navigation Window.
Tool Windows
DAT's Tool Windows
Tool Windows
Tool windows are used in DAT to display information and properties of the currently
selected data product or a component of the currently selected data product. They are also
used to manage and edit the properties of the current view, such as pins, ROIs or the
colours of the current image view. In contrast to image or metadata views, the DAT has
only a single instance of each particular tool window. It can be shown, hidden, docked or
floating. Tool windows can also be grouped together. You can also save and reload the
current layout of tool windows and tool bars.
You will find all available tool windows in the View/Tool Windows menu. Many tool
windows also have corresponding tool bar icons.
Docking, Floating and Tab Mode

You can drag each tool window by clicking and holding its title bar. The outline of the
window is shown while you are dragging around the tool window. The outline shows you
where it will be dropped if you release the mouse button.
If a tool window is docked to one side, press the pin button in its title bar and it will
switch to the tab mode. In tab mode, the tool window collapses and on the side a tab
appears representing the window. If you move the mouse pointer over this tab, the tool
window will expand. When leaving the tool window area, the window slides automatically
away.
Note: To switch a tabbed window back into the floating mode, press the pin icon in the title
bar in order to dock the window first. If it is docked, you can put it into floating mode by
dragging its title bar.
Grouping
To group multiple tool windows in one window you have to move the mouse pointer, while
dragging one window, on the title bar of an other tool window while holding down the CTRL
key. You will get one window with one tab for each grouped tool window.
To remove a tool window from a group you have to drag the tab out of the grouped window
stack.
Layout Management
The view menu contains the entry 'Manage Layout'. This menu consists of items to manage
the current layout.
● Load User Layout - Load the stored user layout.

● Save as User Layout - Saves the current layout of tool windows.
● Reset to Default Layout - Resets the layout to the default layout of DAT.
Context Menu
The context menu is invoked by clicking with the right mouse button on the title bar of a
tool window.
The context menu allows you to:
● switching between floating, docked and auto hide mode

● disable the dockable functionality of a tool window.
● close a tool window.
List of available Tool Windows
● The Product View
● The Project View
● The Product Library
● The Pixel Info View
● The Pin Manager
● The GCP Manager
● The Colour Manipulation Window
● The World Map
● The Navigation Window
● The Bitmask Overlay Window
● The Statistics Window

Project View
Project View
The Project View is a convenient tool for managing your data products. A Project will help
organize your data by storing all related work in one folder. To create a project, select New
Project from the File menu or Toolbar. A dialog will prompt you for a project folder location
and project file name. By default a Project will be created with folders for ProductSets,
Graphs, External Product Links, Imported Products and Processed Products.
Whenever you open a new product, a link to that product will show up under External Product
Links. When processing data, the output folder will default to your project's Processed
Products folder.
Within ProductSets, Graphs, Imported Products, Processed Products and any other user
created folder, the project folders mirror the file structure of the physical hard disk. Therefore
any change you make to the physical project folders on disk will be reflected in your project.
Right click on a folder to create a new sub-folder, rename or remove a folder. Right click on a
file to open or remove the file.
External Product Links

A Project can store links to other data related to your work including data projects, orbit files,
auxiliary data, and DEMs. Files can be dragged and dropped from a Project into an Operator
dialog for processing.
Importing Products
Products can be imported from the External Product Links or by using the Product Library tool.
Imported products are converted to DIMAP format and saved within your Project folder.
ProductSets
A Product Set is a list of products you would like to group to apply the same processing to
them in a graph.
To create a product set, right click on the ProductSet folder and create a new
ProductSet. Drag and drop products from a project onto the table in the ProductSet
dialog. From the GraphBuilder use the ProductSet by adding a ProductSetReader and
dragging the ProductSet into its dialog. The dialog table should be populated with the list of
products in the ProductSet.
You may drag and drop a ProductSet into the Batch Processing tool to apply a graph to each
of the products in the ProductSet.
DAT's Products View
Products View
All products when opened are added to the Products View's open product list. The product
list is a tree view with up to five root nodes for each open product:
● Bands - contains all measured spectral/geophysical and quality raster datasets of a

product (mandatory)
● Tie-point grids - contains all tie-point grid raster datasets (optional)
● Flag Codings - contains flag coding metadata for quality flags datasets (optional)
● Index Codings - contains index coding metadata for classification bands (optional)
● Metadata - contains additional metadata (optional)
You can quickly open an image view for a band or tie-point grid by double-clicking on an
item of the expanded product root nodes. A Metadata View is opened if you click on a
metadata node.
The information concerning each pixel can be analysed interactively in the pixel information
view.
Pixel Info View

The Pixel View displays pixel information while you move the mouse over the band image
view.
You can un-dock each section within the Pixel View using the floating-button ( ), and dock
it back by using the docking-button ( ) in the header bar.
The information displayed belongs to the current image pixel beneath the mouse pointer:
● Geo-location:
Displays the image position, the geographic-location and also the map co-ordinates if
the current product is map-projected.
● Tie Point Grids:
Shows the values of the tie-point grids.
● Time Info:
The time information associated with the current line.
● Bands:
The value of the pixel beneath the mouse pointer.
● Flags:
Displays the state of the flags at the current pixel.
If a pin is selected in the current image view, you can select Snap to selected pin in order
to "freeze" the pixel information to the position of the currently selected pin.
Note: Flag values are only displayed if a corresponding flag dataset has been loaded. Use
the right mouse button over a flag dataset in the product view in order to load a flag
dataset's sample values.
Note: In the preferences dialog you can deselect the option that only pixel values of
displayed or loaded bands are shown.
Image View
Image View
The image view displays the sample values of raster datasets such as bands and tie-point grids as an image.
Slider Bar
By default the horizontal and vertical slider bars are disabled for the image view. You can activate the sliders again
in the preferences dialog in the section Layer Properties.
If the slider bars are visible you have also a small button in the lower right corner of the image view which zooms
to the fill image bounds if you click on it
Navigation Control
The navigation control, which is located in the upper left corner of the image view, can be used to pan, zoom
and rotate the image. The visibility of the control is dimmed if the mouse pointer is not located over the control and
it becomes visible when the mouse gets near the control.
If you rotate the image, you can use the CTRL-Key to change the stepping of the rotation angle from
continuous values to a discrete stepping of quarter of 90°.
The left image shows the dimmed version of the control the right one shows the active control with a rotation.
You can deactivate the navigation control in the preferences dialog in the section Layer Properties
Multiple Windows of the same band

It is possible to open more than one window of the same band to have several views on the band. This can be
done by right-clicking on the band name in the Product Scene View. The windows will be numbered according
to their appearance:
Context Menu
When you right-click the mouse over the image view a popup menu comes up:
Entries:
● Copy Pixel Info to Clipboard - copies all sample values at the current pixel position, their names and physical
units (which you also can see in the pixel view) to the clipboard
● Show ROI Overlay - toggles the visibility state of the ROI overlay
● Show Graticule Overlay - toggles the visibility state of the graticule overlay
● Show Pin Overlay - toggles the visibility state of the pin overlay
● Create Subset from View - opens a new product subset dialog, with predefined spatial subset scene from
the current image view
Note: The Copy Pixel Info to Clipboard command copies information as tabulator-separated text into the
clipboard and may therefore be pasted directly into a spreadsheet application (e.g. MS Excel).
RGB Image Support

On creating an RGB image view you are prompted to select or create a RGB-Profile. You have also the possibility
to create new and change existing profiles in the user preferences.
Note: The band to be used for each of the channels in the current RGB image view can be changed at any time in
the Contrast Stretch / Color Palette window.
The Navigation Window
The Navigation Window is used to move the viewport of an image view, to zoom in and out of it and to rotate
the image in steps of 5 degrees using the spinner control below the image preview. The current viewport is
depicted by a semi-transparent rectangle which can be dragged in order to move the viewport to another location.
It also provides a slider used to zoom in and out of the view:
The text box at the left side of slider can be used to adjust the zoom factor manually. You can enter decimal
value which sets the zoom factor of the view to this value. Also you can enter the zoom factor in the same format
as it is displayed.
The Navigation window additionally provides the following features via its tool buttons:
Zoom In
A click on the Zoom-In-Tool will increase the magnification of the image in discrete steps, centered on the
image view. The result will be displayed instantly and the magnification value will be refreshed.
Zoom Out
A click on the Zoom-Out-Tool will decrease the magnification of the image in discrete steps, centered on the
image view. The result will be displayed instantly and the magnification value will be refreshed.
Zoom Actual Pixel

Sets the zoom factor to the default value so that the size of an image pixel has the same size of a display pixel.
Zoom All
A click on the Zoom-All-Tool will adjust the magnification so that the whole image fits into the image view. The
result will be displayed instantly and the magnification value in the editor will be refreshed. The same effect can
be achieved by clicking on the icon in the lower right corner of the image view.
Synchronise
The following image shows DAT with six image views that have been arranged with the "Tile Evenly" command in
the Window Menu. When the Synchronise-Button is pressed, all available tools of the Navigation Window operate
on all open image views.
As a result,
● All open image views show the same section of the image,
● Dragging the highlighted area around results in simultaneous scrolling of all open image views,
● Moving the slider or applying any of the zooming tools -including the value field- will be reflected instantly in
all image view windows.
The Colour Manipulation Window
Overview
If you are opening an image view of a data product's band or tie-point grid, DAT either loads image settings from
the product itself (BEAM-DIMAP format only) or uses default colour settings. The colour manipulation window is
used to modify the colours used for the image. Depending on the type of the source data used for the images, the
colour manipulation window offers four different editors:
A.1: Editor for images of a single, spectral/geophysical band A.2: Editor for images of a single, spectral/geophysical band
in Sliders mode in Table mode
B.: Editor for images of a single, index-coded band C. Editor for images using separate R,G,B channels
To open the colour manipulation window, use the corresponding icon icon in the main toolbar or select View/
Tool Windows/Colour Manipulation from the main menu.
Changes in the colour manipulation window will be become effective only if the Apply button is pressed.
A. Editor for images of a single, spectral/geophysical band

Images of a single, spectral/geophysical band use a colour palette to assign a colour to a sample value in the
source band. By default, the editor is in a mode where sliders are used to modify the colour palette and thereby
change the assignment of sample values to colours:
Colour Palette Modifications
As the white diagonal line above the histogram indicates, the colour palette will be linearly applied to the samples
of the source band of the current image view. The label below the slider indicates the sample value assigned to
the position of the slider in the histogram. By moving a slider with the mouse you can easily change its sample
value. You may also double-click the label; then a text field appears where you can enter a sample value. When
you move a slider, the colours in the palette will change accordingly. You can also click between two sliders in
order to move the nearest slider of both under the mouse cursor.
Slider colours are changed by clicking a slider. A popup window appears, where you can select the new colour. If
you select None, a fully transparent slider results. In the More Options panels you can adjust the No-Data
Colour and apply a Histogram Matching to enhance the contrast of the final image.
If you right-click on a slider, a context menu will pop up. The available actions are Add slider, Remove slider,
Center slider sample and Center slider colour. Some actions may be disabled when the action cannot be
performed.
Table Mode
By changing the Editor option from Sliders to Table, the sample value to colour assignment can be done in a
table:
Here you can enter the colour and sample values directly by clicking into a table cell.
B. Editor for images of a single, index-coded band

Images of a single, index-coded band, look-up discrete colours from a fixed-size table:
Labels and colours are simply changed by clicking into the corresponding table cell. In the More Options panels
you can adjust the No-Data Colour.
Editor for images using separate R,G,B channels

Images using separate R,G,B channels obtain their colours from the samples of three arbitrary bands. In the
editor, users can switch between the channels in order to edit the contrast stretch range and gamma value of
each channel separately.
In this mode the sliders are used for contrast stretching in each of the R,G,B channels. In the More Options
panels, you can adjust the No-Data Colour and Histogram Matching for the final image. The Source Band and
Gamma options apply to each channel. The gamma value is used to adapt the transfer function which quantises
the band's sample values to colour values. A gamma value of 0.7 for the blue channel enhances most RGB
images.
Common Functions
No-Data Colour
In the More Options panel of all editors you can adjust the No-Data Colour. This colour which will be used for
no-data pixels in the source band(s). If you select None, no-data sample will be transparent in the image.
Histogram Matching
It is sometimes desirable to transform an image so that its histogram matches that of a specified functional form.
It is possible to apply an equalized or normalized histogram matching to images which can often improve image
quality.
Multiple Assignment of the current Settings
A click on the icon opens a dialog where you can select the bands to which you can assign the current colour
palette. If the destination band has a similar pixel value range, the slider positions are exactly preserved;
otherwise, they are proportionally distributed over the valid range of the destination band.
Import and Export of the Colour Palette
Click the icon to import colour palette definition files and the icon to export the current colour
manipulation settings.
The colour palette information used for the current image can also be exported into an image file. Click the
context menu item Export Color Legend over an open image view in order export the colour legend.
The colour palette can be also exported as a Color Palette Table. Choose from the File menu Color Palette to
export the table as a *.csv or *.txt file.
Slider Auto-Adjustment
A click on the icon adjusts the sliders to cover 95% of all pixels in the band.
A click on the icon adjusts the sliders to cover 100% (the full range) of all pixels in the band.
A click on the icon distributes the inner sliders evenly between the first and the last slider.
Zooming into the histogram
Click on the icon to zoom in vertically or on the icon to zoom into the histogram horizontally.
Zooming out of the histogram
Click on the icon to zoom out vertically or on the icon to zoom out of the histogram horizontally.
Reset
The reset icon is used to revert the window to use default values.
Context help
The help icon opens the Help for the current context.
The Layer Manager Window
Overview
The layer manager is used control what content is shown in the current image view and how it is
displayed.
You can open the layer manager tool window from the View / Tool Windows / Layer Manager
menu or by clicking the icon in the tool bar. A layer can be shown or hidden by using the check
box left to the layer name.
Any number of layers may be open at one time. Each layer will have a rendering order, and much like
a painter’s algorithm, will be drawn on top of each other. The user willhave control over the layer
ordering and the translucency of the images. Finer visibility control can be achieved by selecting a
layer and using the Transparency slider. Visibility changes will directly take effect in the image view.
Layer manager tool window
Functions
Add layer: Opens the Add Layer assistant window which lets you add a new layer to the current
view.
Remove layer: Removes the selected layer. Note that not all layers can be removed.
Edit layer: Opens the Layer Editor tool window which lets you alter the display properties of the
selected layer.
Move up: Moves the selected layer up so that it is displayed on top of all layers following it in the
list.
Move down: Moves the selected layer down so that it is displayed underneath of all overlying
layers in the list.
Move left: Moves the layer into the parent group (if any).
Move down: Moves the layer into a child group (if any).
Layer Editors
Layer editors lets you alter layer properties in order to control the display of layer data. Different layer
types have different layer editors. The following screenshot shows the layer editor of the pin layer:
Layer editor tool window
Changes to the properties in this window are directly propagated to the layer selected in the layer
manager and display updates will occur immediately in the current image view.
Adding Layers
The Add Layer assistant window shows a number of layer sources. It depends on the type of the
current image view which layer sources are present in this list.
In addition to the raster data products, the DAT will be able to load and display vector data as layers.
This will prove helpful for overlaying shoreline, political boundaries, navigational charts, etc., and using
this data to mask land or water areas.
The following standard layers are always usable:
● ESRI Shapefile - Overlays an ESRI shapefile read from a file.

● Image from File - Overlays any image read from a file.
● Image of Band / Tie-Point Grid - Overlays images of bands or tie-point grids of other products
currently opened.
● Layer Group - Creates a group in which you can freely organise other layers and groups.
Layer sources which are restricted to special image views are:
● Image from Web Map Service (WMS) - Downloads a thematic image map layer from a
dedicated internet WMS. Applicable to map-projected (geo-referenced) views only. A good list of
public services is provided at http://www.skylab-mobilesystems.com/en/wms_serverlist.html.
● Wind Speed from MERIS ECMWF annotation data - Displays wind speed vectors. Applicable to
MERIS L1b/L2 band views only.
The 'Add Layer' dialog
Select a layer source and press > Next. Depending on the type of layer selected, the assistant window
will guide you through one or more option pages. Once the Finish button is enabled, you can add the
new layer to the current image view.
Layer manager tool view after adding an ESRI shapefile layer
The World Map
When working with satellite data, it is often not obvious at first sight which region of the
world is covered by the data product. To facilitate finding the location of the product on the
globe, DAT has a built-in world map that shows the projection of the product boundaries on
a virtual globe.
To invoke the World Map simply click on the globe icon in the main toolbar or select World
Map from the 'View' menu. This will open a window similar to the one below.
The World Map is a flat Earth representation of the 3D WorldWind View.
To navigate around the World Map, left click on the map and drag to mouse to pan. Use the
middle mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
Place names, Nasa's Blue Marble and aerial optical data will automatically be downloaded as
long as your computer is connected to the internet.
The World Map is intended to show you a quick reference of where your product is on the
globe. To overlay the actual data and view it in 3D, use the 3D WorldWind View.
The WorldWind View
The WorldWind View allows you to view the world in 3D, automatically download and view imagary and elevation
data via Web Mapping Services (WMS) and overlay your SAR data.
The WorldWind View has been created using NASA's WorldWind Java SDK.
A 3D video card with updated drivers is necessary. World Wind has been tested on Nvidia, ATI/AMD, and
Intel platforms using Windows and Ubuntu Linux.
Note: Update your video card drivers. (How to update windows drivers) (ATI/AMD - Nvidia - Intel)
Navigate using the left mouse button to pan by clicking and dragging and the mouse wheel to zoom in and out.
Click and drag the right mouse button to tilt and rotate the camera angle.
In the layer menu, you can select the layers to be shown including
● Place Names,
● Opened Products
● Open Street Map
● MS Virtual Earth
● Landsat 7
● BlueMarble
Product Library
Product Library
The Product Library tool optimizes the identification of data products in a database for fast retrievable of
the metadata of locally stored products. Search results are displayed in a table listing product name, path,
mission, product type, acquisition date, pass, pixel spacing, etc. without actually opening the original products.
The footprint of each image is outlined on the world map over top of Blue Marble images with a place names
vector layer. Multilooked quicklooks of the images are also generated and stored in the database for quick previewing.
The Product Library can optionally automatically add new metadata to the database whenever a product is
manually opened. The user may also define a list of repository folders that will be scanned recursively for new
or modified products.
The product readers of the Toolbox are able to abstract the metadata from each product into the Generic
Product Model of the Toolbox. Thereby, the Product Library and all processing tools of the Toolbox are able to
work with the metadata in this common form without requiring the user to manually input any metadata.
Products may be searched in terms of mission, product type, beam mode, ground location, date and time
of acquisition, processing history, previously defined AOIs, and suggested image pairing. Products may also
be searched by graphically drawing an area of interest on the world map and querying the database for products
that cover the AOI.
The user may then select from the resulting table of products which products to open, add to a project, or
batch process directly from the Product Library.
Importing into a Project
After having selected the products you wish to import, press the Import to Project button to convert the products
into DIMAP format and add them to the currently opened project. If a project is not currently opened you will
be prompted to create a new project.
If you would like to simply open the products without converting them into DIMAP format then press the
Open Selected button to add them to the DAT Product View list.
Batch Processing
To Batch Process a list of selected products press the Batch Process button. This will open the Batch Processing
dialog and add your products to the input list. If you right click on the Batch Processing button, a popup menu
will appear with all the graphs from the User Graphs menu. You may select one and then the Batch Processing
dialog will default to the graph selected.
The Preferences Dialog
On the left side of the Preferences dialog window you can see a thematical tree where you can select the context of
the settings you want to change. In the following example, a screen shot is shown where the settings for the user
interface behavior can be edited.
UI Behavior
This preferences page contains general user interface behavior and memory management settings.
● Show navigation window when image views are opened

If an image view is opened the navigation window will also be opened.
● Open image view for new (virtual) bands
Currently, this option only affects the band arithmetic tool. If this option is selected, a new image view is
automatically created and opened for any new bands created in the band arithmetic tool.
● Show only pixel values of loaded or displayed bands
If selected, the pixel info view will only show pixel values of bands which have their raster data completely
loaded into memory or which are currently displayed as an image. If this option is not selected, DAT displays all
bands contained in a product. For those bands which are not loaded, DAT reads the sample values directly from
the product file. Depending on your computer's I/O performance and the location of the product file (e.g., CD-
ROM, harddrive, network) this can have an impact on DAT's runtime performance.
● On product open, warn if product size exceeds
If a product being opened has a file size greater than the size put in here, then DAT asks you whether or not you
want to create a spectral or spatial subset of this product in order to reduce the required memory.
● On low memory, warn if free RAM falls below
Here you can enter a value in megabytes, which uses DAT to decide to pop-up a low memory message box. Set
this value to zero, if you don't want to get any warnings.
● On image open, load raster data only if size is below
The value entered here is the number of megabytes a band's raster can have so that it is completely loaded into
memory before the image is displayed. If raster data is completely loaded into memory, DAT can perform many
computations much faster. If you set this value to zero, DAT will never load and store raster data in memory for
image creation and will reload missing raster data from the product file any time it needs it.
● Un-load raster data when closing images
In order to display images, DAT holds a raster data buffer which contains the geophysical measurement values
for the tie point grid or band being displayed. Depending on the product size, these buffers require huge
amounts of memory. After these buffers have been un-loaded and an image view is opened again for the same
band, DAT needs to reallocate the buffer memory and to read the data from disk again.
● Check for new version on DAT start
Checks on application start, if a new version of DAT is available.
● Show all suppressed tips and messages again
Some dialogs of DAT can be disabled by checking the option "Don't show this message again". You can select
this option to enable all messages and tip dialog boxes again.
UI Appearance
● UI Font:
Sets DAT user interface font name and size.
● UI Look and Feel:
Lets you select the appearance (Look and Feel) of the user interface of DAT.
Product Settings
● Consider products as spatially compatible, if their geo-locations differ less than

This value affects the product compatibility check performed by the band arithmetic tool. The check is performed
in order to decide which bands from which products can be used as data source in a band arithmetic expression.
The value must be given in degrees. Use small values, e.g., 0.0001 degrees, to perform a high accuracy check.
This will ensure that products completely overlap each other in space.
Geo-location Display
DAT uses an image coordinate system whose origin (x=0, y=0) is the upper left corner of the upper left pixel. Image
X-coordinates increase to the right, Y-values increase downwards. The center of the pixel in the origin is then located
at (x=0.5, y=0.5).
● Relative pixel-X/Y offset

Defines a relative offset used to display image coordinates and associated geo-location information. Note that the
offset is exclusively used for coordinate value display; it does not affect the geo-coding information associated
with a data product.
● Show floating-point image coordinates
Select this option to display image coordinates as floating point values, e.g., in the geo-location section of the
pixel info view. If not selected, image coordinates are displayed as integer values.
Data Input/Output
● Save product header (MPH, SPH)

This option allows you to include/exclude the main product header (MPH) and specific product header (SPH) of
ENVISAT products in/from the file being saved. If this option is selected, DAT stores the MPH and SPH as meta-
data in the BEAM-DIMAP (XML) header.
It is recommended to always include this meta data.
● Save product history (History)
This option switches the saving of the processing history of the product on or off. It is recommended to always
include this meta data to be able to track the processing stages and the original product.
● Save product annotation data sets (ADS)
This option allows you to include/exclude all annotation data sets (ADS) of ENVISAT products in/from the file
being saved. If this option is selected, DAT stores ADS as meta-data in the BEAM-DIMAP (XML) header.
For ENVISAT products, location and annotation data sets (provided at tie-points) need not to be stored as meta
data, since DAT automatically converts them into tie point grids, which are separately saved.
● Use incremental Save
If this option is selected (recommended), DAT will only save the modifications applied to a product, such as
bands modified or created with band arithmetic tool or the removal of bands. Otherwise, a save operation will
always write the entire product.
Layer Properties ->
● Use anti-aliasing for rendering text and vector graphics

If this option is selected, DAT uses anti-aliasing to smooth vector graphics within image views.
Image Display
● Interpolation method
Here you can choose how neighbouring pixel colours are interpolated. Choose
❍ Nearest Neighbour to prevent colours from being mixed,
❍ Bi-linear or Bi-Cubic to smooth the image.
Note: choosing other than Nearest Neighbour may slow down image handling. But: on Mac OS X, Bi-linear is the
System Default and therefore fastest.
● Tile cache capacity

The amount of memory the image tile cache can allocate. Allocating more memory can improve the speed of the
image processing.
● Background colour
Choose a background colour for the image displayed in the image view.
● Show image border
Here you can specify if an image border should be visible in the image view. If yes, you can also set the border
size and colour.
● Show pixel border in magnified views
Define whether a border should be drawn around a pixel under magnification when the mouse cursor points at it.
No-data overlay
This preferences page provides options to customize DAT's no-data overlay.
● Color:
Sets the fill colour of a ROI.
● Transparency:
Sets the transparency of a filled ROI.
Graticule Overlay
This preferences page provides options to customize DAT's graticule overlay.
● Grid behaviour:
❍ Compute latitude and longitude steps
The step size of the grid lines will be computed automatically.
❍ Average grid size in pixels
Defines the size in pixels of the grid cells.
❍ Latitude step (dec. degree):
Sets the grid latitude step in decimal degrees.
❍ Longitude step (dec. degree):
Sets the grid longitude step in decimal degrees.
● Line appearance:
❍ Line colour:
Sets the colour of the grid lines.
❍ Line width:
Sets the width of the grid lines.
❍ line transparency:
Sets the transparency of the grid lines.
● Text appearance:
❍ Show text labels:
Sets the visibility of the text labels.
❍ Text foreground colour:
Sets the colour of the graticule text (latitude and longitude values).
❍ Text background colour:
Sets the background colour of the graticule text (latitude and longitude values).
❍ Text background transparency:
Sets the transparency of the background colour of the graticule text.
Pin Overlay
This preferences page provides options to customize DAT's pin overlay.
● Show text labels:

Shows the labels of the displayed pins.
● Text foreground layer:
Sets the foreground colour of the labels.
● Text background layer:
Sets the background colour for the labels.
● Text background transparency:
Sets the transparency of the background for the labels.
GCP Overlay
This preferences page provides options to customize DAT's GCP overlay.
● Show text labels:

Shows the labels of the displayed GCPs.
● Text foreground layer:
Sets the foreground colour of the labels.
● Text background layer:
Sets the background colour for the labels.
● Text background transparency:
Sets the transparency of the background for the labels.
Shape Figure Overlay

This preferences page provides options to customize DAT's shape overlay.
● Outline appearance:
❍ Outline shape
If selected, the outline of a ROI is also drawn.
❍ Shape outline colour:
Sets the colour of a shape's outline.
❍ Shape outline transparency:
Sets the transparency of a shape's outline. Low values produce high coverage.
❍ Shape outline width:
Sets the width of a ROI's outline.
● Fill appearance:
❍ Fill shape
If selected, the shape area is also drawn.
❍ Shape fill colour:
Sets the colour of a shape's area.
❍ Shape fill transparency:
Sets the transparency of a shape's area. Low values produce high coverage.
ROI Overlay
This preferences page provides options to customize DAT's ROI overlay.
● Color:
Sets the fill colour of a ROI.
● Transparency:
Sets the transparency of a filled ROI.
RGB Profiles
This preference page is used to edit the RGB profiles used for RGB image creation from various product types. A RGB-
Profile defines the arithmetical band expressions to be used for the red, green and blue components of an RGB
image. For detailed information about RGB-Profiles please refer to the chapter RGB-Image Profile located at DAT/
Tools/Imaging Tools
Profile Lets you Select one of the actual stored RGB-Profiles to use for creation of the new image view.
● Use the to open a stored RGB-Profile file.
● Use the to save the currently displayed RGB-Profile.
● Use the to delete the currently displayed RGB-Profile.
RGB Channels
● Red - Defines the arithmetical expression for the red channel.

● Green - Defines the arithmetical expression for the green channel.
● Blue - Defines the arithmetical expression for the blue channel.
Use the to edit the expression for the specific channel by using the expression editor.
Note: The arithmetical expressions are not validated by DAT; keep careful to use the correct syntax.
Please refer to the Arithmetic Expression Editor documentation for the syntax and capabilities of expressions.
Logging
This preferences page provides options to customize DAT's logging behavior.
● Enable logging
If this option is selected, DAT writes a log file which can be used to reconstruct user interactions and to trace
system failures.
● Log filename prefix:
Here you can enter a prefix for the log file name. The disk file name will be assembled using this prefix plus a log
file version number and an identification number. Log files are always written in the folder log located in the
NEST user directory. Under windows, this folder would be c:\Document and Settings\user\.nest\. Under Linux,
this folder would be /home/user/.nest/.
● Echo log output (effective only with console)
If DAT is started with a text console window using the %NEST_HOME%/DAT.bat (Windows) or
$NEST_HOME/DAT.sh (Linux) scripts, the log file entries are also printed out to the console window.
● Log extra debugging information
Sets DAT into the debugging mode which can be helpful to find software bugs.
The Settings Dialog
Settings
The Settings Dialog allows you to customize the default data path directories. From this window it is possible
choose the root directory in which the Toolbox looks for the default Digital Elevation models and the supported
orbits files.
String values specified here can use variables pointing to other entries or environment variables. For example,
the root demPath can hold the path to all your DEM files and the aceDEMDataPath could be ${demPATH}\ACE
to specify the location of the ACE DEM files.
Changes made via the Settings dialog will be saved in a settings.xml file.
Wave Mode Polar View
ASAR Wave Mode Products

The ENVISAT ASAR sensor in Wave Mode acquires small imagettes (5 km by 5 km to 10 km by 5 km size,
high-resolution complex images of ocean scenes), allowing data acquisition to occur periodically (every
100km) around a full orbit. This constitutes the level 0 product, which is systematically produced for all data
acquired within this mode.
These are processed to derive the spectra of the surface backscatter, and consequently the wavelength and
the direction of the ocean waves.
ENVISAT ASAR has two level 1 products and one level 2 product:
ASA_WVI_1P: The product can contain up to 400 SLC imagettes, each 10 km x 10 km in size, which are
acquired every 100 km. The imagettes are 1 look in azimuth and 1 look in range. The WVI product also contains
the Cross Spectra of the imagettes.
ASA_WVS_1P: This product contains the Cross Spectra of the imagettes.
ASA_WVW_2P: This product contains the Wave Spectra.
The Cross Spectra is a polar grid of complex data with 24 bins in wavelength and 36 bins in direction (each
10 degrees wide).
Polar View
The Polar View is used for displaying Cross Spectra and Wave Spectra from ENVISAT ASAR Wave mode products.
The Polar View shows one record at a time. You may use the buttons and slider at the bottom of the view to
change the currently viewed record. The Animate button allows the view to cycle through records automatically.
Readouts for Peak Direction and Wavelength, Min/Max Spectrum and Wind Speed and Direction can be viewed on
the right hand side of the polar plot.
Cursor readouts for Wavelength, Direction and Value can be viewed on the left hand side of the polar plot as
you move your mouse over each bin.
For more information on ASAR Wave mode products:

ASAR Product Handbook – Chapter 2 - ASAR Products and Algorithms
http://envisat.esa.int/handbooks/asar/CNTR2-6.htm#eph.asar.prodalg.levb
Import SENTINEL-1
Import SENTINEL-1 Product

This option allows to import SENTINEL-1 products into DAT.
The SENTINEL-1 mission is the European Radar Observatory for the Copernicus joint initiative of
the European Commission (EC) and the European Space Agency (ESA).
The mission is composed of a constellation of two satellites, SENTINEL-1A and SENTINEL-
1B, sharing the same orbital plane with a 180° orbital phasing difference. The mission
provides an independent operational capability for continuous radar mapping of the Earth
with enhanced revisit frequency, coverage, timeliness and reliability for operational services
and applications requiring long time series.
SENTINEL-1 is designed to work in a pre-programmed, conflict-free operation mode,
imaging all global landmasses, coastal zones and shipping routes at high resolution and
covering the global ocean with vignettes. This ensures the reliability of service required by
operational services and a consistent long term data archive built for applications based on
long time series.
SENTINEL-1 carries a single C-band synthetic aperture radar instrument operating at a
centre frequency of 5.405 GHz. It includes an active phased array antenna providing fast
scanning in elevation and azimuth. The C-SAR instrument supports operation in dual
polarisation (HH+HV, VV+VH) implemented through one transmit chain (switchable to H or
V) and two parallel receive chains for H and V polarisation.
SENTINEL-1 product files have extension .safe
SENTINEL-1 operates in four exclusive acquisition modes:
● Stripmap (SM)
● Interferometric Wide Swath (IW)
● Extra-Wide Swath (EW)
● Wave Mode (WV).
Supported SENTINEL-1 Products
Product Type Description

S1A_S1_SLC S1 Stripmap Single Look Complext (SLC) with incidence angles S1 to S6
S1A_S1_GRD S1 Stripmap Ground Range Detected (GRD) with incidence angles S1 to S6 in
medium, high and full resolutions
S1A_IW_SLC S1 Interferometric Wide SLC
S1A_IW_GRD S1 Interferometric Wide GRD in medium, high and full resolutions
S1A_EW_SLC S1 Extra Wide SLC
S1A_EW_GRD S1 Extra Wide GRD in medium, high and full resolutions
S1A_WV_OCN S1 Wave mode Ocean level-2

Import ENVISAT
Import ENVISAT (ASAR, MERIS, AATSR) Product

This option allows to import ENVISAT products into DAT.
The supported ENVISAT product types are:
● ASAR products
● MERIS L1b/L2 RR/FR/FRG/FSG products
● AATSR TOA L1b and NR L2
ENVISAT product files have extension .N1
Supported ENVISAT ASAR Products

ASA_APG_1P ASAR Alternating Polarization Ellipsoid Geocoded Image
ASA_APM_1P ASAR Alternating Polarization Medium Resolution Image product
ASA_APP_1P ASAR Alternating Polarization Mode Precision Image
ASA_APS_1P ASAR Alternating Polarization Mode Single Look Complex
ASA_AP__BP ASAR Alternating Polarization Browse Product
ASA_GM1_1P ASAR Global Monitoring Mode Image
ASA_GM__BP ASAR Global Monitoring Mode Browse Product
ASA_IMG_1P ASAR Image Mode Ellipsoid Geocoded Image
ASA_IMM_1P ASAR Image Mode Medium Resolution Image
ASA_IMP_1P ASAR Image Mode Precision Image
ASA_IMS_1P ASAR Image Mode Single Look Complex
ASA_IM__BP ASAR Image Mode Browse Product
ASA_WSS_1P ASAR Wide Swath Single Look Complex
ASA_WSM_1P ASAR Wide Swath Medium Resolution Image
ASA_WS__BP ASAR Wide Swath Mode Browse Image
ASA_WVI_1P ASAR Wave Mode SLC Imagettes
ASA_WVS_1P ASAR Wave Mode Cross Spectra
ASA_WVW_2P ASAR Wave Mode Wave Spectra
ASA_XCA_AX ASAR External Calibration File
Supported ENVISAT MERIS Products

MER_RR__1P MERIS Reduced Resolution Geolocated and Calibrated TOA Radiance Product
MER_RR__1P MERIS Reduced Resolution Geolocated and Calibrated TOA Radiance Product
Valid until 2002-12
MER_FR__1P MERIS Full Resolution Geolocated and Calibrated TOA Radiance Product
MER_FR__1P MERIS Full Resolution Geolocated and Calibrated TOA Radiance Product
Valid until 2002-12
MER_FRG__1P MERIS Full Resolution Geo/Ortho-corrected TOA Radiance

MER_FSG__1P MERIS Full Resolution Full Swath Geo/Ortho-corrected TOA Radiance
MER_RR__2P MERIS Reduced Resolution Geophysical Product
MER_RR__2P MERIS Reduced Resolution Geophysical Product
Valid until 2004-07
MER_FR__2P MERIS Full Resolution Geophysical Product

MER_FR__2P MERIS Full Resolution Geophysical Product
Valid until 2004-07
MER_LRC_2P MERIS Extracted Cloud Thickness and Water Vapour Product for Meteo Users
MER_RRC_2P MERIS Extracted Cloud Thickness and Water Vapour Product
MER_RRV_2P MERIS Extracted Vegetation Indices Product
Supported ENVISAT AATSR Products

ATS_AR__2P AATSR averaged geophysical product
ATS_MET_2P AATSR Spatially Averaged Sea Surface Temperature for Meteo Users
ATS_NR__2P AATSR geophysical product (full resolution)
ATS_TOA_1P AATSR Gridded brightness temperature and reflectance
Import ERS1/2 SAR or ATSR
Import ERS Product in ENVISAT format

This option allows to import ERS1/2 products stored in the ENVISAT format into DAT.
The supported ERS1/2 product types are:
● SAR_IMG_1P, SAR_IMM_1P, SAR_IMP_1P, SAR_IMS_1P, SAR_IM__BP products

● ATSR and ATSR-2 TOA products
ERS products in ENVISAT format have extension .E1 for ERS 1 and .E2 for ERS 2
Import ERS1/2 SAR in CEOS Format
Import ERS Product

This option allows to import ERS1/2 products stored in the CEOS format into DAT produced
from PGS or VMP software.
The supported ERS1/2 product types are:
● GEC Geocoded products

● PRI Precision Image products
● SLC Single Look Complex products
Import JERS SAR
Import JERS Product

This option allows to import JERS products stored in the CEOS format into DAT.
The supported JERS product types are:
● GEC Geocoded products

● PRI Precision Image products
● SLC Single Look Complex products
Import RADARSAT-1 SAR
Import RADARSAT-1 Product

This option allows to import RADARSAT-1 products stored in the CEOS format into DAT.
The supported RADARSAT-1 product types are
● SLC,
● SGF,
● SGX,
● SSG,
● SCW,
● SCN
Import RADARSAT-2 SAR
Import RADARSAT-2 Product

This option allows to import RADARSAT-2 products SLC, SGF, SGX, SSG, SPG into DAT for
all modes.
Import TerraSarX SAR
Import TerraSarX Product

This option allows to import TerraSarX products into DAT.
The supported TerraSarX product types are:
● MGD Multi Look Ground Range, Detected representation

● GEC Geocoded Ellipsoid Corrected, Detected representation
● EEC Enhanced Ellipsoid Corrected, Detected representation
● SSC Single Look Slant Range Complex representation
Import Cosmo-Skymed
Import Cosmo-Skymed Product

This option allows to import Cosmo-Skymed products into DAT.
The Cosmo-Skymed product reader supports SCS, DGM, GEC for the following modes:
● ScanSAR Huge Region (DGM, GEC only)

● ScanSAR Wide Region
● Spotlight Enhanced
● Stripmap Himage
● Stripmap PingPong
Currently the SCS ScanSAR Huge Region is not supported.

Import ENVI
Import ENVI Product

This option allows to import ENVI products into DAT.
Abstracted Metadata can be imported by creating a metadata.xml file in the same folder as
the ENVI product.
Import PolsarPro
Import PolsarPro Product

This option allows to import PolsarPro products stored in the ENVI format into DAT.
If you select the ENVI .hdr file then it will import only that one band into a product.
If you select the folder, it will import all bands within the folder as one product.
Metadata from PolsarPro will be imported if a metadata.xml file or
PolSARPro_NEST_metadata.xml exists.
Replacing Metadata
You may also want to replace the metadata in the newly imported PolsarPro output with the
metadata from the original product. To do so, both products must be of the same
dimensions and both must be currently opened in the DAT. Select the PolsarPro product
and from the Utilities -> Metadata menu select Replace Metadata. Then in the dialog that
pops up select the original product where the metadata will come from. This will replace the
PolsarPro's empty metadata with that of the original product.
This can also be done from a graph using the ReplaceMetadata operator. The operator
takes two products as input. The first product connected should be the original product
where you want the metadata to come from.
Import ALOS PALSAR
Import ALOS PALSAR CEOS

The CEOS reader enables DAT to import CEOS formatted ALOS PALSAR data products.
Levels 1.1 and 1.5 of FBS, FBD, PLR and WB1 products are supported.
Depending on where the products have been generated from, the ALOS Level 1.1 do not
have geolocation information available.
Some products contain a workreport.txt from which the software is able to produce a
proper tie point geocoding.
Level 1.5 products cannot be Terrain Corrected by the software because of missing SRGR
coefficients in the product.
A brief description about the sensor characteristics can be found at http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/
ALOS/en/about/palsar.htm
Import AVNIR-2
Import AVNIR-2
The AVNIR-2 reader enables DAT to import CEOS formatted AVNIR-2 Level-1 data products.
Note: The AVNIR-2 reader is implemented in line with the "ALOS AVNIR-2 Level 1 Product
Format Descriptions Rev.G" (http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/doc/format.htm) and is
capable of reading data products of Level 1A, 1B1 and 1B2.
ALOS/about/avnir2.htm
Import PRISM
Import PRISM
The PRISM reader enables DAT to import CEOS formatted PRISM Level-1 data products.
Note: The PRISM reader is implemented in line with the "ALOS PRISM Level 1 Product
Format Descriptions Rev.G" (http://www.eorc.jaxa.jp/ALOS/doc/format.htm) and is
capable of reading data products of Level 1A, 1B1 and 1B2.
ALOS/about/prism.htm
Import GeoTIFF
Import GeoTIFF
This command allows to import the data of a GeoTIFF file.
GeoTIFF is an extension to the TIFF 6.0 specification. These image files contain additional
information about their georeference and their spatial resolution. A wide range of projected
coordinate systems are supported including UTM, US State Plane, and National Grids. For
further information have a look at the following documentations:
● GeoTIFF Homepage
● TIFF Specification
Constraints of reading GeoTIFF product files

If a GeoTiff file was exported by the toolbox, the reader can recover information from a
special tag used by the GeoTIFF writer.
This includes:
● Name and type of the product.

● Name, description and unit of each band.
● The properties of no-data and scaling for each band.
● The index coding of a band.
● Virtual and filtered bands.
For features and limitations of the GeoTIFF import and constraints see the following list:
● Only the first image of a GeoTIFF file is considered.

● The size of images is limited to a pixel count of 232.
● The GeoTIFF reader supports the projections available in the toolbox, model
transformations and tie-points.
● Color maps are considered and converted to an index coding.
Import ImageIO
Import ImageIO Product

This option allows to import any format supported by Java ImageIO plug-ins.
The built in ImageIO readers/writers include:
● BMP
● PNG
● GIF
● JPEG
● BPM
● PPM
● PGM
● RAW
Abstracted Metadata can be imported by creating a metadata.xml file in the same folder as
the image.
The BEAM-DIMAP Data Format
Introduction
The DIMAP format has been developed by SPOT-Image, France. The software uses a
special DIMAP profile called BEAM-DIMAP.
The BEAM-DIMAP is the standard I/O product format for the software.
Overview
A data product stored in this format is composed of
● a single product header file with the suffix .dim in XML format containing the product
meta-data and
● an additional directory with the same name plus the suffix .data containing ENVI® -
compatible images for each band.
The following diagram shows the structure:

The geo-coding of data products in satellite co-ordinates is stored in tie-point grid datasets.
Tie-point datasets are stored in the data directory and have exactly the same format as the
geophysical bands of a product.
Because of its simplicity, the product components can be accessed with nearly every image
processing system or programming language. The product's metadata can be viewed
directly in a text editor or an XML viewer. The following contains a closer look at the
components of the product format.
XML Product Header

XML stands for eXtensible Markup Language and is a mark-up language much like the
better known HTML.
The most significant difference is that HTML is about displaying information, XML is about
describing information. XML can be stored in plain text files and provides a data structuring
scheme composed of elements and attributes. An element is enclosed by tags, but the tags
are not predefined in XML. In order to use XML for data storage, an application or standard
must define its own tags. In this case, XML is very similar to HDF because the
interpretation of the content is left to the application or, respectively, to the user.
The product header for a BEAM-DIMAP data product will contain two types of information
● meta-data describing the image data contained in the product

● the geophysical bands and tie point grids of the product as references to the actual
image data files, since the image data is not stored in XML format
Image Data Format

One geophysical band in the data product is represented by a single image. The image data
- the data product's geophysical samples - are stored in flat binary files in big endian order.
What makes this format compatible with the simple ENVI image format is that an extra
image header for each image is also stored: the ENVI header.
ENVI Header File Format

The header files also have plain text format and comprise key-values pairs describing
storage layout of the raw data in terms of raster width, height and the sample data type. In
addition to ENVI, multiple other imaging applications are capable of importing image files
having flat binary format. Here is an example of a header file:
ENVI
samples = 1100
lines = 561
bands = 1
header offset = 0
file type = ENVI Standard
data type = 4
interleave = bsq
byte order = 1
An ENVI header file starts with the text string ENVI to be recognized by ENVI as a native
file header. Keywords within the file are used to indicate critical file information. The
following keywords are used by the BEAM-DIMAP format:
description a character string describing the image or processing performed.
samples number of samples (pixels) per image line for each band.
lines number of lines per image for each band.
bands number of bands per image file. For BEAM-DIMAP the value is always 1
(one).
header offset refers to the number of bytes of imbedded header information present in
the file. These bytes are skipped when the ENVI file is read. For BEAM-
DIMAP the value is always 0.
file type refers to specific ENVI defined file types such as certain data formats and
processing results. For BEAM-DIMAP the value is always the string
"ENVI Standard".
data type parameter identifying the type of data representation, where 1=8 bit byte;
2=16-bit signed integer; 3=32-bit signed long integer; 4=32-bit floating
point; 5=64- bit double precision floating point; 6=2x32-bit complex, real-
imaginary pair of double precision; 9=2x64-bit double precision complex,
real-imaginary pair of double precision; 12=16-bit unsigned integer; 13=32-
bit unsigned long integer; 14=64-bit unsigned integer; and 15=64-bit
unsigned long integer.
interleave refers to whether the data are band sequential (BSQ), band interleaved by
pixel (BIP), or band interleaved by line (BIL). For BEAM-DIMAP the value
is always "bsq".
byte order describes the order of the bytes in integer, long integer, 64-bit integer,
unsigned 64-bit integer, floating point, double precision, and complex data
types; Byte order=0 is Least Significant Byte First (LSF) data (DEC and MS-
DOS systems) and byte order=1 is Most Significant Byte First (MSF) data
(all others - SUN, SGI, IBM, HP, DG). For BEAM-DIMAP the value is
always 1 (Most Significant Byte First = Big Endian Order).
x-start and y-start parameters define the image coordinates for the upper left hand pixel in the
image. The values in the header file are specified in "file coordinates," which
is a zero-based number.
map info lists geographic coordinates information in the order of projection name
(UTM), reference pixel x location in file coordinates, pixel y, pixel easting,
pixel northing, x pixel size, y pixel size, Projection Zone, "North" or "South"
for UTM only.
projection info parameters that describe user-defined projection information. This keyword
is added to the ENVI header file if a user-defined projection is used instead
of a standard projection.
band names allows entry of specific names for each band of an image.
wavelength lists the center wavelength values of each band in an image.
Import Landsat TM
Import Landsat TM
The Landsat TM reader enables DAT to import Fast formatted Landsat TM data products.
More about Landsat TM characteristics can be found at http://landsat.usgs.gov/resources/
project_documentation.php.
Import NetCDF
Import NetCDF
The NetCDF reader enables DAT to import NetCDF data products.
The NetCDF reader supports any image-like NetCDF file structure in NetCDF version 3 or 4.
Note: You can find additional information about NetCDF at http://www.unidata.ucar.edu/
software/netcdf/.
Import HDF
Import HDF Product

This option allows to import HDF 4 and HDF 5 products into DAT.
Import Generic Binary
Import Generic Binary Product

This option allows to import Generic Binary into DAT.
By selecting the Generic Binary Reader from the Product Readers menu, a dialog will
prompt you for the input file. A second dialog will then come up asking you to enter the
dimensions of the image, data type, number of bands, byte order and the number bytes to
skip for the header.
Note: The Generic Binary reader currently only supports BSQ formatted data.
Import Complex Generic Binary
Import Complex Generic Binary Product

This option allows to import Complex Generic Binary into DAT.
The Complex Generic Binary is an extension of the Generic Binary Reader for importing
complex data into DAT. The expected input format of the complex data that real (Re) and
imaginary (Im) parts of the complex number are stored in sequential order. In other words,
given a complex matrix, the real value of first element is stored first, then imaginary value
of the first element, to be followed by the real, imaginary parts of the complex number of
the second element.
The input parameters for the Complex Generic Binary Reader are the same as of Generic
Binary Reader. First a dialog will prompt for specifying the input file. Then a second dialog
will show up asking for the dimensions of the image, data type, number of bands, byte
order and the number bytes to skip for the header.
Note: The Complex Generic Binary reader currently only supports BSQ (Band-Sequential)
formatted data.
GETASSE30 Elevation Model
GETASSE30 Elevation Model

GETASSE30 stands for Global Earth Topography And Sea Surface Elevation at 30 arc second resolution. This
elevation model has been provided by Marc Bouvet (marc.bouvet@esa.int) of ESA/ESRIN. This documentation is
also by courtesy of Marc Bouvet.
The DEM tiles will be downloaded automatically by the software as needed.
The GETASSE30 Data Set

GETASSE30 is a composite of four other DEM datasets. It uses the SRTM30 dataset, ACE dataset, Mean Sea
Surface (MSS) data and the EGM96 ellipsoid as sources. The resulting GETASSE30 dataset represents the Earth
Topography And Sea Surface Elevation with respect to the WGS84 ellipsoid at 30 arc second resolution. The
dataset has no missing values, but at the junction of the arctic and antarctic continents there are some tens of
strange negative values (down to -700 m) inherent to the ACE dataset. All latitude/longitude values refer to the
center of a pixel, not to one of its corners. The GETASSE30 dataset is organised as multiple tiles.
Example of a GETASSE30 tile
The GETASSE30 Data
I. Mean sea surface height over sea and height over land, both referenced to the WGS84 ellipsoid.
Resolution: 30 arc second latitude and longitude
Unit: meter
File name example: 45S045W.GETASSE30 where the first number is the latitude of the most South West pixel and
the second number its longitude
Data format: binary, 1800*1800 signed 16-bit integer values, big endian order
The GETASSE30 elevation data
There are 5 types of values:
1. Over land, between 60N and -60S, where SRTM30 DEM data are available, the output value is the sum of
SRTM30 elevation and the EGM96 geoid height.
2. Over land, between 60N and -60S, where SRTM30 DEM data are not available, the output value is the sum of
ACE elevation and the EGM96 geoid height.
3. Over land, above 60N and -60S, where ACE data are available, the output value is the sum of ACE elevation
and the EGM96 geoid height.
4. Over sea, where neither ACE DEM nor SRTM30 data are not available, if MSS data are available, then the
output value is the MSS.
5. Over sea, where neither ACE DEM nor SRTM30 data are not available, if MSS data are not available, then the
output value is the EGM96 value.
● Flag
● Pixels described as in 2) and 3) are flagged with the value 0

● Pixels described as in 3) are flagged with the value 1
Resolution: 30 arc second latitude and longitude

Unit: none
File name example: 45S045W.GETASSE30_flag where the first number is the latitude of the most South West pixel and
the second number its longitude
Data format: binary, 1800*1800 unsigned 8-bit integer values, big endian order
The flag associated to the GETASSE30 data
Input Data used in GETASSE30 Generation
● ACE DEM at 30 arc second resolution referenced to the EGM96 geoid

See ACE Report at http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/geomatics/products_ace_overview.html
● SRTM30 data are reference to the EGM96 geoid
See http://www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/
● Mean Sea Surface (MSS) height at 2 minutes resolution referenced to the WGS84 ellipsoid.
From the RA2 auxiliary file RA2_MSS_AXVIEC20031208_145545_20020101_000000_20200101_000000
See RA2 product handbook at http://www.ENVISAT.esa.int
Import GTOPO30 DEM
Import GTOPO30 DEM Tile

This option allows to import GTOPO30 tiles into DAT.
Import ACE30 DEM
Import ACE30 DEM Tile

Imports a tile of the ACE elevation model at 30 arc second resolution referenced to the
EGM96 geoid.
See ACE Report at http://www.cse.dmu.ac.uk/geomatics/products_ace_overview.html
Since the ACE height information is referred to geoid EGM96, not WGS84
ellipsoid, correction has been applied to obtain height relative to the WGS84 ellipsoid.
Import SRTM DEM
Import SRTM DEM

Imports a tile of the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) elevation model at 3 arc
second resolution.
The SRTM DEM Definition is intended to work with the SRTM 90m Version 4 in GeoTiff
format.
If a requested tile is not found in the SRTM Folder specified in the Settings, then it will
download the tile from the Consultative Group for International Agriculture Research
(CGIAR) - Consortium for Spatial Information (CSI).
Since the SRTM height information is referred to geoid EGM96, not WGS84
Import Geometry
Import Geometry
You can either import transect data or an ESRI Shapefile.
Import ESRI Shapefile

When importing an ESRI Shapefile and no associated *.prj is found, you will be asked to
define the Coordinate Reference System (CRS) on which is coordinates of the shapefile are
defined.
You can choose between three options to define the CRS:
● Use target CRS

This options can be chosen if the shapefile is defined on the same CRS as the product
you want to import the shapefile. The transformation used by the projection can be
selected. Also the geodetic datum and transformation parameters can be set, if
possible for the selected transformation.
● Custom CRS
Here you can freely define the CRS of the shapefile.
● Predefined CRS
By clicking on the Select... button a new dialog is shown where a predefined CRS can
be selected.
Import Transect Data (Geometric Shape)

If transect data is imported it is converted into a geometric shape defined either in pixel or
geodetic (WGS-84) co-ordinates from a text file.
Transect data files are text files and have the default extension .txt. Each line in the file
corresponds to a single vertex point of the geometric shape. Co-ordinates are stored in
columns separated by whitespace characters (space or tabulator). All co-ordinates refer to
a pixel's upper left corner. A file can have a header line in order to specify column names.
Transect Data Files without Header Line

Columns 1 and 2 are mandatory and contain the point's pixel X co-ordinate and Y co-
ordinate, respectively. Columns 3 and 4 are optional and contain the point's geodetic
latitude and longitude co-ordinates defined on the WGS-84 ellipsoid in decimal degree.
Other columns are ignored:
column 1: mandatory X co-ordinate given in pixels

column 2: mandatory Y co-ordinate given in pixels
column 3: optional latitude in decimal degree
column 4: optional longitude in decimal degree
column 4 + i: optional additional data
If the current product is geo-coded, which is always true for ENVISAT products or map
projected products, and the geodetic co-ordinates are given, the pixel co-ordinates are
rejected. In this case, VISAT computes the actual pixel co-ordinates for the current
product.
For example (note, 5th column is ignored):
207 390 43.167255 -7.7339296 38.732

208 389 43.175785 -7.718502 48.529
208 388 43.18614 -7.715622 50.889
209 387 43.19465 -7.7002006 38.709
...
Transect Data Files with Header Line

The file can optionally contain a header line. The header line contains column names which
are also expected to be separated by whitespace characters. Some column names have a
special meaning for the import command, since they specify the alternate column for the
recognized co-ordinates. Special names can appear in any order and are letter case
insensitive. They are:
x, pixel_x or pixel-x: X co-ordinate given in pixels

y, pixel_y or pixel-y: Y co-ordinate given in pixels
lat or latitude: latitude in decimal degree
lon, long or longitude: latitude in decimal degree
other names: ignored
Either pixel or geodetic co-ordinates must be given. Again, if geodetic co-ordinates are
present, they override the point's pixel co-ordinate if present, since they are recomputed
by VISAT. The columns can appear in any order.
For example (note, columns named "Index" and "radiance_11" are ignored):
Index Pixel-X Pixel-Y Lat Lon radiance_11

0 205 393 43.139843 -7.767645 35.16
1 206 392 43.148373 -7.752228 32.764
2 206 391 43.158722 -7.749352 35.751
...
Export BEAM-DIMAP
Export BEAM-DIMAP Product

This option allows to export loaded bands to DAT's standard BEAM-DIMAP format product.
Export GeoTIFF
Export GeoTIFF Product

This command allows to export the data of the current product to a GeoTIFF file.
GeoTIFF is an extension to the TIFF 6.0 specification. These image files contain additional
information about their georeference and their spatial resolution. A wide range of projected
coordinate systems are supported including UTM, US State Plane, and National Grids. For
further information have a look at the following documentation:
● GeoTIFF Homepage
● TIFF Specification
Constraints on created GeoTIFF product files

Exported GeoTIFF files contain additional information beside the tags defined by the
GeoTIFF specification. The BEAM-DIMAP header is used to hold this additional information.
This allows a better support of several features including:
● Name and type of the product.

● Name, description and unit of each band.
● The properties of no-data and scaling for each band.
● The index coding of a band.
● Virtual and filtered bands.
● etc.
For features and limitations of the GeoTIFF export and constraints of interaction with other
GIS tools are given in the following list:
● All bands of a GeoTiff file must have the same data type. Therefore a common data
type is identified which is suitable for all bands. Double precision data type is not
supported.
● The data of a band is always written raw and unscaled.
● Virtual and filtered bands can only be reimported by the Toolbox.
● All projections available in Reprojection are also supported by the GeoTIFF writer. As a
fallback, if a map projection or other geocoding is not directly supported, a tie-point
grid is written to the GeoTiff file.
The exported GeoTiff files were tested for compatibility with ENVI and ArcGis. While the
files are fully compatible with ENVI, ArcGIS has problems to understanding
stereographic projections.
● An index coded band can only be correctly decoded by other GIS tools, if it is written as
an image with one band.
Export HDF5
Export HDF5 Product

This command allows to export the data of the current product to HDF5 format.
Export NetCDF
Export NetCDF Product

This command allows to export the data of the current product to NetCDF 3 format.
Export GCP
Export Envi GCP File

This command allows to store the geo-coding information of the selected product as ENVI
GCP (Ground Control Points) file.
ENVI GCP File Format

Text taken from the ENVI User's Guide.
The ENVI Ground Control Point (GCP) files are ASCII files that contain the pixel coordinates
of tie points selected from a base and warp image using ENVI’s registration utilities. They
are assigned the file extension .pts by default and begin with the keywords "ENVI
Registration GCP File." For image-to-image registration, pixel coordinates are listed in the
order Base image X, Y, Warp Image X, Y. An example of a typical image-to-image .pts file
is shown here:
ENVI Registration GCP File

921.00000 2538.0000 2098.0000 111.00000
1381.0000 2291.0000 2145.0000 85.000000
1669.0000 2116.0000 2174.0000 66.000000
119.00000 3032.0000 2017.0000 164.00000
1286.0000 3820.0000 2140.0000 240.00000
1294.0000 1754.0000 2132.0000 28.000000
1783.0000 1814.0000 2184.0000 34.000000
715.00000 4504.0000 2083.0000 312.00000
351.00000 1708.0000 2039.0000 27.000000
207.00000 2357.0000 2025.0000 98.000000
For image-to-map registration, coordinates are listed as map X, map Y, image X, image Y.
An example of a typical image-to-map .pts file is shown here:
ENVI Registration GCP File

359459.810 4143531.300 288.000 496.000
367681.530 4141772.000 232.000 23.000
366343.470 4138660.500 458.000 35.000
362337.840 4145969.500 71.000 388.000
361339.910 4138479.300 569.000 301.000
354457.530 4140550.300 591.000 714.000
354352.590 4145685.000 261.000 819.000
359918.310 4142412.000 351.000 448.000
364900.910 4141752.300 290.000 172.000
Export Image
Export Displayed Image

This command allows the export of a loaded image to an image file.
The save image dialog offers the possibility to choose whether the visible view (Clipping only) or
the entire image with all annotations (e.g. graticule, ROI, pin ... ) should be exported.
The (presently) supported formats are:
● BMP: Microsoft Windows Bitmap (*.bmp)

● PNG: Portable Network Graphics (*.png)
● JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group (*.jpg, *.jpeg)
● TIFF: Tagged Image File Format (*.tif, *.tiff)
● GeoTIFF: TIFF with geo-location (*.tif, *.tiff)
Export KML
Export Displayed Image as KML

This command allows the export of the loaded image to a KML file. Only images from
loaded bands, that are in lat/lon projection can be exported.
Following features of the product are exported:
● raster data
● colour legend
● pins
The exported image is saved in the KML the Keyhole Markup Language (link: http://earth.
google.com/kml/). To view this file a version of Google Earth (link: http://earth.google.
com/) is necessary.
Export ROI Pixels
Export ROI pixels

This command allows the export of pixel values as tab-separated values. This is convenient
for further use in spreadsheets, e.g., Microsoft® Excel. When selected, a dialog box pops
up:
The command is similar to Export Transect pixels and also the export format is identical.
The "Copy to Clipboard" option will copy the ROI pixel values to the clipboard. This may
take a few moments, depending on the number of pixels.
The "Write to File" option brings up a file selection dialog to select the destination directory
and to assign a name to the text file. The written file may easily be imported with any text
editor or spreadsheet software.
Note: in low memory situations, it may be a better to export to a file instead of copying to
the clipboard.
Export Transect Pixels
Export Transect Pixels

This command allows the export of pixel values along the current transect as tab-separated
values. This is convenient for further use in spreadsheets, e.g. Microsoft® Excel. A transect
can be defined by arbitrary shape figures drawn into an image. You can also import a
transect using the Import Transect Data command.
The command is similar to Export ROI pixels and also the export format is identical.
The "Copy to Clipboard" option will copy the transect pixel values to the clipboard. This
may take a few moments, depending on the number of pixels.
The "Write to File" option brings up a file selection dialog to select the destination directory
and to assign a name to the text file. The written file may easily be imported with any text
editor or spreadsheet software.
Note: In low memory situations, it may be a better to export to a file instead of copying to
the clipboard.
Export Color Palette
Exporting a Color Palette Table

To export the Color Palette Table, click the menu item Color Palette... in the File Menu. The
Color Palette Table used by the current image view can be exported to a *.txt or a *.csv file.
When exporting the colour palette table of an RGB image, the red channel is used.
File Format
The exported file is separated into two sections. The Header Section contains general
information about the exported colour palette. The Data Section contains the Color Palette
Table. When exporting the colour palette, the variables in curly braces are replaced by their
current value.
Header Section
# Band: {BAND_NAME}
# Sample unit: {SAMPLE_UNIT}
# Minimum sample value: {MIN_VALUE}
# Maximum sample value: {MAX_VALUE}
# Number of colors: {COLOR_COUNT}
Data Section
ID;Sample;RGB
{COLOR_INDEX};{SAMPLE_VALUE};{RED}, {GREEN}, {BLUE}
RGB-Image Profile
RGB-Image Profile
In this window you are asked to define the RGB channels for a new RGB image view. You
are able to load defined RGB-Profiles or to create and store new profiles.
Profile
Selects one of the actual stored RGB-Profiles to use for creation of the new image view.
● Use the to open a stored RGB-Profile file.
● Use the to save the currently displayed RGB-Profile.
● Use the to delete the currently displayed RGB-Profile.
RGB Channels
Red - Defines the arithmetical expression for the red channel.
Green - Defines the arithmetical expression for the green channel.
Blue - Defines the arithmetical expression for the blue channel.
Use the to edit the expression for the specific channel by using the expression editor.
Store RGB Channels

Stores the RGB channels into the current product as virtual bands.
RGB-Profile File
RGB-Profile files must have the extension ".rgb". Multiple default profiles provided are located
in the $NEST_HOME$/auxdata/rgb_profiles.
A RGB-Profile file contains several entries. The syntax of an entry is 'EntryName =
EntryValue'. Normally one entry is written in one line, but you can use the '\' character to
indicate that the next line also belongs to the value. Empty lines and lines beginning with the
'#' character are ignored.
The possible entries for an RGB-Profile are listed in the following table:
Name Type Description

name String The name of the RGB-Profile, if given it is displayed instead of the file name.
internal Boolean The default value is false, if given and set to true it indicates that this RGB-
Profile can not be deleted from the user interface (but does not prevent
from overwriting the file).
red or r String The arithmetic expression used to create the red channel. This entry is
mandatory.
green or g String The arithmetic expression used to create the green channel. This entry is
mandatory.
blue or b String The arithmetic expression used to create the blue channel. This entry is
mandatory.
No-Data Overlay
No-Data Overlay
Toggles the overlay of a no-data mask within a band's image view. The overlay properties
can be modified using the no-data overlay page in the preferences dialog.
The no-data mask is similar to a bitmask overlay and masks out all the no-data pixels in
the selected image view.
If the property no-data value of a band or the valid pixel expression of a band is set, a no-
data overlay can be displayed within the current image view.
Bitmask Overlay Window
In this window you may activate the overlay of flags and combinations of them on a loaded band
image view. Simply activate the checkboxes in the column with the icon to toggle the overlay
with that specific flag.
Use the icon to create new bitmask expressions. This will also use the Bitmask Expression
Editor.
Use the icon to copy bitmask expressions. This will also use the Bitmask Expression Editor.
Use the icon to edit (change name, colour, transparency etc.) a selected bitmask. Double-
clicking on a row has the same effect.
Use the icon to remove a selected bitmask.
Use the icon to import bitmask expressions from files and to save them.
Similarly you can use the icon to import and the icon to export multiple bitmask
expressions at the same time.
Use the and icons to order the overlay sequence of the bitmasks.
Bitmask Editor
If you chose to edit a bitmask the Bitmask Editor appears like in the following screenshot:
In the upper area of the window, the properties name, description, colour and transparency can be changed. In
the lower part of the window, the expression can be defined with a few mouse clicks or typed into the text field
on the right.
Building a bitmask expression

Creating an expression for a bitmask is done like defining expressions with the Arithmetic Expression Editor.
Geometry Management
The Geometry Concept

As opposed to the bands and tie-point grids contained in satellite data products -
which are all kinds of raster data - a geometry refers to vector data. Thus a
geometry can be a point, line or polygon. Geometries are part of the a product's
data model, and stored (restored) to (from) BEAM-DIMAP product files. A
product can comprise a number of named geometry containers. Each container
may virtually comprise any number of geometries. New geometries are always
added to the geometry container selected in Geometries node of the Products
View tool window as shown in the screenshot the right. If there isn't a single
geometry container yet, a default container named geometry will be created.
Relationship with Pins and Ground Control Points

(GCP)
Pins and Ground Control Points are placemarks treated as point geometries. Thus, geometry editing such
as moving or deleting is the same as for other geometries as described below in chapter 'Working with
Geometries'. Despite this, the pins and GCPs of a data product are still managed as described in Pin
Management and GCP Management, respectively.
Relationship with Masks and Regions of Interest (ROI)

The geometries in a geometry container can be directly used as a ROI for raster data analysis. The way
how this is established is closely related to the new Mask and ROI Management. Once a new geometry
container has been added to the data product, an associated geometry mask is created by rendering the
geometry onto the product's intrinsic raster data grid.
Geometry ROI
Polygon geometry (vector data) Resulting mask (raster data)
The associated mask will always have the same name as the geometry container which created it and can
serve as possible ROI for the selected band or tie-point grid without any additional user interaction. Once
the geometry is created (e.g. simply by drawing it, see below), its associated geometry mask can be used
as ROI in the various analysis tools, such as the Statistics, Histogram, and Scatter Plot tool windows.
Multiple geometry ROIs can be defined by creating new geometry containers as described below.
Working with Geometries
Creating a new geometry

Once you have opened an image view, new geometries are created by using the various drawing tools
provided through the Interactions Toolbar:
Line: Press left mouse button for the start point, drag line to end point and release left mouse button.
Polyline: Single-click (press and release) left mouse button for the start point, move line segment and click
to add a vertex point, move to end point and double-click to finalize the polyline.
Rectangle: Press left mouse button for the start point, drag line to end point and release left mouse button.
Ellipse: Similar to rectangle; Press left mouse button for the start point, drag line to end point and release
left mouse button.
Polygon: Similar to polyline; Single-click (press and release) left mouse button for the start point, move line
segment and click to add a vertex point, move to end point and double-click to close the polygon.
Creating a new geometry container

Use the menu item Tools / Create Geometry Container or the corresponding tool button from the
Interaction Toolbar to create a new geometry container.
Clicking the button opens a dialog for creating a new geometry container. You will be prompted to enter a
unique name for the new container.
Editing geometries
Geometries may be edited in a number of ways once they have been selected. Note that editing or
deleting a geometry will automatically affect the mask associated with the geometry's container. Use the
Select tool to select geometries which shall be edited:
Select a single geometry by clicking it. Select one or more geometries by dragging a selection rectangle
around them. Hold down the control key while selecting in order to add or remove geometries from the
current selection set.
Clicking selected geometries multiple times lets them step through a number of selection modes allowing
for different editing modes which are further described below.
Selection mode 1 Selection mode 2 Selection mode 3
Move: Selected shapes can be moved to another location simply by dragging them with the mouse.
Move vertex: If single selected geometries are clicked once again, the selection mode changes
depending on the geometry type. The first mode lets you move the vertexes of lineal and polygonal
geometries by dragging the appearing vertex handles.
Scale: The next selection mode (click again) lets you scale the size of a geometry by dragging the
appearing size handles.
Cut, Copy, Paste: Use these commands from the Edit menu or use the keys Control X, Control C,
Control V to cut or copy geometries into the operating system's clipboard and to paste them into the
same or another view.
Delete: Use the command from the Edit menu or use the Delete key.
Importing geometry data

You can use the Import Geometry command to import geometries from plain text files or from ESRI
Shapefiles.
Plain text (*.txt): Imports a single geometry (polyline or polygon) from a plain text file having the
format described in Import Geometry.
ESRI Shapefile (*.shp): Multiple geometries can be imported from a Shapefile. The geometry
coordinates used in the Shapefile will be converted to the coordinates reference system used by the
current data product. Note that there is only limited support regarding the various style settings which
may be attached to a specific Shapefile. It also currently ignore all the attribute data that usually comes
with a Shapefile.
Mask and ROI Management
The Mask Concept

Masks are useful to mask out image pixels either solely for image display or for image analysis. In the latter case
we refer to a mask in the role of a region of interest (ROI). Currently three basic types of masks are
supported differing in the way the mask is defined:
1. Masks defined by a band math expression

2. Masks defined by a simple sample value range
3. Masks defined by geometry such as lines and polygons
In data modelling terms, a mask is a product node similar to a band or tie-point grid. It has a unique name
and comprises a image (raster data) whose sample data type is Boolean. Each data product may comprise
virtually any number of masks.
Not only the mask definitions but also their use in conjunction with a raster data set such as a band or tie-point
grid are part of the data model stored within the product. A product "remembers" for a certain band or tie-point grid
● which masks have been switched visible and

● which masks are in use as ROI.
A number of product formats define a default mask set. E.g. the Envisat MERIS L1 and L2 product types define
a mask for each of their quality flags.
Working with Masks

Masks are managed by the Mask and ROI Manager tool window. To bring up this tool window click the tool button in the
Tool Windows> tool bar or select the corresponding menu item in View / Tool Windows / Mask and ROI Manager.
The manager allows creating new masks, editing mask properties and delete existing masks. It also allows
for creating new masks based on logical combinations of existing masks. Furthermore masks may be imported
and exported. If an image view is selected, the manager tool window can also be used to control the visibility and
its role as a possible ROI for the currently displayed band. When the mask's ROI role is selected, it becomes
available in the various raster data analysis tools, such as the Statistics, Histogram, and Scatter Plot tool windows.
Mask and ROI Manager tool window

Band math expression: Adds a new mask to the product which is based on a band math expression. The expression can
reference any bands, tie-point grids, single flags or other masks defined in the data product. For more information on band
math please refer to Band Maths.
Value range: Adds a new mask to the product which is based on a value range of the selected band. All pixels whose
sample values fall within the value range are part of the mask.
Geometry: Adds a new mask to the product which is based on the geometries contained in an associated geometry
container. The command effectively creates a new geometry container which in turn causes the creation of an associated
geometry mask. For more information about geometry and geometry containers have a look into the Geometry
Management.
Union: Creates the logical union of two or more selected masks.
Intersection: Creates the logical intersection of two or more selected masks.
Difference: Creates the logical difference of two or more selected masks (in top-down order).
Inv. Difference: Creates the logical difference of two or more selected masks (in bottom-up order).
Complement: Creates the logical complement one or more selected masks.
Copy: Creates a copy of the selected mask.
Edit: Edits the definition of the selected mask. Double-clicking a mask entry in the table has the same effect.
Delete: Deletes the selected mask.
Import: Imports a mask from a plain text file.
Export: Exports the selected masks to a plain text file.

GCP Management
GCP Management in DAT

A GCP is a marker for a certain geographical position within a geo-referenced image. The properties
of a GCP are
● the geographical co-ordinate,

● a graphical symbol,
● the name (label),
● and a textual description.
In contrast to a pin a GCP is fixed to a geographical position while the pin is not. GCPs can be used
to create a GCP geo-coding for a product or improve an existing geo-coding.
GCPs are displayed as symbols at their geographical positions in image views associated with the
current product. GCPs are stored in the current product and available again if the product is re-
opened.
New GCPs can be created with the GCP tool It is also possible to create and remove GCPs by using
the GCP manager.
The GCP Tool

The GCP tool is used to create a new GCP but and also to select an existing GCP. If the GCP tool is
active, a click into an image view creates a new GCP at the current cursor position. If you click on
an existing GCP, it becomes the selected GCP. If you double-click on an existing GCP the Edit GCP
dialog appears and lets you the edit the properties of the selected GCP.
The GCP Manager

The GCP manager is used to display all GCPs stored in the current product within a table and
provides some GCP related operations.
If you click on a GCP within the table it becomes the selected GCP. Double-clicking on GCP in the
table opens the Edit GCP. You can also change the values for X, Y, Lat and Lon of the GCP by
editing the table cells directly.
In the following, the tool buttons of the GCP manager are explained.
Creates a new GCP and adds it to the product.
Creates a new GCP by cloning the selected GCP.
Opens the edit dialog for the selected GCP.
Removes the selected GCP from the current product.
Imports a single GCP from a flat text or XML file.
Exports a single GCP to an XML file.
Enables the expansion of the table with pixel values.
Exports all values of the displayed table to a flat text file. The exported text is tabulator-separated and
may therefore be imported directly into a spreadsheet application (e.g. MS Excel).
Centers the image view on the selected GCP.
The Edit GCP Dialog

The GCP edit dialog is used to edit the properties of a GCP after a new GCP has been created or
after a selected GCP has been double-clicked. This dialog is also available in the GCP manager.
The editable GCP properties are
● the geographical co-ordinate, which can also be given as pixel position

● the name for the GCP
GCP Geo-Coding
This geo-coding is calculated by using the defined GCPs as reference points and the given
polynomial method type. You can choose between the linear, quadratic or a cubic polynomial
method. The status field below the polynomial method chooser shows you if you already have
enough GCPs defined for the currently chosen method or if the geo-coding is already attached to
the product.
On the lower left hand side, information about the currently attached GCP geo-coding is displayed.
It shows the used polynomial method and the overall RMSE for the latitudes and longitudes. In the
table you can see the deviation (Delta Lat and Delta Lon) for each GCP from the given to the
calculated geo-position. If you attach a GCP geo-coding to the product, the former geo-coding is
preserved and will be restored if you detach the GCP geo-coding.
Pin Management
Pin Management in DAT

A pin is a marker for a certain geographical position within a geo-referenced image. The
properties of a pin are
● the geographical co-ordinate,

● a graphical symbol,
● the name (label),
Pins are displayed as symbols at their geographical positions in image views associated
with the current product. Pins are stored in the current product and available again if the
product is re-opened.
In DAT, pins can be used to "freeze" the pixel info view to the selected pin in order to
display the values of the pixel associated with the selected pin.
New pins can be created with the pin tool and removed using the delete pin command in
the Edit Menu. It is also possible to create and remove pins by using the pin manager.
The Pin Tool

The pin tool is used to create a new pin and also to select an existing pin. If the pin tool is
active, a click into an image view creates a new pin at the current cursor position. If you
click on an existing pin, it becomes the selected pin. If you double-click on an existing pin,
the Edit Pin dialog appears and lets you edit the properties of the selected pin.
The Pin Manager

The pin manager is used to display all pins stored in the current product within a table and
provides some pin related operations.
If you click on a pin within the table, it becomes the selected pin. Double-clicking on a pin
in the table opens the Edit Pin dialog. You can also change the values for X, Y , Lat and
Lon of the pin by editing the table cells directly.
In the following, the tool buttons of the pin manager are explained.
Creates a new pin and adds it to the product.
Creates a new pin by cloning the selected pin.
Opens the edit dialog for the selected pin.
Removes the selected pin from the current product.
Imports multiple pins from a flat text or XML file.
Exports the selected pins to an XML file.
Enables the expansion of the table with pixel values.
Exports selected part of the displayed table to a flat text file. The exported text is tabulator-
separated and may therefore be imported directly into a spreadsheet application (e.g. MS
Excel).
Centers the image view on the selected pin.
The Edit Pin Dialog

The pin edit dialog is used to edit the properties of a pin after a new pin has been created
or after a selected pin has been double-clicked. This dialog is also available in the pin
manager.
The editable pin properties are
● the geographical co-ordinate, which can also be given as pixel position

● the outline and fill colour for the graphical symbol,
● the name for the pin
Product/Band Information
Product/Band Information
This dialog shows general properties of a loaded product, band or tie-point grid and their parent product.
Note: A mouse right-click within the properties data area brings up a context menu with the item Copy data
to clipboard. This will copy the diagram data as tabulated text to the system clipboard. The copied text can
then be pasted directly into a spreadsheet application (e.g. Microsoft® Excel).
Geo-Coding Information
Geo-Coding Information
This dialog shows the geo-coding information for the selected data product. Geo-coding enables DAT to
transform pixel co-ordinates to geographical co-ordinates (WGS-84 datum) and vice versa. Geo-coding can be
either based on a map projection (product is geo-referenced) or based on tie point grids (product is geo-
coded). If a product is not geo-referenced, DAT uses the tie point grids "latitude" and "longitude" for geo-
coding.
For tie point grid based geo-coding, the transformation of a geographical co-ordinate to a pixel position is
more complicated than the other way round. DAT uses either an iterative algorithm or a polynomial
approximation depending on the root mean square error (RMSE) of the approximation. If the RMSE is
underneath half a pixel, the approximation is used instead of the iteration because the latter can sometimes
have no clear attraction point and would yield to infinite looping.
Note: A mouse right-click within the geo-coding information area brings up a context menu with the item
Copy data to clipboard. This will copy the diagram data as tabulated text to the system clipboard. The copied
text can then be pasted directly into a spreadsheet application (e.g. Microsoft® Excel).
Statistics
Statistics Display
The Statistics Display shows statistical information about the band or an active ROI.
For the whole band, the following statistical information is given (see Figure 1):
Figure 1. Statistical information for a given band
For user selected homogeneous ROI, the following statistics are computed (see Figure 2):
Figure 2. Statistical information for user selected ROI
Note: A mouse right-click within the statistics data area brings up a context menu with the item
Copy data to clipboard. This will copy the diagram data as tabulated text to the system clipboard.
The copied text can then be pasted directly into a spreadsheet application (e.g., Microsoft® Excel).
Histogram
Histogram Display
This dialog displays a histogram for the selected band. If a ROI is defined, you may restrict the
computation to the pixels within that ROI. You can also set the number of bins used for the
histogram creation, and set the range manually or let it compute automatically.
Context Menu
A click with the right mouse button on the diagram brings up a context menu which consists of
the following menu items:
● Properties...
Edit several properties (colors, axes, etc.) of the diagram.
You can also use the on the right 'Plot' panel.

● Save As...
Save the diagram as image (PNG).
● Print...
Print the diagram.

● Zoom In
❍ Both Axes - Zoom in on both axes.

❍ Domain Axes - Zoom in only on the domain axis.
❍ Range Axes - Zoom in only on the range axis.
● Zoom Out
❍ Both Axes - Zoom out on both axes.

❍ Domain Axes - Zoom out only on the domain axis.
❍ Range Axes - Zoom out only on the range axis.
● Auto Range
❍ Both Axes - Adjusts both axes to the full data range.

❍ Domain Axes - Adjusts the domain axis to the full data range.
❍ Range Axes - Adjusts the range axis to the full data range.
● Copy Data to Clipboard
This will copy the diagram data as tabulated text to the system clipboard. The copied text can
Scatter Plot
Scatter Plot Display

This dialog allows you to plot one variable against another. In order to plot them, these variables
must already be displayed as bands. Otherwise the values would not be available to DAT, except
for the tie point data (latitude, longitude etc.). If you consider the following figure, you see the
plot of longitude against latitude of a MERIS product. The variables to be used as abscissa (X-
Band) and ordinate (Y-Band) can be selected from the two drop-down menus (red ellipses).
Context Menu
● Properties...

● Save As...

● Print...
Print the diagram.

● Zoom In

● Zoom Out

● Auto Range

Profile Plot
Profile Plot Display

This option is available only, if a geometric shape has been defined in the current image view.
The profile plot displays the sample values of current geophysical band along the current
geometric shape (the transect profile in this case).
Context Menu
● Properties...

● Save As...

● Print...
Print the diagram.

● Zoom In

● Zoom Out

● Auto Range

Co-ordinate List
Co-ordinate List Display

This option is available only, if a geometric shape has been defined in the current image
view. The co-ordinate list enumerates information not only for each vertex but for each
pixel along the current geometric shape (the transect profile in this case).
Note: A mouse right-click within the co-ordinate list area brings up a context menu with
the item Copy data to clipboard. This will copy the diagram data as tabulated text to the
system clipboard. The copied text can then be pasted directly into a spreadsheet
application (e.g. Microsoft® Excel).
Compute ROI-Mask Area
Compute ROI-Mask Area
● Number of ROI pixels - The number of pixels contained in the ROI.

● ROI area - The computed area of the ROI in km2.
● Mean pixel area - The computed mean pixel area of the ROI in km2.
● Minimum pixel area - The computed minimum pixel area of the ROI in km2.
● Maximum pixel area - The computed maximum pixel area of the ROI in km2.
● Mean earth radius - The mean earth radius in km2 on which the computation is based.
Product Subset
Product Subset Definition

This dialog appears from various import and export file selection dialogs and always if a
new product has to be created from a base product, such as in the map projection or band
arithmetic dialogs.
The dialog is divided into four tabs, each providing specific subset options.
Spatial Subset
If you are not interested in the whole image, you may specify an area of the product to be
loaded. You can select the area either by dragging the blue surrounding rectangle in the
preview (see figure above) or by editing the appropriate fields. If you drag the rectangle,
the field values change simultaneously.
You can also specify a sub-sampling, by setting the values of Scene step X and Scene
step Y.
Band Subset
This tab is used to select the bands you want to have in your product subset.
Tie-Point Grid Subset

As with bands, this tab is used to select the tie-point grids you want to have in your
product subset. The tie-point grids named latitude and longitude can not be deselected
because they provide essential geo-coding information.
Metadata Subset
The tab lets you select/deselect meta-data records and tables. By default, all meta-data
tables are deselected, because they can be very huge for ENVISAT products and may
reduce DAT's performance.
Band Arithmetic
Band Arithmetic
The band arithmetic tool is used to create new image sample values derived from existing
bands, tie-point grids and flags. The source data can originate from all currently open and
spatially compatible input products. The source data is combined by an arithmetic
expression to generate the target data. By default, a new image view is automatically
opened for the new sample values. You can disable this behaviour in the preferences dialog.
Please refer to the expression editor documentation for the syntax and capabilities of
expressions.
After the new band has been created (or an existing one has been overwritten), you can
change to DAT's Product View in order to open an image view in order to inspect the
resulting samples.
Parameters
Target Product:
Select the target product where the new band will be added.
Name:
Specifies the name of the new band. The name must not be empty and the target
product must not contain a band with the same name.
Description:
An optional description can be entered here.
Unit:
An optional unit can be entered here.
Virtual (save expression only, don't write data)
If the option is checked a virtual band is created. This means that only the expression is
stored and the data is re-computed if needed. If this option is unchecked, the data is
computed once and stored in the product.
Replace NaN and infinity results by
Sometimes an expression can result to a NaN (Not a Number)or infinity value, in these
cases these values will be replaced by the value specified here. This value will also be
used as the no-data value of the band.
Expression:
This field takes the arithmetic expression which is used to create new data samples.
expressions.
Edit Expression... button
Opens the expression editor which provides a a convenient way to create valid
arithmetic expressions.
OK, Cancel and Help

OK
Computes the new sample data and closes the dialog. Refer to the preferences dialog
for an option to specify whether or not to automatically open an image view for the new
data samples.
Cancel
Closes the dialogue and all changes are reverted.
Help
Opens this help page.
Expression Editor
The Arithmetic Expression Editor

DAT's expression editor provides a convenient way to construct arithmetic expressions with C syntax
from various data sources, such as bands, tie-point grids and flag values. You can combine these data
sources by a number of comparison, arithmetic, logical and binary operators or use them as arguments
for mathematical functions.
Product:
Selects the current input product providing source bands, tie-point grids and flags.
Data Sources:
The list of available data sources provided by the selected input product. Click on a data source to move
it into the expression text field.
Show Bands checkbox
Checks whether or not the bands of a product are shown in the list of available data sources.
Show Tie Point Grids checkbox
Checks whether or not the tie-point grids of a product are shown in the list of available data sources.
Show single Flags checkbox
Checks whether or not the flags of a product are shown in the list of available data sources.
Expression:
The expression text field. You can also directly edit the expression here.
Select All Button Selects the entire text in the expression text field.
Clear Button Clears the entire text in the expression text field.
Undo Button Undoes multiple last edits in the expression text field.
OK Button
Accepts the expression.
Expression Syntax
The syntax for valid expressions used in DAT is almost the same as used in the C, C++ or Java
programming languages. However, currently not supported are any kind of type conversions or type
castings or object accessing operations.
Supported Operators and Functions

Important note: The operators listed here are enumerated in decreasing operator precedence (or
increasing operator priority). If not otherwise stated, binary operators always bind (and evaluate) from
left to right, so that A - B - C - D is equivalent to ((A - B) - C) - D.
Ternary Conditional Operator

This operator returns a value depending on a given boolean expression X.
A ? B : C if A then B, else C
Binary Logical Operators

These operators are meant to be used in conjunction with a data product's quality flags. The arguments
must always be Boolean.
X || Y Logical OR
X or Y
X && Y Logical AND
X and Y
Binary Comparison Operator

These operators return Boolean values true or false. You can use the conditional operator to convert
the Boolean return value into a real number, for example (radiance_13 <= 0) ? 0 : 10*sqrt
(radiance_13)
X == Y Equal to
X != Y Not equal to
X < Y Less than
X <= Y Less than or equal to
X > Y Greater then
X >= Y Greater then or equal to
Binary Bitwise Operators

X | Y Bitwise OR
X ^ Y Bitwise XOR
X & Y Bitwise AND
Arithmetic Operators
X + Y Plus
X - Y Minus
X * Y Division
X / Y Multiplication
X % Y Modulo (remainder)
Unary Operators
+ X Arithmetic positive sign, no actual operation, equivalent to 1 * X
- X Arithmetic negation, equivalent to -1 * X
! X Logical NOT of Boolean argument X
not X
~ X Bitwise NOT of integer argument X
Mathematical Constants
PI PI = 3.14159265358979323846. The double value that is closer than any other to PI
E E = 2.7182818284590452354. The double value that is closer than any other to E, the base of the
natural logarithms
NaN NaN = 0.0 / 0.0. A constant holding a Not-a-Number (NaN) value
X The X-position of the current pixel.
Y The Y-position of the current pixel.
Mathematical Functions
sqrt( X ) Returns square root of X

pow( X , Y ) X raised to the power of Y
exp( X ) Returns Euler's number e raised to the power of X
exp10( X ) Returns the value of 10 raised to the power of X
log( X ) Returns the natural logarithm (base e) of X
log10( X ) Returns the common logarithm, the logarithm with base 10 of X.
sin( X ) Returns the trigonometric sine of an angle X in radians
cos( X ) Returns the trigonometric cosine of an angle X in radians
tan( X ) Returns the trigonometric tangent of an angle X in radians
asin( X ) Returns the trigonometric arc-sine of X
acos( X ) Returns the trigonometric arc-cosine of X
atan( X ) Returns the trigonometric arc-tangent of X
atan2( Y , X ) Returns the angle of polar co-ordinate of X,Y
ampl( R , I ) Returns the amplitude function of a complex argument, same as sqrt(R * R + I * I)
phase( R , I ) Returns the phase function of a complex argument, same as atan2(I, R)
rad( X ) Converts X from decimal degree to radian
deg( X ) Converts X from radian to decimal degree
abs( X ) Returns the absolute value of X
sign( X ) Returns the sign of A, always one of -1, 0, +1
min( X , Y ) Returns the smaller value of X and Y
max( X , Y ) Returns the greater value of X and Y
floor( X ) Returns the largest (closest to positive infinity) double value that is less than or equal to X
and is equal to a mathematical integer
round( X ) Returns the closest long to X. The result is rounded to an integer by adding 1/2, taking the
floor of the result, and casting the result to type long
ceil( X ) Returns the smallest (closest to negative infinity) double value that is greater than or equal
to X and is equal to a mathematical integer
rint( X ) Returns the double value that is closest in value to X and is equal to a mathematical integer.
If two double values that are mathematical integers are equally close, the result is the
integer value that is even
feq( X , Y ) Performs a fuzzy equal operation for the X and Y arguments
feq( X , Y , EPS ) Performs a fuzzy equal operation for the X and Y arguments by using EPS as maximum
deviation
fneq( X , Y ) Performs a fuzzy not equal operation for the X and Y arguments
fneq( X , Y , EPS ) Performs a fuzzy not equal operation for the X and Y arguments by using EPS as maximum
deviation
nan( X ) Returns true if X is a Not-a-Number (NaN) value, false otherwise
inf( X ) Returns true if X is infinitely large in magnitude, false otherwise
Reprojection
Reprojection Dialog
Use Reprojection to create new product with a projected Coordinate Reference System (CRS).
I/O Parameters
Source Product
Name: Here the user
specifies the name of the
source product. The
combo box presents a list
of all products opened.
The user may select one
of these or, by clicking on
the button next to the
combo box, choose a
product from the file
system.
Target Product
Name: Used to specify
the name of the target
product.
Save as: Used to specify
whether the target
product should be saved
to the file system. The
combo box presents a list
of file formats, currently
BEAM-DIMAP, GeoTIFF,
and HDF5. The text field
allows to specify a target
directory.
Open in DAT: Used to
specify whether the
target product should be
opened. When the target
product is not saved, it is
opened automatically.
Projection Parameters
Coordinate Reference
System (CRS)
Custom CRS: The
transformation used by
the projection can be
selected. Also the
geodetic datum and
transformation
parameters can be set, if
possible for the selected
transformation.
Predefined CRS: By
clicking on the Select...
button a new dialog is
shown where a
predefined CRS can be
selected.
Use CRS of: A product
can be selected to use its
projected Coordinate
Reference System. This
will have the effect that
source product will cover
the same geographic
region on the same CRS.
Which means that both
products are collocated.
Output Settings
Preserve resolution: If
unchecked the Output
Parameters... is enabled
and the upcoming dialog
lets you edit the output
parameters like easting
and northing of the
reference pixel, the pixel
size and the scene height
and width.
Reproject tie-point
grids: Specifies whether
or not the tie-point grids
shall be included. If they
are reprojected they will
appear as bands in the
target product and not
any more as tie-point
grids.
No-data value: The
default no-data value is
used for output pixels in
the projected band which
have either no
corresponding pixel in the
source product or the
source pixel is invalid.
Resampling Method:
You can select one
resampling method for
the projection. For a brief
description have a look at
Resampling Methods.
Output Information
Displays some
information about the
output, like scene width
and height, the
geographic coordinate of
the scene center and
short description of the
selected CRS.
When clicking the Show
WKT... button the
corresponding Well-
Known Text of the
currently defined CRS is
shown.
Resampling Methods
Resampling Methods
If a product is projected, it comes up that the pixel centers of the target product generally do not correspond to
the centers of the pixels of the input product. Resampling is the process of determination and interpolation of
pixels in the source product for computation of the pixel values in the target product. The effects of resampling
will especially be visible if the pixels in the target product are larger than the source pixels.
Three different resampling methods are available for this computation.
Nearest Neighbour
Every pixel value in the output product is set to the nearest input pixel value.
Pros Cons
Very simple, fast Some pixels get lost and others are duplicated
No new values are calculated by interpolation Loss of sharpness
Fast, compared to Cubic Convolution resampling
The following figure demonstrates the calculation of a new resampled pixel value.
Bi-linear Interpolation
Calculation of the new pixel value is performed by the weight of the four surrounding pixels.
Pros Cons
Extremes are balanced Less contrast compared to Nearest Neighbour
Image loses sharpness compared to Nearest Neighbour New values are calculated which are not present in the input product
Following figure demonstrates the calculation of the new pixel value.
The bilinear interpolation is performed by the following equation:
Cubic Convolution
Calculation of the new pixel value is performed by weighting the 16 surrounding pixels.
Pros Cons
Extremes are balanced Less contrast compared to Nearest Neighbour
Image is sharper compared to Bi-linear Interpolation New values are calculated which are not present in the input product
Slow, compared to Nearest Neighbour resampling
Following figure demonstrates the calculation of the new pixel value.

The cubic convolution is performed by the following equation:
In the first step the average value for each line is calculated, afterwards the new pixel value is calculated with
the four new average values P'(1) - P'(4) similar to the preceding calculation.
Visual Comparison of the Resampling Methods

Nearest Neighbour Bi-linear Interpolation Cubic Convolution
Data Flip
Data Flip (Product Transposition)

The data-flip-command applies a flip operation to an input product and creates a new
transposed output product.
After the new product has been created, you can change to DAT's product browser in order
to open an image view for a band of the new product.
Input Product:
You must specify an input product here. Note that this command operates on entire
products, so you might want to create a product subset first.
Output Product
Name: You can specify the output product's name here. The name must be unique
within DAT's open product list.
Description: You can enter a short description text for the new product here.
Flip Data
horizontally radiobutton
Mirrors the tie-point grids and bands of the product along the central vertical axis.
vertically radiobutton
Mirrors the tie-point grids and bands of the product along the central horizontal axis.
horizontally & vertically radiobutton
Mirrors the tie-point grids and bands of the product along both the central vertical and
horizontal axes.
Output product Information

Displays properties for the resulting output product.
OK Button
Applies the flip transposition to the input product, creates the specified output product and
closes the dialog.
Pixel Geo-Coding
Pixel Geo-Coding
The Pixel Geo-Coding can be used if the user has two bands filled with accurate latitude
and longitude values for each pixel. For example the FSG and FRG products have corrected
latitude ("corr_lat") and longitude ("corr_lon") bands. These bands can be used to replace
the current geo-coding associated with the product.
Attach Pixel Geo-Coding
● Longitude Band
The band which keeps the longitude values for each pixel.
● Latitude Band
The band which keeps the latitude values for each pixel.
● Valid Mask
This mask is used by the search algorithm when trying to find the pixel position for a
given lat/lon. Only pixels which meet the expression are included in the search.
● Search Radius
This value is used by the search algorithm when trying to find the pixel position for a
given lat/lon. A higher value means that the area to search for the proper pixel position
is greater and the risk not to find the searched value is smaller. The greater the value
is, the longer takes the search.
Detach Pixel Geo-Coding

Just detaches the current pixel geo-coding and restores the previous geo-coding.
Create Elevation Band
Create Elevation Band

This command adds a new elevation band to the current product.
The altitudes are computed by looking up each pixel in a selected high-resolution DEM.
The Toolbox is able to download SRTM 90m DEM and the GETASSE30 DEM as needed.
For ACE and ASTER DEMs, you will need to download datasets youself and have the
respective path in the settings dialog point to the location of the datasets.
● Elevation Model
Let's you select an elevation model.
● Band name
The name of the new created elevation band.
Image Filtering
Image Filtering
The operator creates filtered image bands by applying convolution or non-linear filters to the selected band.
Filters are used to perform common image processing operations e.g. sharpening, blurring or edge enhancement.
Note: When storing a product containing a filtered band, the data of the band is not stored with the product.
Only the information how to compute the data is stored. This behaviour is similar to virtual bands.
DAT supports the following filters
● Detect Lines
Horizontal Edges, Vertical Edges, Left Diagonal Edges, Right Diagonal Edges, Compass Edge Detector,
Roberts Cross North-West, Roberts Cross North-East
● Detect Gradients (Emboss)
Sobel North, Sobel South, Sobel West, Sobel East, Sobel North East
● Smooth and Blurr
Arithmetic 3x3 Mean, Arithmetic 4x4 Mean, Arithmetic 5x5 Mean, Low-Pass 3x3, Low-Pass 5x5
● Sharpen
High-Pass 3x3 #1, High-Pass 3x3 #2, High-Pass 5x5
● Enhance Discontinuities
Laplace 3x3, Laplace 5x5
● Non-Linear Filters
Minimum 3x3, Minimum 5x5, Maximum 3x3, Maximum 5x5, Mean 3x3, Mean 5x5,
Median 3x3, Median 5x5, Standard Deviation 3x3, Standard Deviation 5x5,
Root-Mean-Square 3x3, Root-Mean-Square 5x5
DAT also supports user defined filters
● The operator also supports user defined convolution filter kernel. The user define kernel can be browsed and
selected from User Defined Kernel file in the UI.
● The user defined kernel must be saved in ASCII file in a matrix format. The first line of the file contains two
integers to indicate the dimension (rows and columns) of the matrix. For example, a user defined 3x3 low-
pass filter can be saved in file lop_3_3.txt in the following format:
3 3
1 11
1 11
1 11
Example images
Compass Edge Detector Filter Low-Pass 5x5 Filter
High-Pass 3x3 #2 Filter Laplace 3x3

DAT also supports user defined filters
1. Source Bands: All bands (real or virtual) of the source product. User can select one or more bands for
producing filtered images. If no bands are selected, then by default all bands are selected.
2. Filters: Pre-defined filters.
3. User Defined Kernel File: User defined filter kernel file.
Convert SLC to Detected GR
Convert Complex to Detected Ground Range

This tools converts a Single Look Complex product in slant range into a detected product in
ground range.
Graph Processing
Graphs
Graph Processing is used to apply operations to the data to allow you to create your own
processing chains.
A graph is a set of nodes connected by edges. In this case, the nodes will be the
processing steps. The edges will show the direction in which the data is being passed
between nodes; therefore it will be a directed graph. The graph will have no loops or
cycles, so it will be a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG).
The sources of the graph will be the data product readers, and the sinks can be either a
product writer or an image displayed on the DAT.
The GPF uses a Pull Model, wherein a request is made from the sink backwards to the
source to process the graph. This request could be to create a new product file or to update
a displayed image. Once the request reaches a source, the image is pulled through the
nodes to the sink. Each time an image passes through an operator, the operator
transforms the image, and it is passed down to the next node until it reaches the sink.
The graph processor will not introduce any intermediate files unless a writer is optionally
added anywhere in the sequence
Tiling
The memory management allows very large data products that can not be all stored in
available memory, to be handled by the processing tools and visualization. To do so, a
tiled approach is used.
The dataset is divided into workable areas called tiles consisting of a subset of the data
read from disk in one piece. Only the data for tiles being visualized is read in, and in some
cases the data could be down-sampled to view the desired area at the expense of
resolution.
Depending on the tool, data is ingested for a tile or a set of tiles, and processing is applied
only to the current set of tiles. The data is then written to a file and released from
memory. The process is then repeated on a new set of tiled data from the large data
product.
From the DAT, in order to allow zooming out and viewing of the entire image, a pyramid of
tiled images at different resolutions is used. Tiling is generally transparent to the user.
Operators
In order to provide the greatest flexibility to the end user, processing algorithms such as
orthorectification and co-registration are broken down into unit processing steps called
Operators. These operators may be reused to create new processing graphs for other
purposes.
The Toolbox includes various processing modules that could be run either from the DAT
GUI or from the command line such as:
● Data Conversion
● Band Arithmetic
● Image Filtering
● Statistics & Data Analysis
● Ellipsoid Correction
● Terrain Correction
● Co-Registration
● Reprojection
● Subset
● Calibration
● Multilooking
● Apply Orbit Correction
● Create Stack
● Create Elevation
● Resampling
● Interferometry
● Plus many more
Graph Processing Tool
GPT
The Graph Processing Tool (GPT) is the command line interface for executing graphs created
using the Graph Builder. Data sources and parameters found in the graph file can be replaced
at the command line using arguments passed to the GPT.
The GPT could also be used to read a product, execute a single operator and produce output in
the specified format without the use of a graph.
Usage:
{0} <op>|<graph-file> [options] [<source-file-1> <source-file-2> ...]
Description:
This tool is used to execute raster data operators in batch-mode.
The operators can be used stand-alone or combined as a directed acyclic
graph (DAG). Processing graphs are represented using XML. More info
about processing graphs, the operator API, and the graph XML format can
be found in the documentation.
Arguments:
<op> Name of an operator. See below for the list of <op>s.
<graph-file> Operator graph file (XML format).
<source-file-i> The <i>th source product file. The actual number of source
file arguments is specified by <op>. May be optional for
operators which use the '-S' option.
Options:
-h Displays command usage. If <op> is given, the specific
operator usage is displayed.

-e Displays more detailed error messages. Displays a stack
trace, if an exception occurs.
-t <file> The target file. Default value is ''{1}''.
-f <format> Output file format, e.g. ''GeoTIFF'', ''HDF5'',
''BEAM-DIMAP''. If not specified, format will be derived
from the target filename extension, if any, otherwise the
default format is ''{2}''. Ony used, if the graph
in <graph-file> does not specify its own ''Write'' operator.
-p <file> A (Java Properties) file containing processing
parameters in the form <name>=<value>. Entries in this
file are overwritten by the -P<name>=<value> command-line
option (see below).
-c <cache-size> Sets the tile cache size in bytes. Value can be suffixed
with ''K'', ''M'' and ''G''. Must be less than maximum
available heap space. If equal to or less than zero, tile
caching will be completely disabled. The default tile
cache size is ''{3}M''.
-q <parallelism> Sets the maximum parallelism used for the computation, i.e.
the maximum number of parallel (native) threads.
The default parallelism is ''{4}''.
-x Clears the internal tile cache after writing a complete
row of tiles to the target product file. This option may

be useful if you run into memory problems.
-T<target>=<file> Defines a target product. Valid for graphs only. <target>
must be the identifier of a node in the graph. The node''s
output will be written to <file>.
-S<source>=<file> Defines a source product. <source> is specified by the
operator or the graph. In an XML graph, all occurrences of
$'{<source>'} will be replaced with references to a source
product located at <file>.
-P<name>=<value> Defines a processing parameter, <name> is specific for the
used operator or graph. In an XML graph, all occurrences of
$'{<name>'} will be replaced with <value>. Overwrites
parameter values specified by the ''-p'' option.
-inFolder For graphs with ProductSetReaders such as coregistration,
all products found in the specified folder and subfolders
will be used as input to the ProductSetReader
-printHelp Prints the usuage help for all operators
Running from the Command Line

To be able to properly run the GPT from the command line, make sure the environment
variable NEST_HOME is set to the installation folder. Also, add the installation folder to the
PATH so you may call the GPT from any folder.
Some example graphs can be found in $NEST_HOME/commandline.
● asar-caibrate.bat - a windows batch file as an example how to calibrate all ASAR products
in a given folder
● ers-cailbrate.bat - a windows batch file as an example how to calibrate all ERS products in
a given folder
● coregister.bat - a windows batch file as an example how to run multiple graphs together,
in this case, GCPSelectionGraph and WarpGraph
● MapProjGraph.xml - a graph for applying a map projection on a product
● TC_Graph.xml - a graph for applying Terrain Correction on a product
● write.xml - a graph to write products in another format, in this case, it will write to GeoTIFF
Command Line Reference
Usage:
gpt <op>|<graph-file> [options] [<source-file-1> <source-file-2> ...]
Description:
This tool is used to execute raster data operators in batch-mode.
The operators can be used stand-alone or combined as a directed acyclic
graph (DAG). Processing graphs are represented using XML. More info
about processing graphs, the operator API, and the graph XML format can
be found in the documentation.
Arguments:
<op> Name of an operator. See below for the list of <op>s.
<graph-file> Operator graph file (XML format).
<source-file-i> The <i>th source product file. The actual number of source
file arguments is specified by <op>. May be optional for
operators which use the -S option.
Options:
-h Displays command usage. If <op> is given, the specific
operator usage is displayed.
-e Displays more detailed error messages. Displays a stack
trace, if an exception occurs.
-t <file> The target file. Default value is './target.dim'.
-f <format> Output file format, e.g. 'GeoTIFF', 'HDF5',
'BEAM-DIMAP'. If not specified, format will be derived
from the target filename extension, if any, otherwise the
default format is 'BEAM-DIMAP'. Ony used, if the graph
in <graph-file> does not specify its own 'Write' operator.
-p <file> A (Java Properties) file containing processing
parameters in the form <name>=<value>. Entries in this
file are overwritten by the -P<name>=<value> command-line
option (see below).
-c <cache-size> Sets the tile cache size in bytes. Value can be suffixed
with 'K', 'M' and 'G'. Must be less than maximum
available heap space. If equal to or less than zero, tile
caching will be completely disabled. The default tile
cache size is '512M'.
-q <parallelism> Sets the maximum parallelism used for the computation, i.e.
the maximum number of parallel (native) threads.
The default parallelism is '2'.
-x Clears the internal tile cache after writing a complete
row of tiles to the target product file. This option may
be useful if you run into memory problems.
-T<target>=<file> Defines a target product. Valid for graphs only. <target>
must be the identifier of a node in the graph. The node's
output will be written to <file>.
-S<source>=<file> Defines a source product. <source> is specified by the
operator or the graph. In an XML graph, all occurrences of
${<source>} will be replaced with references to a source
product located at <file>.
-P<name>=<value> Defines a processing parameter, <name> is specific for the
used operator or graph. In an XML graph, all occurrences of
${<name>} will be replaced with <value>. Overwrites
parameter values specified by the '-p' option.
-inFolder For graphs with ProductSetReaders such as coregistration,
all products found in the specified folder and subfolders
will be used as input to the ProductSetReader
-printHelp Prints the usuage help for all operators
Operators:
AdaptiveThresholding Detect ships using Constant False Alarm Rate detector.
Apply-Orbit-File Apply orbit file
BandMaths Create a product with one or more bands using
mathematical expressions.
Calibration Calibration of products
Interferogram Compute interferograms from stack of coregistered
images : JBLAS implementation
Convert-Datatype Convert product data type
Coherence Estimate coherence from stack of coregistered images
Create-LandMask Creates a bitmask defining land vs ocean.
CreateElevation Creates a DEM band
CreateStack Collocates two or more products based on their geo-codings.
Data-Analysis Computes statistics
DeburstWSS Debursts an ASAR WSS product
EMClusterAnalysis Performs an expectation-maximization (EM) cluster analysis.
Ellipsoid-Correction-GG GG method for orthorectification
Ellipsoid-Correction-RD Ellipsoid correction with RD method and average scene height
Fill-Hole Fill holes in given product
GCP-Selection2 Automatic Selection of Ground Control Points
Image-Filter Common Image Processing Filters
KMeansClusterAnalysis Performs a K-Means cluster analysis.
LinearTodB Converts bands to dB
Mosaic Mosaics two or more products based on their geo-codings.
Multi-Temporal-Speckle-Filter Speckle Reduction using Multitemporal Filtering
Multilook Averages the power across a number of lines in both the
azimuth and range directions
Object-Discrimination Remove false alarms from the detected objects.
Oil-Spill-Clustering Remove small clusters from detected area.
Oil-Spill-Detection Detect oil spill.
Oversample Oversample the datset
ProductSet-Reader Adds a list of sources
Read Reads a product from disk.
RemoveAntennaPattern Remove Antenna Pattern
ReplaceMetadata Replace the metadata of the first product with that of the second
Reprojection Applies a map projection
SAR-Simulation Rigorous SAR Simulation
SARSim-Terrain-Correction Orthorectification with SAR simulation
SRGR Converts Slant Range to Ground Range
Speckle-Filter Speckle Reduction
SubsetOp Create a spatial subset of the source product.
Terrain-Correction RD method for orthorectification
Undersample Undersample the datset
Warp2 Create Warp Function And Get Co-registrated Images
Wind-Field-Estimation Estimate wind speed and direction
Write Writes a data product to a file.
WriteRGB Creates an RGB image from three source bands.
------------------------
Terrain-Correction
------------------------
Usage:
gpt Terrain-Correction [options]
Description:
RD method for orthorectification
Source Options:
-Ssource=<file> Sets source 'source' to <filepath>.
This is a mandatory source.
Parameter Options:
-PapplyRadiometricNormalization=<boolean> Sets parameter 'applyRadiometricNormalization'
to <boolean>.
Default value is 'false'.
-PauxFile=<string> The auxiliary file
Value must be one of 'Latest Auxiliary
File', 'Product Auxiliary File', 'External Auxiliary File'.
Default value is 'Latest Auxiliary File'.
-PdemName=<string> The digital elevation model.
Value must be one of 'ACE', 'GETASSE30',
'SRTM 3Sec GeoTiff'.
Default value is 'SRTM 3Sec GeoTiff'.
-PdemResamplingMethod=<string> Sets parameter 'demResamplingMethod' to <string>.
Value must be one of
'NEAREST_NEIGHBOUR', 'BILINEAR_INTERPOLATION', 'CUBIC_CONVOLUTION'.
Default value is 'BILINEAR_INTERPOLATION'.
-PexternalAuxFile=<file> The antenne elevation pattern gain auxiliary
data file.
-PexternalDEMFile=<file> Sets parameter 'externalDEMFile' to <file>.
-PexternalDEMNoDataValue=<double> Sets parameter 'externalDEMNoDataValue'
to <double>.
Default value is '0'.
-PimgResamplingMethod=<string> Sets parameter 'imgResamplingMethod' to <string>.
-PincidenceAngleForGamma0=<string> Sets parameter 'incidenceAngleForGamma0'
to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Use incidence angle
from Ellipsoid', 'Use projected local incidence angle from DEM'.
Default value is 'Use projected local
incidence angle from DEM'.
-PincidenceAngleForSigma0=<string> Sets parameter 'incidenceAngleForSigma0'
to <string>.
-PpixelSpacingInDegree=<double> The pixel spacing in degrees
-PpixelSpacingInMeter=<double> The pixel spacing in meters
-PprojectionName=<string> The projection name
Default value is 'Geographic Lat/Lon'.
-PsaveBetaNought=<boolean> Sets parameter 'saveBetaNought' to <boolean>.
-PsaveDEM=<boolean> Sets parameter 'saveDEM' to <boolean>.
-PsaveGammaNought=<boolean> Sets parameter 'saveGammaNought' to <boolean>.
-PsaveLocalIncidenceAngle=<boolean> Sets parameter 'saveLocalIncidenceAngle'
to <boolean>.
-PsaveProjectedLocalIncidenceAngle=<boolean> Sets parameter
'saveProjectedLocalIncidenceAngle' to <boolean>.
-PsaveSelectedSourceBand=<boolean> Sets parameter 'saveSelectedSourceBand'
to <boolean>.
Default value is 'true'.
-PsaveSigmaNought=<boolean> Sets parameter 'saveSigmaNought' to <boolean>.
-PsourceBands=<string,string,string,...> The list of source bands.
Graph XML Format:
<graph id="someGraphId">
<version>1.0</version>
<node id="someNodeId">
<operator>Terrain-Correction</operator>
<sources>
<source>${source}</source>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<demName>string</demName>
<externalDEMFile>file</externalDEMFile>
<externalDEMNoDataValue>double</externalDEMNoDataValue>
<demResamplingMethod>string</demResamplingMethod>
<imgResamplingMethod>string</imgResamplingMethod>
<pixelSpacingInMeter>double</pixelSpacingInMeter>
<pixelSpacingInDegree>double</pixelSpacingInDegree>
<projectionName>string</projectionName>
<saveDEM>boolean</saveDEM>
<saveLocalIncidenceAngle>boolean</saveLocalIncidenceAngle>
<saveProjectedLocalIncidenceAngle>boolean</saveProjectedLocalIncidenceAngle>
<saveSelectedSourceBand>boolean</saveSelectedSourceBand>
<applyRadiometricNormalization>boolean</applyRadiometricNormalization>
<saveSigmaNought>boolean</saveSigmaNought>
<saveGammaNought>boolean</saveGammaNought>
<saveBetaNought>boolean</saveBetaNought>
<incidenceAngleForSigma0>string</incidenceAngleForSigma0>
<incidenceAngleForGamma0>string</incidenceAngleForGamma0>
<auxFile>string</auxFile>
<externalAuxFile>file</externalAuxFile>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------------------------
Multi-Temporal-Speckle-Filter
-----------------------------------
Usage:
gpt Multi-Temporal-Speckle-Filter [options]
Description:
Speckle Reduction using Multitemporal Filtering
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PwindowSize=<string> Sets parameter 'windowSize' to <string>.
Value must be one of '3x3', '5x5', '7x7',
'9x9', '11x11'.
Default value is '3x3'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Multi-Temporal-Speckle-Filter</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<windowSize>string</windowSize>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------------------
Ellipsoid-Correction-RD
-----------------------------
Usage:
gpt Ellipsoid-Correction-RD [options]
Description:
Ellipsoid correction with RD method and average scene height
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
to <boolean>.
Value must be one of 'ACE', 'GETASSE30',
'SRTM 3Sec GeoTiff'.
data file.
-PexternalDEMNoDataValue=<double> Sets parameter 'externalDEMNoDataValue'
to <double>.
to <string>.
to <string>.
to <boolean>.
to <boolean>.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Ellipsoid-Correction-RD</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------
PCA-Image
---------------
Usage:
gpt PCA-Image [options]
Description:
Computes PCA Images
Source Options:
-SsourceProduct=<file> Sets source 'sourceProduct' to <filepath>.
-----------
Merge
-----------
Usage:
gpt Merge [options]
Description:
Merges an arbitrary number of source bands into the target product.
Parameter Options:
-PbaseGeoInfo=<string> The ID of the source product providing the geo-coding.
-PproductName=<string> The name of the target product.
Default value is 'mergedProduct'.
-PproductType=<string> The type of the target product.
Default value is 'UNKNOWN'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Merge</operator>
<sources/>
<parameters>
<productName>string</productName>
<productType>string</productType>
<baseGeoInfo>string</baseGeoInfo>
<band>
<product>string</product>
<name>string</name>
<newName>string</newName>
<namePattern>string</namePattern>
</band>
<.../>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
--------------------
Speckle-Filter
--------------------
Usage:
gpt Speckle-Filter [options]
Description:
Speckle Reduction
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PdampingFactor=<int> The damping factor (Frost filter only)
Valid interval is (0, 100].
-PedgeThreshold=<double> The edge threshold (Refined Lee filter only)
Valid interval is (0, *).
-Penl=<double> The number of looks
Default value is '1.0'.
-PestimateENL=<boolean> Sets parameter 'estimateENL' to <boolean>.
-Pfilter=<string> Sets parameter 'filter' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Mean', 'Median',
'Frost', 'Gamma Map', 'Lee', 'Refined Lee'.
Default value is 'Mean'.
-PfilterSizeX=<int> The kernel x dimension
-PfilterSizeY=<int> The kernel y dimension
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Speckle-Filter</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<filter>string</filter>
<filterSizeX>int</filterSizeX>
<filterSizeY>int</filterSizeY>
<dampingFactor>int</dampingFactor>
<edgeThreshold>double</edgeThreshold>
<estimateENL>boolean</estimateENL>
<enl>double</enl>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------
Calibration
-----------------
Usage:
gpt Calibration [options]
Description:
Calibration of products
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PcreateBetaBand=<boolean> Create beta0 virtual band
-PcreateGammaBand=<boolean> Create gamma0 virtual band
data file.
-PoutputImageScaleInDb=<boolean> Output image scale
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Calibration</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<outputImageScaleInDb>boolean</outputImageScaleInDb>
<createGammaBand>boolean</createGammaBand>
<createBetaBand>boolean</createBetaBand>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------------------
Ellipsoid-Correction-GG
-----------------------------
Usage:
gpt Ellipsoid-Correction-GG [options]
Description:
GG method for orthorectification
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Ellipsoid-Correction-GG</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------------
CreateElevation
---------------------
Usage:
gpt CreateElevation [options]
Description:
Creates a DEM band
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
Value must be one of 'ACE', 'GETASSE30', 'SRTM 3Sec GeoTiff'.
-PelevationBandName=<string> The elevation band name.
Default value is 'elevation'.
-PexternalDEM=<string> The external DEM file.
Default value is ' '.
-PresamplingMethod=<string> Sets parameter 'resamplingMethod' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Nearest Neighbour',
'Bilinear Interpolation', 'Cubic Convolution'.
Default value is 'Bilinear Interpolation'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>CreateElevation</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<elevationBandName>string</elevationBandName>
<externalDEM>string</externalDEM>
<resamplingMethod>string</resamplingMethod>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------
Reproject
---------------
Usage:
gpt Reproject [options]
Description:
Reprojection of a source product to a target Coordinate Reference System.
Source Options:
-ScollocateWith=<file> The source product will be collocated with this product.
This is an optional source.
-Ssource=<file> The product which will be reprojected.
Parameter Options:
-Pcrs=<string> A text specifying the target Coordinate Reference
System, either in WKT or as an authority code. For appropriate EPSG authority codes see (www.
epsg-registry.org). AUTO authority can be used with code 42001 (UTM), and 42002
(Transverse Mercator) where the scene center is used as reference. Examples: EPSG:4326, AUTO:42001
-Peasting=<double> The easting of the reference pixel.
-PelevationModelName=<string> The name of the elevation model for the
orthorectification. If not given tie-point data is used.
-Pheight=<integer> The height of the target product.
-PincludeTiePointGrids=<boolean> Whether tie-point grids should be included in the
output product.
-PnoDataValue=<double> The value used to indicate no-data.
-Pnorthing=<double> The northing of the reference pixel.
-Porientation=<double> The orientation of the output product (in degree).
Valid interval is [-360,360].
-Porthorectify=<boolean> Whether the source product should be orthorectified.
(Not applicable to all products)
-PpixelSizeX=<double> The pixel size in X direction given in CRS units.
-PpixelSizeY=<double> The pixel size in Y direction given in CRS units.
-PreferencePixelX=<double> The X-position of the reference pixel.
-PreferencePixelY=<double> The Y-position of the reference pixel.
-Presampling=<string> The method used for resampling of floating-point raster data.
Value must be one of 'Nearest', 'Bilinear', 'Bicubic'.
Default value is 'Nearest'.
-Pwidth=<integer> The width of the target product.
-PwktFile=<file> A file which contains the target Coordinate Reference
System in WKT format.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Reproject</operator>
<sources>
<collocateWith>${collocateWith}</collocateWith>
</sources>
<parameters>
<wktFile>file</wktFile>
<crs>string</crs>
<resampling>string</resampling>
<includeTiePointGrids>boolean</includeTiePointGrids>
<referencePixelX>double</referencePixelX>
<referencePixelY>double</referencePixelY>
<easting>double</easting>
<northing>double</northing>
<orientation>double</orientation>
<pixelSizeX>double</pixelSizeX>
<pixelSizeY>double</pixelSizeY>
<width>integer</width>
<height>integer</height>
<orthorectify>boolean</orthorectify>
<elevationModelName>string</elevationModelName>
<noDataValue>double</noDataValue>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------
Fill-Hole
---------------
Usage:
gpt Fill-Hole [options]
Description:
Fill holes in given product
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PNoDataValue=<double> Sets parameter 'NoDataValue' to <double>.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Fill-Hole</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<NoDataValue>double</NoDataValue>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-------------------
Data-Analysis
-------------------
Usage:
gpt Data-Analysis [options]
Description:
Computes statistics
Source Options:
--------------------
GCP-Selection2
--------------------
Usage:
gpt GCP-Selection2 [options]
Description:
Automatic Selection of Ground Control Points
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PapplyFineRegistration=<boolean> Sets parameter 'applyFineRegistration' to <boolean>.
-PcoarseRegistrationWindowHeight=<string> Sets parameter 'coarseRegistrationWindowHeight'
to <string>.
Value must be one of '32', '64', '128',
'256', '512', '1024'.
-PcoarseRegistrationWindowWidth=<string> Sets parameter 'coarseRegistrationWindowWidth'
to <string>.
'256', '512', '1024'.
-PcoherenceThreshold=<double> The coherence threshold
-PcoherenceWindowSize=<int> The coherence window size
-PcolumnInterpFactor=<string> Sets parameter 'columnInterpFactor' to <string>.
Value must be one of '2', '4', '8', '16'.
-PfineRegistrationWindowHeight=<string> Sets parameter 'fineRegistrationWindowHeight'
to <string>.
'256', '512', '1024'.
-PfineRegistrationWindowWidth=<string> Sets parameter 'fineRegistrationWindowWidth'
to <string>.
'256', '512', '1024'.
-PgcpTolerance=<double> Tolerance in slave GCP validation check
-PmaxIteration=<int> The maximum number of iterations
-PnumGCPtoGenerate=<int> The number of GCPs to use in a grid
-ProwInterpFactor=<string> Sets parameter 'rowInterpFactor' to <string>.
Value must be one of '2', '4', '8', '16'.
-PuseSlidingWindow=<boolean> Use sliding window for coherence calculation
Graph XML Format:
<operator>GCP-Selection2</operator>
<sources>
<sourceProduct>${sourceProduct}</sourceProduct>
</sources>
<parameters>
<numGCPtoGenerate>int</numGCPtoGenerate>
<coarseRegistrationWindowWidth>string</coarseRegistrationWindowWidth>
<coarseRegistrationWindowHeight>string</coarseRegistrationWindowHeight>
<rowInterpFactor>string</rowInterpFactor>
<columnInterpFactor>string</columnInterpFactor>
<maxIteration>int</maxIteration>
<gcpTolerance>double</gcpTolerance>
<applyFineRegistration>boolean</applyFineRegistration>
<fineRegistrationWindowWidth>string</fineRegistrationWindowWidth>
<fineRegistrationWindowHeight>string</fineRegistrationWindowHeight>
<coherenceWindowSize>int</coherenceWindowSize>
<coherenceThreshold>double</coherenceThreshold>
<useSlidingWindow>boolean</useSlidingWindow>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-------------
CplxIfg
-------------
Usage:
gpt CplxIfg [options]
Description:
Compute interferograms from stack of coregistered images
Source Options:
-----------------
PassThrough
-----------------
Usage:
gpt PassThrough [options]
Description:
Sets target product to source product.
Source Options:
-------------
Coherence
-------------
Usage:
gpt Coherence [options]
Description:
Estimate coherence from stack of coregistered images
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PcoherenceWindowSizeAzimuth=<int> Size of coherence estimation window in Azimuth direction
-PcoherenceWindowSizeRange=<int> Size of coherence estimation window in Range direction
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Coherence</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<coherenceWindowSizeAzimuth>int</coherenceWindowSizeAzimuth>
<coherenceWindowSizeRange>int</coherenceWindowSizeRange>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------------
Interferogram
----------------
Usage:
gpt Interferogram [options]
Description:
Compute interferograms from stack of coregistered images : JBLAS implementation
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PorbitPolynomialDegree=<int> Degree of orbit (polynomial) interpolator
Value must be one of '1', '2', '3', '4', '5'.
-PsrpNumberPoints=<int> Number of points for the 'flat earth phase' polynomial estimation
Value must be one of '301', '401', '501', '601', '701',
'801', '901', '1001'.
-PsrpPolynomialDegree=<int> Order of 'Flat earth phase' polynomial
Value must be one of '1', '2', '3', '4', '5', '6', '7', '8'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Interferogram</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<srpPolynomialDegree>int</srpPolynomialDegree>
<srpNumberPoints>int</srpNumberPoints>
<orbitPolynomialDegree>int</orbitPolynomialDegree>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------------
Create-LandMask
---------------------
Usage:
gpt Create-LandMask [options]
Description:
Creates a bitmask defining land vs ocean.
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PbyPass=<boolean> Sets parameter 'byPass' to <boolean>.
-Pgeometry=<string> Sets parameter 'geometry' to <string>.
-PinvertGeometry=<boolean> Sets parameter 'invertGeometry' to <boolean>.
-PlandMask=<boolean> Sets parameter 'landMask' to <boolean>.
-PuseSRTM=<boolean> Sets parameter 'useSRTM' to <boolean>.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Create-LandMask</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<landMask>boolean</landMask>
<useSRTM>boolean</useSRTM>
<geometry>string</geometry>
<invertGeometry>boolean</invertGeometry>
<byPass>boolean</byPass>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------------------
Apply-Orbit-File
----------------------
Usage:
gpt Apply-Orbit-File [options]
Description:
Apply orbit file
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PorbitType=<string> Sets parameter 'orbitType' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'DORIS Precise (ENVISAT)', 'DORIS
Verified (ENVISAT)', 'DELFT Precise (ENVISAT, ERS1&2)', 'PRARE Precise (ERS1&2)'.
Default value is 'DORIS Verified (ENVISAT)'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Apply-Orbit-File</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<orbitType>string</orbitType>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------------
Oversample
----------------
Usage:
gpt Oversample [options]
Description:
Oversample the datset
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PazimuthSpacing=<float> The azimuth pixel spacing
-PheightRatio=<float> The height ratio of the output/input images
-PoutputImageBy=<string> Sets parameter 'outputImageBy' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Image Size', 'Ratio',
'Pixel Spacing'.
Default value is 'Image Size'.
-PrangeSpacing=<float> The range pixel spacing
-PtargetImageHeight=<int> The row dimension of the output image
-PtargetImageWidth=<int> The col dimension of the output image
-PwidthRatio=<float> The width ratio of the output/input images
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Oversample</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<outputImageBy>string</outputImageBy>
<targetImageHeight>int</targetImageHeight>
<targetImageWidth>int</targetImageWidth>
<widthRatio>float</widthRatio>
<heightRatio>float</heightRatio>
<rangeSpacing>float</rangeSpacing>
<azimuthSpacing>float</azimuthSpacing>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------
CreateStack
-----------------
Usage:
gpt CreateStack [options]
Description:
Collocates two or more products based on their geo-codings.
Parameter Options:
-Pextent=<string> The output image extents.
Value must be one of 'Master', 'Minimum', 'Maximum'.
Default value is 'Master'.
-PmasterBands=<string,string,string,...> The list of source bands.
-PresamplingType=<string> The method to be used when resampling the slave
grid onto the master grid.
Value must be one of 'NONE',
Default value is 'NONE'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>CreateStack</operator>
<sources>
<sourceProducts>${sourceProducts}</sourceProducts>
</sources>
<parameters>
<masterBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</masterBands>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<resamplingType>string</resamplingType>
<extent>string</extent>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
--------------
WriteRGB
--------------
Usage:
gpt WriteRGB [options]
Description:
Creates an RGB image from three source bands.
Source Options:
-Sinput=<file> Sets source 'input' to <filepath>.
Parameter Options:
-Pblue=<int> The zero-based index of the blue band.
-Pfile=<file> The file to which the image is written.
-PformatName=<string> Sets parameter 'formatName' to <string>.
Default value is 'png'.
-Pgreen=<int> The zero-based index of the green band.
-Pred=<int> The zero-based index of the red band.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>WriteRGB</operator>
<sources>
<input>${input}</input>
</sources>
<parameters>
<red>int</red>
<green>int</green>
<blue>int</blue>
<formatName>string</formatName>
<file>file</file>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
--------------------------
RemoveAntennaPattern
--------------------------
Usage:
gpt RemoveAntennaPattern [options]
Description:
Remove Antenna Pattern
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
Graph XML Format:
<operator>RemoveAntennaPattern</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
------------------
Image-Filter
------------------
Usage:
gpt Image-Filter [options]
Description:
Common Image Processing Filters
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PselectedFilterName=<string> Sets parameter 'selectedFilterName' to <string>.
-PuserDefinedKernelFile=<file> The kernel file
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Image-Filter</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<selectedFilterName>string</selectedFilterName>
<userDefinedKernelFile>file</userDefinedKernelFile>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
------------
Mosaic
------------
Usage:
gpt Mosaic [options]
Description:
Mosaics two or more products based on their geo-codings.
Parameter Options:
-Paverage=<boolean> Average the overlapping areas
-PnormalizeByMean=<boolean> Normalize by Mean
-PpixelSize=<double> Pixel Size (m)
-PresamplingMethod=<string> The method to be used when resampling the slave
grid onto the master grid.
Default value is 'NEAREST_NEIGHBOUR'.
-PsceneHeight=<int> Target height
-PsceneWidth=<int> Target width
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Mosaic</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<resamplingMethod>string</resamplingMethod>
<average>boolean</average>
<normalizeByMean>boolean</normalizeByMean>
<pixelSize>double</pixelSize>
<sceneWidth>int</sceneWidth>
<sceneHeight>int</sceneHeight>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------------------------
Create-Coherence-Image
----------------------------
Usage:
gpt Create-Coherence-Image [options]
Description:
Create Coherence Image
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PcoherenceWindowSize=<int> The coherence window size
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Create-Coherence-Image</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<coherenceWindowSize>int</coherenceWindowSize>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
--------------------------
AdaptiveThresholding
--------------------------
Usage:
gpt AdaptiveThresholding [options]
Description:
Detect ships using Constant False Alarm Rate detector.
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PbackgroundWindowSizeInMeter=<double> Background window size
-PguardWindowSizeInMeter=<double> Guard window size
-Ppfa=<double> Probability of false alarm
-PtargetWindowSizeInMeter=<int> Target window size
Graph XML Format:
<operator>AdaptiveThresholding</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<targetWindowSizeInMeter>int</targetWindowSizeInMeter>
<guardWindowSizeInMeter>double</guardWindowSizeInMeter>
<backgroundWindowSizeInMeter>double</backgroundWindowSizeInMeter>
<pfa>double</pfa>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------------
ReplaceMetadata
---------------------
Usage:
gpt ReplaceMetadata [options]
Description:
Replace the metadata of the first product with that of the second
Parameter Options:
-Pnote=<string> Sets parameter 'note' to <string>.
Default value is 'Replace the metadata of the first product with that of
the second'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>ReplaceMetadata</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<note>string</note>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------
BandMaths
---------------
Usage:
gpt BandMaths [options]
Description:
Create a product with one or more bands using mathematical expressions.
Parameter Options:
-PbandExpression=<string> Sets parameter 'bandExpression' to <string>.
-PbandName=<string> Sets parameter 'bandName' to <string>.
-PbandNodataValue=<string> Sets parameter 'bandNodataValue' to <string>.
-PbandUnit=<string> Sets parameter 'bandUnit' to <string>.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>BandMaths</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<targetBands>
<targetBand>
<name>string</name>
<expression>string</expression>
<description>string</description>
<type>string</type>
<validExpression>string</validExpression>
<noDataValue>string</noDataValue>
<unit>string</unit>
<spectralBandIndex>integer</spectralBandIndex>
<spectralWavelength>float</spectralWavelength>
<spectralBandwidth>float</spectralBandwidth>
</targetBand>
<.../>
</targetBands>
<variables>
<variable>
<name>string</name>
<type>string</type>
<value>string</value>
</variable>
<.../>
</variables>
<bandName>string</bandName>
<bandUnit>string</bandUnit>
<bandNodataValue>string</bandNodataValue>
<bandExpression>string</bandExpression>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-------------------------
Oil-Spill-Detection
-------------------------
Usage:
gpt Oil-Spill-Detection [options]
Description:
Detect oil spill.
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PbackgroundWindowSize=<int> Background window size
-Pk=<double> Threshold shift from background mean
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Oil-Spill-Detection</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<backgroundWindowSize>int</backgroundWindowSize>
<k>double</k>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------------
LinearTodB
----------------
Usage:
gpt LinearTodB [options]
Description:
Converts bands to dB
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
Graph XML Format:
<operator>LinearTodB</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------------------
KMeansClusterAnalysis
---------------------------
Usage:
gpt KMeansClusterAnalysis [options]
Description:
Performs a K-Means cluster analysis.
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PclusterCount=<int> Sets parameter 'clusterCount' to <int>.
Valid interval is (0,100].
-PiterationCount=<int> Sets parameter 'iterationCount' to <int>.
-PrandomSeed=<int> Seed for the random generator, used
for initialising the algorithm.
-ProiMaskName=<string> The name of the ROI-Mask that should be used.
-PsourceBandNames=<string,string,string,...> The names of the bands being used for the
cluster analysis.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>KMeansClusterAnalysis</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<clusterCount>int</clusterCount>
<iterationCount>int</iterationCount>
<randomSeed>int</randomSeed>
<sourceBandNames>string,string,string,...</sourceBandNames>
<roiMaskName>string</roiMaskName>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------
Warp2
-----------
Usage:
gpt Warp2 [options]
Description:
Create Warp Function And Get Co-registrated Images
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PinterpolationMethod=<string> Sets parameter 'interpolationMethod' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Nearest-neighbor
interpolation', 'Bilinear interpolation', 'Linear interpolation', 'Cubic convolution (4
points)', 'Cubic convolution (6 points)', 'Truncated sinc (6 points)', 'Truncated sinc (8
points)', 'Truncated sinc (16 points)'.
Default value is 'Bilinear interpolation'.
-PopenResidualsFile=<boolean> Show the Residuals file in a text viewer
-PrmsThreshold=<float> The RMS threshold for eliminating invalid GCPs
-PwarpPolynomialOrder=<int> The order of WARP polynomial function
Value must be one of '1', '2', '3'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Warp2</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<rmsThreshold>float</rmsThreshold>
<warpPolynomialOrder>int</warpPolynomialOrder>
<interpolationMethod>string</interpolationMethod>
<openResidualsFile>boolean</openResidualsFile>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------------------
Object-Discrimination
---------------------------
Usage:
gpt Object-Discrimination [options]
Description:
Remove false alarms from the detected objects.
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PmaxTargetSizeInMeter=<double> Maximum target size
-PminTargetSizeInMeter=<double> Minimum target size
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Object-Discrimination</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<minTargetSizeInMeter>double</minTargetSizeInMeter>
<maxTargetSizeInMeter>double</maxTargetSizeInMeter>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-------------
PCA-Min
-------------
Usage:
gpt PCA-Min [options]
Description:
Computes minimum for PCA
Source Options:
------------------
Reprojection
------------------
Usage:
gpt Reprojection [options]
Description:
Applies a map projection
Source Options:
-ScollocateWith=<file> The source product will be collocated with this product.
This is an optional source.
-Ssource=<file> The product which will be reprojected.
Parameter Options:
-Pcrs=<string> A text specifying the target Coordinate
Reference System, either in WKT or as an authority code. For appropriate EPSG authority codes
see (www.epsg-registry.org). AUTO authority can be used with code 42001 (UTM), and
42002 (Transverse Mercator) where the scene center is used as reference. Examples:
EPSG:4326, AUTO:42001
-Peasting=<double> The easting of the reference pixel.
-PelevationModelName=<string> The name of the elevation model for
the orthorectification. If not given tie-point data is used.
-Pheight=<integer> The height of the target product.
-PincludeTiePointGrids=<boolean> Whether tie-point grids should be included in
the output product.
-PnoDataValue=<double> The value used to indicate no-data.
-Pnorthing=<double> The northing of the reference pixel.
-Porientation=<double> The orientation of the output product (in degree).
Valid interval is [-360,360].
-Porthorectify=<boolean> Whether the source product should be
orthorectified. (Not applicable to all products)
-PpixelSizeX=<double> The pixel size in X direction given in CRS units.
-PpixelSizeY=<double> The pixel size in Y direction given in CRS units.
-PpreserveResolution=<boolean> Whether to keep original or use custom resolution.
-PreferencePixelX=<double> The X-position of the reference pixel.
-PreferencePixelY=<double> The Y-position of the reference pixel.
-Presampling=<string> The method used for resampling of floating-
point raster data.
Value must be one of 'Nearest', 'Bilinear', 'Bicubic'.
Default value is 'Nearest'.
-Pwidth=<integer> The width of the target product.
-PwktFile=<file> A file which contains the target Coordinate
Reference System in WKT format.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Reprojection</operator>
<sources>
<collocateWith>${collocateWith}</collocateWith>
</sources>
<parameters>
<wktFile>file</wktFile>
<crs>string</crs>
<resampling>string</resampling>
<includeTiePointGrids>boolean</includeTiePointGrids>
<referencePixelX>double</referencePixelX>
<referencePixelY>double</referencePixelY>
<easting>double</easting>
<northing>double</northing>
<orientation>double</orientation>
<pixelSizeX>double</pixelSizeX>
<pixelSizeY>double</pixelSizeY>
<width>integer</width>
<height>integer</height>
<orthorectify>boolean</orthorectify>
<elevationModelName>string</elevationModelName>
<noDataValue>double</noDataValue>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<preserveResolution>boolean</preserveResolution>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------
Undersample
-----------------
Usage:
gpt Undersample [options]
Description:
Undersample the datset
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PazimuthSpacing=<float> The azimuth pixel spacing
-PfilterSize=<string> Sets parameter 'filterSize' to <string>.
Value must be one of '3x3', '5x5', '7x7'.
Default value is '3x3'.
-PheightRatio=<float> The height ratio of the output/input images
-Pmethod=<string> Sets parameter 'method' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Sub-Sampling',
'LowPass Filtering'.
Default value is 'LowPass Filtering'.
-PoutputImageBy=<string> Sets parameter 'outputImageBy' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Image Size', 'Ratio',
'Pixel Spacing'.
Default value is 'Image Size'.
-PrangeSpacing=<float> The range pixel spacing
-PsubSamplingX=<int> Sets parameter 'subSamplingX' to <int>.
-PsubSamplingY=<int> Sets parameter 'subSamplingY' to <int>.
-PtargetImageHeight=<int> The row dimension of the output image
-PtargetImageWidth=<int> The col dimension of the output image
-PwidthRatio=<float> The width ratio of the output/input images
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Undersample</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<method>string</method>
<filterSize>string</filterSize>
<subSamplingX>int</subSamplingX>
<subSamplingY>int</subSamplingY>
<outputImageBy>string</outputImageBy>
<targetImageHeight>int</targetImageHeight>
<targetImageWidth>int</targetImageWidth>
<widthRatio>float</widthRatio>
<heightRatio>float</heightRatio>
<rangeSpacing>float</rangeSpacing>
<azimuthSpacing>float</azimuthSpacing>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------
Multilook
---------------
Usage:
gpt Multilook [options]
Description:
Averages the power across a number of lines in both the azimuth and range directions
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PnAzLooks=<int> The user defined number of azimuth looks
Valid interval is [1, *).
-PnRgLooks=<int> The user defined number of range looks
-Pnote=<string> Sets parameter 'note' to <string>.
Default value is 'Currently, detection for
complex data is performed without any resampling'.
-PoutputIntensity=<boolean> For complex product output intensity or i and q
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Multilook</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<nRgLooks>int</nRgLooks>
<nAzLooks>int</nAzLooks>
<outputIntensity>boolean</outputIntensity>
<note>string</note>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------
Read
----------
Usage:
gpt Read [options]
Description:
Reads a product from disk.
Parameter Options:
-Pfile=<file> The file from which the data product is read.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Read</operator>
<sources/>
<parameters>
<file>file</file>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-------------------
PCA-Statistic
-------------------
Usage:
gpt PCA-Statistic [options]
Description:
Computes statistics for PCA
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PeigenvalueThreshold=<double> The threshold for selecting eigenvalues
-PnumPCA=<int> The number of PCA images output
-PselectEigenvaluesBy=<string> Sets parameter 'selectEigenvaluesBy' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Eigenvalue Threshold',
'Number of Eigenvalues'.
Default value is 'Eigenvalue Threshold'.
-PshowEigenvalues=<boolean> Show the eigenvalues
-PsubtractMeanImage=<boolean> Subtract mean image
Graph XML Format:
<operator>PCA-Statistic</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<selectEigenvaluesBy>string</selectEigenvaluesBy>
<eigenvalueThreshold>double</eigenvalueThreshold>
<numPCA>int</numPCA>
<showEigenvalues>boolean</showEigenvalues>
<subtractMeanImage>boolean</subtractMeanImage>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------------------
Convert-Datatype
----------------------
Usage:
gpt Convert-Datatype [options]
Description:
Convert product data type
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PtargetDataType=<string> Sets parameter 'targetDataType' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'int8', 'int16',
'int32', 'uint8', 'uint16', 'uint32', 'float32', 'float64'.
Default value is 'float32'.
-PtargetScalingStr=<string> Sets parameter 'targetScalingStr' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Truncate', 'Linear (slope
and intercept)', 'Linear (between 95% clipped Histogram)', 'Logarithmic'.
Default value is 'Linear (slope and intercept)'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Convert-Datatype</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<targetDataType>string</targetDataType>
<targetScalingStr>string</targetScalingStr>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------
TileStackOp
-----------------
Usage:
gpt TileStackOp [options]
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
Graph XML Format:
<operator>TileStackOp</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------------
EMClusterAnalysis
-----------------------
Usage:
gpt EMClusterAnalysis [options]
Description:
Performs an expectation-maximization (EM) cluster analysis.
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PclusterCount=<int> Sets parameter 'clusterCount' to <int>.
-PincludeProbabilityBands=<boolean> Determines whether the posterior
probabilities are included as band data.
-PiterationCount=<int> Sets parameter 'iterationCount' to <int>.
-PrandomSeed=<int> Seed for the random generator, used
for initialising the algorithm.
-ProiMaskName=<string> The name of the ROI-Mask that should be used.
-PsourceBandNames=<string,string,string,...> The names of the bands being used for the
cluster analysis.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>EMClusterAnalysis</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<clusterCount>int</clusterCount>
<iterationCount>int</iterationCount>
<randomSeed>int</randomSeed>
<sourceBandNames>string,string,string,...</sourceBandNames>
<roiMaskName>string</roiMaskName>
<includeProbabilityBands>boolean</includeProbabilityBands>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------
Write
-----------
Usage:
gpt Write [options]
Description:
Writes a data product to a file.
Source Options:
-Ssource=<file> The source product to be written.
Parameter Options:
-PclearCacheAfterRowWrite=<boolean> If true, the internal tile cache is cleared after a
tile row has been written. Ignored if writeEntireTileRows=false.
-PdeleteOutputOnFailure=<boolean> If true, all output files are deleted after a failed
write operation.
-Pfile=<file> The output file to which the data product is written.
-PformatName=<string> The name of the output file format.
Default value is 'BEAM-DIMAP'.
-PwriteEntireTileRows=<boolean> If true, the write operation waits until an entire
tile row is computed.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Write</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<file>file</file>
<formatName>string</formatName>
<deleteOutputOnFailure>boolean</deleteOutputOnFailure>
<writeEntireTileRows>boolean</writeEntireTileRows>
<clearCacheAfterRowWrite>boolean</clearCacheAfterRowWrite>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
------------
Subset
------------
Usage:
gpt Subset [options]
Description:
Create a spatial and/or spectral subset of data product.
Source Options:
-Ssource=<file> The source product to create the subset from.
Parameter Options:
-PbandNames=<string,string,string,...> Sets parameter 'bandNames' to <string,
string,string,...>.
-PcopyMetadata=<boolean> Sets parameter 'copyMetadata' to <boolean>.
-PfullSwath=<boolean> Forces the operator to extend the subset
region to the full swath.
-PgeoRegion=<geometry> The region in geographical coordinates
using WKT-format,
e.g. POLYGON((<lon1> <lat1>,
<lon2> <lat2>, ..., <lon1> <lat1>))
(make sure to quote the option due to spaces
in <geometry>)
-Pheight=<int> Sets parameter 'height' to <int>.
-PregionX=<int> Sets parameter 'regionX' to <int>.
-PregionY=<int> Sets parameter 'regionY' to <int>.
-PtiePointGridNames=<string,string,string,...> Sets parameter 'tiePointGridNames' to
<string,string,string,...>.
-Pwidth=<int> Sets parameter 'width' to <int>.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Subset</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<regionX>int</regionX>
<regionY>int</regionY>
<width>int</width>
<height>int</height>
<fullSwath>boolean</fullSwath>
<geoRegion>geometry</geoRegion>
<tiePointGridNames>string,string,string,...</tiePointGridNames>
<bandNames>string,string,string,...</bandNames>
<copyMetadata>boolean</copyMetadata>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
--------------------------
Oil-Spill-Clustering
--------------------------
Usage:
gpt Oil-Spill-Clustering [options]
Description:
Remove small clusters from detected area.
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PminClusterSizeInKm2=<double> Minimum cluster size
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Oil-Spill-Clustering</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<minClusterSizeInKm2>double</minClusterSizeInKm2>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
--------------
SubsetOp
--------------
Usage:
gpt SubsetOp [options]
Description:
Create a spatial subset of the source product.
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PgeoRegion=<geometry> WKT-format, e.g. POLYGON((<lon1> <lat1>,
<lon2> <lat2>, ..., <lon1> <lat1>))
(make sure to quote the option due to spaces
in <geometry>)
-Pheight=<int> Sets parameter 'height' to <int>.
-PregionX=<int> Sets parameter 'regionX' to <int>.
-PregionY=<int> Sets parameter 'regionY' to <int>.
-Pwidth=<int> Sets parameter 'width' to <int>.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>SubsetOp</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<regionX>int</regionX>
<regionY>int</regionY>
<width>int</width>
<height>int</height>
<geoRegion>geometry</geoRegion>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------
SRGR
----------
Usage:
gpt SRGR [options]
Description:
Converts Slant Range to Ground Range
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PinterpolationMethod=<string> Sets parameter 'interpolationMethod' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'Nearest-
neighbor interpolation', 'Linear interpolation', 'Cubic interpolation', 'Cubic2
interpolation', 'Sinc interpolation'.
Default value is 'Linear interpolation'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>SRGR</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<interpolationMethod>string</interpolationMethod>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
--------------------
SAR-Simulation
--------------------
Usage:
gpt SAR-Simulation [options]
Description:
Rigorous SAR Simulation
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
Value must be one of 'ACE', 'GETASSE30', 'SRTM
3Sec GeoTiff'.
-PexternalDEMNoDataValue=<double> Sets parameter 'externalDEMNoDataValue' to <double>.
-PsaveLayoverShadowMask=<boolean> Sets parameter 'saveLayoverShadowMask' to <boolean>.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>SAR-Simulation</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<saveLayoverShadowMask>boolean</saveLayoverShadowMask>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
----------------
DeburstWSS
----------------
Usage:
gpt DeburstWSS [options]
Description:
Debursts an ASAR WSS product
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-Paverage=<boolean> Sets parameter 'average' to <boolean>.
-PproduceIntensitiesOnly=<boolean> Sets parameter 'produceIntensitiesOnly' to <boolean>.
-PsubSwath=<string> Sets parameter 'subSwath' to <string>.
Value must be one of 'SS1', 'SS2', 'SS3', 'SS4', 'SS5'.
Default value is 'SS1'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>DeburstWSS</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<subSwath>string</subSwath>
<produceIntensitiesOnly>boolean</produceIntensitiesOnly>
<average>boolean</average>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-------------------------------
SARSim-Terrain-Correction
-------------------------------
Usage:
gpt SARSim-Terrain-Correction [options]
Description:
Orthorectification with SAR simulation
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
to <boolean>.
data file.
to <string>.
to <string>.
-PopenShiftsFile=<boolean> Show range and azimuth shifts file in a
text viewer
-PrmsThreshold=<float> The RMS threshold for eliminating invalid GCPs
to <boolean>.
to <boolean>.
Value must be one of '1', '2', '3'.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>SARSim-Terrain-Correction</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<rmsThreshold>float</rmsThreshold>
<openShiftsFile>boolean</openShiftsFile>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
---------------------------
Wind-Field-Estimation
---------------------------
Usage:
gpt Wind-Field-Estimation [options]
Description:
Estimate wind speed and direction
Source Options:
Parameter Options:
-PwindowSizeInKm=<double> Window size
Graph XML Format:
<operator>Wind-Field-Estimation</operator>
<sources>
</sources>
<parameters>
<sourceBands>
<band>string</band>
<.../>
</sourceBands>
<windowSizeInKm>double</windowSizeInKm>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
-----------------------
ProductSet-Reader
-----------------------
Usage:
gpt ProductSet-Reader [options]
Description:
Adds a list of sources
Parameter Options:
-PfileList=<string,string,string,...> Sets parameter 'fileList' to <string,string,string,...>.
Graph XML Format:
<operator>ProductSet-Reader</operator>
<sources/>
<parameters>
<fileList>string,string,string,...</fileList>
</parameters>
</node>
</graph>
Graph Builder
Graph Builder
Graphs can be created visually with the Graph Builder, processed directly from the DAT and
then saved as XML files. These saved graphs can then also be used as the input for the
command line Graph Processing Tool (GPT) with a different set of input data products.
The Graph Builder allows the user to assemble graphs from a list of available operators and
connect operator nodes to their sources
Right click on the top panel to add an Operator. As Operators are added, their
corresponding OperatorUIs are created and added as tabs to a property sheet. The
OperatorUIs accept user input for the Operator’s parameters.
Connect Operator graph nodes by moving the mouse over the left edge of an Operator
node until a circle appears. Then drag the mouse over the Operator node you wish to
designate as the source. Every node except for a Reader node will require a source.
Before saving or processing a graph, the Graph Builder calls each operator to validate its
parameters. Validation also occurs at the graph level to ensure there are no cycles and
that each operator has the appropriate connections.
Graph Batch Processing
Batch Processing
The Batch Processing tool available via the DAT allows you to execute a single reader/writer
graph for a set of products. Select the Batch Processing tool from the Graphs menu and then
press the "Load" button to browse for a previously saved graph. Next, add products in the
IO tab by pressing the "Add" button or dragging and dropping a ProductSet or Products from
the Project or Products views. Set the target folder where the output will be written to and
then press "Run".
Batch Processing can also be called from within the Product Library. In the Product Library,
select the products you would like to import and then press the Batch Processing button. In
this way you may pre-process a list of products before working with them in the DAT.
Principal Component Analysis
Principal Component Analysis Operator

This operator generates the principal component images from a stack of co-registered
detected images. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) consists of a remapping of the
information of the input co-registered images into a new set of images. The output images
are scaled to prevent negative pixel values.
Major Processing Steps

The PCA operator consists of the following major steps:
1. Average the pixels across the input images to compute a mean image. Optionally
subtract the computed mean image from each input image.
2. Subtract the mean value of each input image (or image from step 1) from itself to
produce zero-mean images.
3. Compute covariance matrix from the zero-mean images given in step 2.
4. Perform eigenvalue decomposition of the covariance matrix.
5. Compute PCA images by multiplying the eigenvector matrix by the zero-mean
images given in step2. Here the user can select the eigenvectors instead of using all
vectors. The selection is done with a user input threshold, which is in percentage, on
the eigenvalues. For example, in the case of three input images, a1, a2 and a3
(where a1 » a2 » a3) are the eigenvalues, if the threshold is 80% and (a1+a2) »
80%, then a3 will not used in computing the PCA images. Only two PCA images will
be produced.
Parameters Used
The following parameters are used by the operator:
1. Source Bands: All bands (real or virtual) of the source product. You may select one
or more bands for performing PCA. If no bands are selected, then by default all
bands will be selected.
2. Eigenvalue Threshold: The threshold used in the eigenvalue selection for producing
the final PCA images.
3. Show eigenvalues: Checkbox indicating that eigenvalues are displayed automatically.
4. Subtract Mean Image: Checkbox indicating that the mean image of user selected
input images will be subtracted from each input image before Principal Component
Analysis is applied.
Expectation Maximization (EM) Cluster Analysis
Introduction
Cluster analysis (or clustering) is the classification of objects into different groups, or more precisely, the
partitioning of a data set into subsets (clusters or classes), so that the data in each subset (ideally) share
some common trait - often proximity according to some defined distance measure. Data clustering is a
common technique for statistical data analysis, which is used in many fields, including machine learning,
data mining, pattern recognition, image analysis and bioinformatics. The computational task of classifying
the data set into k clusters is often referred to as k-clustering.
Algorithm
The EM algorithm can be regarded as a generalization of the k-means algorithm. The main differences are:
1. Pixels are not assigned to clusters. The membership of each pixel to a cluster is defined by a (posterior)
probability. For each pixel, there are as many (posterior) probability values as there are clusters and for
each pixel the sum of (posterior) probability values is equal to unity.
2. Clusters are defined by a prior probability, a cluster center, and a cluster covariance matrix. Cluster
centers and covariance matrixes determine a Mahalanobis distance between a cluster center and a pixel.
3. For each cluster a pixel likelihood function is defined as a normalized Gaussian function of the
Mahalanobis distance between cluster center and pixels.
4. Posterior cluster probabilities as well as cluster centers and covariance matrixes and are recalculated
iteratively. In the E-step, for each cluster, the cluster prior and posterior probabilities are recalculated.
In the M-step all cluster centers and covariance matrixes are recalculated from the updated posteriors,
so that the resulting data likelihood function is maximized.
5. When the iteration is completed, each pixel is assigned to the cluster where the posterior probability is
maximal.
The algorithm is described in detail on the Wikipedia entry on Expectation maximization. Use this algorithm
when you want to perform a cluster analysis of a small scene or region-of-interest and are not satisfied with
the results obtained from the k-means algorithm.
The result of the cluster analysis is written to a band named class_indices. The values in this band indicate
the class indices, where a value '0' refers to the first cluster, a value of '1' refers to the second cluster, etc.
The class indices are sorted according to the prior probability associated with cluster, i.e. a class index of '0'
refers to the cluster with the highest probability.
Note that an index coding is attached to the class_indices band, which can be edited in the Color
Manipulation Window. It is possible to change the label and the color associated with a class index. The last
columns of the color manipulation window lists the location of the cluster centers. Further information on the
clusters is listed in the Cluster-Analysis group of the product metadata.
User Interface
The EM cluster analysis tool can be invoked by selecting the EM Cluster Analysis command in the Image
Analysis submenu. In the command line it is available by means of the Graph Processing Tool gpt. Please
type gpt EMClusterAnalysis -h for further information.
Selecting the EM Cluster Analysis command from the Image Analysis menu pops up the following dialog:
Source Product Group

Name: Here the user specifies the name of the source product. The combo box presents a list of all
products open in DAT. The user may select one of these or, by clicking on the button next to the combo
box, choose a product from the file system.
Target Product Group

Name: Used to specify the name of the target product.
Save as: Used to specify whether the target product should be saved to the file system. The combo box
presents a list of file formats, currently BEAM-DIMAP, GeoTIFF, and HDF5. The text field allows to specify
a target directory.
Open in DAT: Used to specify whether the target product should be opened in DAT. When the the target
product is not saved, it is opened in DAT automatically.
Processing Parameters Panel

Number of clusters: Use this field to specify the number of clusters. The default is 14 clusters.
Number of iterations: Use this field to specify the maximum number of iterations to be carried out.
The default is 30 iterations. The cluster analysis stops when the maximum number of iterations is
exceeded.
Random seed: The EM algorithm starts with a pseudo-random distribution of initial clusters. The
random seed initializes the pseudo-random number generator, which is used to generate the initial
clusters. By changing the random seed, you can start with different initial clusters. Any positive integral
number will be a perfect random seed. The default seed is 31415.
Source band names: Use this field to specify the names of the source bands. Press the control key
while selecting or deselecting individual bands.
Region of interest: Use this field to restrict the cluster analysis to a region-of-interest (ROI). The
combo box allows to select the band which provides the ROI.
Include probability bands: Check this box if you want the cluster posterior probabilities to be included
in the target product. The target then will contain a single probability band for each cluster.
Button Group
Run Creates the target product. The cluster analysis is actually deferred until its band data are accessed,
either by writing the product to a file or by viewing its band data. When the Save as option is checked,
the cluster analysis is triggered automatically.
Close Closes the dialog.
Help Displays this page in the Help.
Further information
A good starting point for obtaining further information on cluster analysis terms and algorithms is the
Wikipedia entry on data clustering.
K-Means Cluster Analysis
Introduction
Cluster analysis (or clustering) is the classification of objects into different groups, or more precisely, the
partitioning of a data set into subsets (clusters or classes), so that the data in each subset (ideally) share
some common trait - often proximity according to some defined distance measure. Data clustering is a
common technique for statistical data analysis, which is used in many fields, including machine learning,
data mining, pattern recognition, image analysis and bioinformatics. The computational task of classifying
the data set into k clusters is often referred to as k-clustering.
Algorithm
The k-means clustering tool is capable of working with arbitrary large scenes. Given the number of clusters
k, the basic algorithm implemented is:
1. Randomly choose k pixels whose samples define the initial cluster centers.
2. Assign each pixel to the nearest cluster center as defined by the Euclidean distance.
3. Recalculate the cluster centers as the arithmetic means of all samples from all pixels in a cluster.
4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until the convergence criterion is met.
The convergence criterion is met when the maximum number of iterations specified by the user is exceeded
or when the cluster centers did not change between two iterations. This algorithm should be your primary
choice for performing a cluster analysis. For the analysis of large scenes, this algorithm is strongly
recommended.
The result of the cluster analysis is written to a band named class_indices. The values in this band indicate
the class indices, where a value '0' refers to the first cluster, a value of '1' refers to the second cluster, etc.
The class indices are sorted according to the number of members in the corresponding cluster, i.e. a class
index of '0' refers to the cluster with the most members.
Note that an index coding is attached to the class_indices band, which can be edited in the Color
Manipulation Window. It is possible to change the label and the color associated with a class index. The last
columns of the color manipulation window lists the location of the cluster centers. The cluster centers are
also listed in the Cluster-Analysis group of the product metadata.
User Interface
The k-means cluster analysis tool can be invoked by selecting the K-Means Cluster Analysis command in
the Image Analysis submenu. In the command line it is available by means of the Graph Processing Tool
gpt. Please type gpt KMeansClusterAnalysis -h for further information.
Selecting the K-Means Cluster Analysis command from the Image Analysis menu pops up the following
dialog:
Source Product Group

Name: Here the user specifies the name of the source product. The combo box presents a list of all
products open in DAT. The user may select one of these or, by clicking on the button next to the combo
box, choose a product from the file system.
Target Product Group

Name: Used to specify the name of the target product.
Save as: Used to specify whether the target product should be saved to the file system. The combo box
presents a list of file formats, currently BEAM-DIMAP, GeoTIFF, and HDF5. The text field allows to specify
a target directory.
Open in DAT: Used to specify whether the target product should be opened in DAT. When the the target
product is not saved, it is opened in DAT automatically.
Processing Parameters Panel
Number of clusters: Use this field to specify the number of clusters. The default is 14 clusters.
Number of iterations: Use this field to specify the maximum number of iterations to be carried out.
The default is 30 iterations. The cluster analysis stops when the maximum number of iterations is
exceeded.
Random seed: The KM algorithm starts with a pseudo-random distribution of initial clusters. The
random seed initializes the pseudo-random number generator, which is used to generate the initial
clusters. By changing the random seed, you can start with different initial clusters. Any positive integral
number will be a perfect random seed. The default seed is 31415.
Source band names: Use this field to specify the names of the source bands. Press the control key
while selecting or deselecting individual bands.
Region of interest: Use this field to restrict the cluster analysis to a region-of-interest (ROI). The
combo box allows to select the band which provides the ROI.
Button Group
Run Creates the target product. The cluster analysis is actually deferred until its band data are accessed,
either by writing the product to a file or by viewing its band data. When the Save as option is checked,
the cluster analysis is triggered automatically.
Close Closes the dialog.
Help Displays this page in the Help.
Further information
A good starting point for obtaining further information on cluster analysis terms and algorithms is the
Wikipedia entry on data clustering.
Data Analysis
Data Analysis Operator

The operator evaluates the following local statistics for the user selected area of the image.
The follow statistics are calculated:
1. Mean
2. Standard Deviation
3. Coefficient of Variation
4. Equivalent Number of Looks
Create Stack
Create Stack Operator

Create Stack is a component of coregistration. The Create Stack Operator allows collocating two
spatially overlapping products. Collocating two products implies that the pixel values of one
product (the slave) are resampled into the geographical raster of the other (the master).
When two products are collocated, the band data of the slave product is resampled into the
geographical raster of the master product. In order to establish a mapping between the samples
in the master and the slave rasters, the geographical position of a master sample is used to find
the corresponding sample in the slave raster. If there is no sample for a requested geographical
position, the master sample is set to the no-data value which was defined for the slave band. The
collocation algorithm requires accurate geopositioning information for both master and slave
products. When necessary, accurate geopositioning information may be provided by ground
control points. The metadata for the stack product is copied from the metadata of the master
product.
Resampling Methods Supported

The user may choose between three different resampling methods:
● None (For interferometric processing, no resampling should be used here)

● Nearest Neighbour,
● Bilinear Interpolation, and
● Cubic Convolution.
Output Extents
User can select one of the following three extents for the collocated images:
● Master: the master image extents (Master extents are always used with "None" resampling)
● Maximum: both the common coverage and the non overlapping areas
● Minimum: only the common coverage
Parameters Used
The following parameters are used by this operator:
1. Master Band: All bands (real or virtual) of the selected product. User can select one band (for
real image) or two bands (i and q bands for complex image) as master band for co-
registration.
2. Slave Band: All bands (real or virtual) of the selected product. User can select one band (for
real image) or two bands (i and q bands for complex image) as slave band for co-registration.
3. Resampling Type: It specifies the resampling method.
4. Output Extents: The output image extent.
Product Subset
Subset Operator
If you are not interested in the whole image of a product, you may specify an area of the
product to be loaded. You can select the area by entering the top left corner and the width and
height. You can also specify a sub-sampling in the X or Y directions.
Band Arithmetic
Band Arithmetic Operator

The Band Arithmetic Operator is used to create new image sample values derived from existing
bands, tie-point grids and flags. The source data is combined by an arithmetic expression to
generate the target data.
expressions.
Convert Datatype
Convert Datatype Operator

The Toolbox is able to read in various supported data products, abstract the complete dataset
and meta-data internally and write the data to various file formats using the plug-in writer
modules. Internally, the data is stored in a Generic Product Model (GPM) and organized in a
similar structure as its external representation the BEAM-DIMAP file format. The BEAM-DIMAP
format consists of an XML file containing meta-data and a file folder containing image bands
in flat binary files.
The Convert Datatype Operator performs gain conversion. The data will be formatted to be
able to adjust for the dynamic range of the data in the following ways:
● no value scaling (truncation)

● linear scaling using slope and intercept: new value = slope * old value + intercept
● linear scaling between min. and max. pixel values or ‘clipped’ (%) histogram
● logarithmic scaling using slope and intercept: new value = 10**(slope * old value +
intercept)
● Look-Up Table defined by the user containing the mapping
This will make it possible to be able to convert between the following data types:
● 8-bit integer
● 16-bit integer
● 32-bit integer
● 32-bit float
● complex integer (16 bits + 16 bits)
● complex float (32 bits + 32 bits)
Oversample
Oversample Operator
This operator upsamples a real or complex image through frequency domain zero-padding.
The algorithm takes into account the value of the Doppler Centroid Frequency when
padding the azimuth spectrum. For real image, the upsampled image is also a real image,
and for complex image, the up sampled image is a complex image.
Oversampled Image Size

User can specify the output image size by selecting
● the user specified output image dimension, or

● the row, column ratios by which the input image should be multiplied, or
● in terms of output image range and azimuth pixel spacings.
Parameters Used
If the upsampled image is output by image size, then the following parameters are used by
the operator:
1. Source Bands: All bands (real or virtual) of the source product. User can select one or
more bands for producing upsampled images. If no bands are selected, then by default
all bands are selected.
2. Output Image By: The method for determining upsampled image dimension.
3. Output Image Rows: The row size of the upsampled image.
4. Output Image Columns: The column size of the upsampled image.
5. Use PRF Tile Size: Checkbox indicating the tile size in processing is PRF by image width.
In not checked, system computed tile size is used. In case the image is large, system
computed tile size should be used to avoid memory problem.
If the upsampled image is output by image dimension ratio, then the following parameters
are used by the operator:
3. Width Ratio: The ratio of the upsampled image width and the source image width.
4. Height Ratio: The ratio of the upsampled image height and the source image height.
If the upsampled image is output by pixel spacing, then the following parameters are used
by the operator:
3. Range Spacing: The range pixel spacing of the upsampled image.
4. Azimuth Spacing: The azimuth pixel spacing of the upsampled image.
Undersample
Undersample Operator
This operator downsamples a real or complex image using sub-sampling method or lowpass
filtering method.
Undersampling Method
● Sub-sampling method: The image is downsampled with user specified sub-sampling

rates in both range and azimuth directions. Here sub-sampling rates is a positive
integer which is the step size in reading row/column pixels from product file. For
complex image, the i and q bands in the image are downsampled separately, and the
downsampled image is still a complex image.
● Lowpass-filtering method: The image is downsampled with a pre-defined low-pass
kernel moving across the image with a step-size determined by the size of the required
output image. For complex image, intensity image is computed from the i and q bands
before lowpass filtering is applied. The downsampled image is always a real image.
Undersampled Image Size

User can determine the output image size by specifying
● the output image size, or

● the pixel spacings, or
● the downsampling ratios.
Low-Pass Kernel
● The pre-defined low-pass kernel has three dimensions: 3x3, 5x5 and 7x7.
● The elements of the low-pass kernel are all 1's.
Parameters Used
If the sub-sampling method is selected for the downsampling, then the following
parameters are used by the operator:
1. Source Band: All bands (real or virtual) of the source product. User can select one or
more bands for producing downsampled images. If no bands are selected, then by
default all bands are selected.
2. Under-Sampling Method: Sub-Sampling method.
3. Sub-Sampling in X: User provided sub-sampling rate in range.
4. Sub-Sampling in Y: User provided sub-sampling rate in azimuth.
If the Lowpass Filtering method is selected for the downsampling, and the downsampled
image is output by image size, then the following parameters are used by the operator:
2. Under-Sampling Method: Kernel Filtering method.
3. Filter Size: The lowpass filter size.
4. Output Image By: The method for determining output image dimension.
5. Output Image Rows: The row size of the downsampled image.
6. Output Image Columns: The column size of the downsampled image.
image is output by image dimension ratio, then the following parameters are used by the
operator:
2. Under-Sampling Method: Kernel Filtering method.
5. Width Ratio: The ratio of the downsampled image width and the source image width.
6. Height Ratio: The ratio of the downsampled image height and the source image height.
image is output by pixel spacing, then the following parameters are used by the operator:
2. Under-Sampling Method: Lowpass Filtering method.
5. Range Spacing: The range pixel spacing of the downsampled image in meters.
6. Azimuth Spacing: The azimuth pixel spacing of the downsampled image in meters.
Fill DEM Hole
Fill DEM Hole Operator

The operator fills holes in DEM product with linear interpolations in both row and column
directions.
For a given DEM pixel, if its value is the same as No Data Value (which is input by user
from UI), then it is identified as a pixel in hole.
For a pixel in hole, a linear interpolation in the row direction is performed first using the
nearest two valid pixel values in the row. Then a similar linear interpolation is performed in
column direction. Finally the average of the two interpolated pixel values is assigned to the
hole pixel.
1. Source Bands: Band of DEM product.

2. No Data Value: Value for invalid pixels in DEM.
Apply Orbit Correction
Apply Orbit File Operator

The orbit state vectors provided in the metadata of a SAR product are generally not
accurate and can be refined with the precise orbit files which are available days-to-weeks
after the generation of the product.
The orbit file provides accurate satellite position and velocity information. Based on this
information, the orbit state vectors in the abstract metadata of the product are updated.
Orbit Files Supported

The operator currently only supports ASAR and ERS products.
● For ASAR product, DORIS precise orbit file generated by the Centre de Traitement
Doris Poseidon (CTDP) and Delft University can be applied. It provides the satellite
positions and velocities in ECEF coordinates every 60 seconds.
● For ERS product, DELFT precise orbit file generated by Delft Institute for Earth-Oriented
Space Research (DEOS) can be applied. It provides the satellite ephemeris information
(latitude, longitude, height) every 60 seconds. The operator first converts the satellite
position from (latitude, longitude, height) to ECEF coordinates, then computes the
velocity information numerically.
● Also for ERS product, PRARE precise orbit file generated by Delft University can be
applied. It provides the same information every 30 seconds.
Get Orbit Files
● DELFT orbit files can be downloaded automatically from the DELFT FTP server.
● DORIS and PRARE orbit files must be manually downloaded and placed in the folders
specified in the settings dialog.

To refine the orbit state vectors, the following steps are performed:
1. Get the start time of the source product;

2. Find orbit file with user specified type and the product start time;
3. For each orbit state vector, get its zero Doppler time;
4. Compute new orbit state vector with 8th order Lagrange interpolation using data for
the 9 nearest orbit positions around the zero Doppler time.
Important update and note on the orbit interpolation
Since version v5.0.13, the interpolator used in the computation of the orbital state vectors
was changed from Lagrange 3th order, to the 8th order Lagrange interpolator. Also, instead
of 4, in the interpolation, 9 nearest orbit positions are used. As a result, the orbit
refinement is more reliable and consistent.
This update is especially important for the applications that are sensitive and dependent on
the accurate SAR and orbital geometry, eg., interferometry, orthorectification, terrain
correction, etc. It is strongly recommended, that all users, interested in these type of
applications, do not use the version of software older then v5.0.13 for the orbital
refinement, and upgrade to the latest version.
Parameters Used
1. Orbit Type: User can select the type of orbit file for the application. Currently the
following orbit file types are supported:
❍ DORIS_VOR
❍ DORIS_POR
❍ DELFT_PRECISE_ENVISAT
❍ DELFT_PRECISE_ERS_1
❍ DELFT_PRECISE_ERS_2
❍ PRARE_PRECISE_ERS_1
❍ PRARE_PRECISE_ERS_2
Calibration
Calibration Operator
The objective of SAR calibration is to provide imagery in which the pixel values can be directly related to the radar
backscatter of the scene. Though uncalibrated SAR imagery is sufficient for qualitative use, calibrated SAR images
are essential to quantitative use of SAR data.
Typical SAR data processing, which produces level 1 images, does not include radiometric corrections and
significant radiometric bias remains. Therefore, it is necessary to apply the radiometric correction to SAR images
so that the pixel values of the SAR images truly represent the radar backscatter of the reflecting surface. The
radiometric correction is also necessary for the comparison of SAR images acquired with different sensors, or
acquired from the same sensor but at different times, in different modes, or processed by different processors.
This Operator performs different calibrations for ASAR, ERS, ALOS and Radarsat-2 products deriving the sigma
nought images. Optionally gamma nought and beta nought images can also be created.
Product Supported
● ASAR (IMS, IMP, IMM, APP, APS, APM, WSM) and ERS products (SLC, IMP) are fully supported
● Third party SAR mission: not fully supported. Please refer to Supported_Products_4A.xls file available from
http://liferay.array.ca:8080/web/nest/documentation
ASAR Calibration
For ground range detected products, the following corrections are applied:
● incidence angle
● absolute calibration constant
In the event that the antenna pattern used to process an ASAR product is superseded, the operator removes the
original antenna pattern, and apply a new, updated one. The old antenna pattern gain data is obtained from the
external XCA file specified in the metadata of the source product. The new antenna pattern gain data and
the calibration constant are obtained from the user specified XCA file. For XCA file selection, user has the following
options:
● latest auxiliary file (the most recent XCA file available in the local repository)
● product auxiliary file (the XCA file specified in the product metadata)
● external auxiliary file (user provided XCA file)
If "product auxiliary file" is selected, then no retro-calibration is performed, i.e. no antenna pattern gain is
removed or applied. By default the latest XCA file available for the product is used.
For slant range complex products, the following corrections are applied:
● incidence angle
● absolute calibration constant
● range spreading loss
● antenna pattern gain
The antenna pattern gain data and the calibration constant are obtained from the user specified XCA file. For XCA
file selection, user has the following options:
● latest auxiliary file (the most recent XCA file available in the local repository)
● external auxiliary file (user provided XCA file)
By default, the latest auxiliary file available for the product will be used for the calibration.
The default output of calibration is sigma0 image. User can also select gamma0 and beta0 images outputting as
virtual bands in the target product.
In the following, the calibration process is related to the different type of ASAR products.
IMS Products
The sigma nought image can be derived from ESA’s ASAR level 1 IMS products as the follows (adapted from [1]):
where
● DNi,j2 is the pixel intensity for pixel i, j
● K is the absolute calibration constant

● αi,j is incidence angle
● Ri,j is the slant range distance
● Rref is the reference slant range distance
● θi,j is the look angle
● G is the antenna pattern gain
APS Products
The methodology to derive the sigma nought is the same of the IMS data but an additional factor (R / Rref) must
be taken into account:
IMP, APP, IMM, APM, WSM Products

In contrast to IMS and APS products, ASAR ground range imageries (IMP, APP, IMM, APM, WSM) have all been
applied antenna gain pattern compensation (based on ellipsoid approximations) and range spreading loss
correction during the formation of the images. Therefore the antenna pattern correction applied to the image must
be removed when updated external XCA file is available for the product.
The sigma nought image can be derived from ESA’s ASAR level 1 IMP, APP, IMM, APM, WSM products as the
follows (adapted from [1]):
For detailed ASAR calibration algorithm, reader is referred to [1].
ERS Calibration
The operator is able to calibrate ERS VMP, ERS PGS CEOS and ERS PGS ENVISAT ESA standard products
generated by different ESA Processing and Archiving Facilities, such as the German PAF (D-PAF), the Italian PAF
(I-PAF) and the United-Kingdom PAF (UK-PAF), and at the acquisitions stations such as PDHS-K (Kiruna) and
PDHS-E (Esrin).
For ERS-1 ground range product, the following corrections are applied:
● incidence angle
● calibration constant
● replica pulse power variations
● analogue to digital converter non-linearity
For ERS-1 slant range product, the following corrections are applied:
● incidence angle
● antenna elevation pattern
For ERS-2 ground range product, the following corrections are applied:
● incidence angle
For ERS-2 slant range product, the following corrections are applied:
● incidence angle
● antenna elevation pattern
For detailed ERS product calibration algorithm, reader is referred to [2].
ALOS PALSAR Calibration

The operator performs absolute radiometric calibration for ALOS PALSAR level 1.1 or 1.5 products. For ALOS
PALSAR L1.1 and L1.5 products, the following corrections have already been applied:
● range spreading loss correction

● antenna pattern gain correction
● incidence angle correction
Therefore the operator applies only the absolute calibration constant correction to the products.
For detailed ALOS PALSAR product calibration algorithm, reader is referred to [3].
Radarsat-2 Calibration
The operator performs absolute radiometric calibration for Radarsat 2 products by applying the sigma0, beta0 and
gamma0 look up tables provided in the product.
For detailed Radarsat-2 product calibration algorithm, reader is referred to [4].
TerraSAR-X
The operator performs absolute radiometric calibration for TerraSAR-X products by applying the simplified
approach where Noise Equivalent Beta Naught is neglected. Only Calibration constant correction and Incidence
angle correction are applied.
For detailed TerraSAR-X product calibration algorithm, reader is referred to [5].
Cosmo-SkyMed
The operator performs absolute radiometric calibration for Cosmo-SkyMed products by applying few product factor
corrections.
For detailed Cosmo-SkyMed product calibration algorithm, reader is referred to [6].
Parameters Used
The parameters used by the operator are as follows:
1. Source Band: All bands (real or virtual) of the source product. User can select one or more bands for
calibration. If no bands are selected, then by default, all bands are used for calibration. The operator is able to
detect the right input band.
2. Auxiliary File: User selected XCA file for antenna pattern correction. The following options are available: Latest
Auxiliary File, Product Auxiliary File (for detected product only) and External Auxiliary File. By default, the
Latest Auxiliary File is used.
3. Scale in dB: Checkbox indicating that the calibrated product is saved in dB scale. If not checkmarked, then
the product is saved in linear scale.
4. Create gamma0 virtual band: Checkbox indicating that gamma0 image is created as a virtual band. If not
checkmarked, no gamma0 image is created.
5. Create beta0 virtual band: Checkbox indicating that beta0 image is created as a virtual band. If not
checkmarked, no beta0 image is created.
Reference:
[1] Rosich B., Meadows P., Absolute calibration of ASAR Level 1 products, ESA/ESRIN, ENVI-CLVL-EOPG-TN-03-
0010, Issue 1, Revision 5, October 2004
[2] Laur H., Bally P., Meadows P., Sánchez J., Schättler B., Lopinto E. & Esteban D., ERS SAR Calibration:
Derivation of σ0 in ESA ERS SAR PRI Products, ESA/ESRIN, ES-TN-RS-PM-HL09, Issue 2, Rev. 5f, November 2004
[3] Lavalle M., Absolute Radiometric and Polarimetric Calibration of ALOS PALSAR Products, Issue 1, Revision 2,
01/04/2008
[4] RADARSAT Data Product Specification, RSI-GS-026, Revision 3, May 8, 2000
[5] Radiometric Calibration of TerraSAR-X data - TSXX-ITD-TN-0049-radiometric_calculations_I1.00.doc, 2008
[6] For further details about Cosmo-SkyMed calibration please contact Cosmo-SkyMed Help Desk at info.cosmo@e-
geos.it
Remove Antenna Pattern
Remove Antenna Pattern Operator
This operator removes antenna pattern and range spreading loss corrections applied to the
original ASAR and ERS products. For ERS product, it also removes replica pulse power
correction and applies the analogue to digital converter (ADC) power less correction. This
operator cannot be applied to multilooked product. Details of the functions of the operator
are given below.
ASAR Products
For ground range detected products, the following corrections are removed:
● antenna pattern gain

For slant range complex products, such as ASAR IMS, APS products, no antenna pattern
or range spreading correction has been applied, therefore the operater is not applicable to
these products.
ERS Products
For ground range products, the following operations are performed:
● remove antenna pattern gain

● remove range spreading loss
● remove replica pulse power (ERS-2 only)
● apply ADC correction
For slant range products, the following operations are performed:
● remove replica pulse power (ERS-2 only)

Other Products
For other products, such as ALOS PALSAR and RadarSAT-2 products, the operator is not
applicable.
The parameter used by the operator is as follows:
1. Source Band: All bands (amplitude or intensity) of the source product. User can select
one or more bands. If no bands are selected, then by default, all bands are used for
the operation. The operator is able to detect the right input band.
Reference:
[1] Rosich B., Meadows P., Absolute calibration of ASAR Level 1 products, ESA/ESRIN,
ENVI-CLVL-EOPG-TN-03-0010, Issue 1, Rev. 5, October 2004
[2] Laur H., Bally P., Meadows P., Sánchez J., Schättler B., Lopinto E. & Esteban D., ERS
SAR Calibration: Derivation of σ0 in ESA ERS SAR PRI Products, ESA/ESRIN, ES-TN-RS-PM-
HL09, Issue 2, Rev. 5f, November 2004
GCP Selection
GCP Selection Operator

The GCP Selection operator is a component of coregistration. Image co-registration is an essential step for
Interferometry SAR (InSAR) imaging. It aligns one or more slave images with a master image in such a
way that the each pixel from the co-registered slave image represents the same point on the Earth surface
as its corresponding pixel in the master image.
The co-registration is accomplished through two major processing steps: GCP selection and WARP. In GCP
selection, a set of uniformly spaced Ground Control Points (GCPs) in the master image are generated first,
then their corresponding GCPs in the slave image are computed. In WARP processing step, these GCP pairs
are used to construct a WARP distortion function, which establishes a map between pixels in the master
and slave images. With the WARP function computed, the co-registered image is generated by mapping
the slave image pixels onto master image.
This operator computes slave GCPs by coarse registration or coarse and fine registrations depending on
the input images are real or complex. For real input images, coarse registration is performed, while for
complex images both coarse and fine registrations are performed. The fine registration uses the image
coherence technique to further increase the precision of the GCPs.
Coarse Registration
The coarse registration is achieved using a cross correlation operation between the images on a series of
imagettes defined across the images. The major processing steps are listed as the follows:
1. For a given master GCP, find initial slave GCP using geographical position information of GCP.
2. Determine the imagettes surrounding the master and slave GCPs using user selected coarse
registration window size.
3. Compute new slave GCP position by performing cross-correlation of the master and slave imagettes.
4. If the row or column shift of the new slave GCP from the previous position is no less than user
selected GCP tolerance and the maximum number of iteration is not reached, then move the slave
imagette to the new GCP position and go back to step 3. Otherwise, save the new slave GCP and
stop.
Those GCPs, for which the maximum number of iterations has been reached or its final GCP shift is still
greater than the tolerance, are eliminated as invalid GCPs.
Fine Registration
The additional fine registration for complex images is achieved by maximizing of the complex coherence
between the images at a series of imagettes defined across the images. It is assumed the coarse
registration has been performed before this operation. Some major processing steps are given below:
1. For each given master-slave GCP pair, get complex imagettes surrounding the master and slave
GCPs using user selected coarse registration window size.
2. Compute initial coherence of the two imagettes.
3. Start from the initial slave GCP position, the best sub-pixel shift of slave GCP is computed such that
the slave imagette at the new GCP position gives the maximum coherence with the master
imagette. Powell's method is used in the optimization [1].
This processing step is optional for complex image co-registration and user can skip it by
uncheckmarking the "Apply fine Registration" box in the dialog box.
Coherence Computation
Given master imagette I1 and slave imagette I2, there are two ways to compute the coherence of the
two complex imagettes.
● Method 1: Let I1 and I2 be RxC imagettes and denote by I*2 the complex conjugate of I2. Then the
coherence is computed by
● Method 2: The coherence is computed with a 3x3 (user can change the size) sliding window in two
steps:
1. First for each pixel in the imagette, a 3x3 window centered at the pixel is determined for both
master and slave imagettes, and coherence is computed for the two windows using equation
above.
2. Average coherences computed for all pixels in the imagette to get the final coherence for the
imagette.
User can select the method to use by selecting radio button "Compute Coherence with Sliding Window".
Parameters Used
The parameters used by the Operator are as follows:
1. Number of GCPs: The total number of GCPs used for the co-registration.
2. Coarse Registration Window Width: The window width for cross-correlation in coarse GCP selection.
It must be power of 2.
3. Coarse Registration Window Height: The window height for cross-correlation in coarse GCP
selection. It must be power of 2.
4. Row Interpolation Factor: The row upsampling factor used in cross correlation operation. It must be
power of 2.
5. Column Interpolation Factor: The column upsampling factor used in cross correlation operation. It
must be power of 2.
6. Max Iterations: The maximum number of iterations for computing coarse slave GCP position.
7. GCP Tolerance: The stopping criterion for slave GCP selection.
8. Apply fine Registration: Checkbox indicating applying fine registration for complex image co-
registration.
9. Coherence Window Size: The dimension of the sliding window used in coherence computation.
10. Coherence Threshold: Only GCPs with coherence above this threshold will be used in co-registration.
11. Fine Registration Window Width: The window width for coherence calculation in fine GCP selection.
12. Fine Registration Window Height: The window height for coherence calculation in fine GCP selection.
13. Compute Coherence with Sliding Window: If selected, sliding window with dimension given in 9 will
be used in coherence computation. Otherwise, coherence will be computed directly from all pixel in
the Fine Registration Window without using sliding window.
Reference:
[1] William H. Press, Brian P. Flannery, Saul A. Teukolsky, Willaim T. Vetterling, Numerical Recipes in C:
The Art of Scientific Computing, second eidition, 1992
Multilook
Multilook Operator
Generally, a SAR original image appears speckled with inherent speckle noise. To reduce this
inherent speckled appearance, several images are incoherently combined as if they
corresponded to different looks of the same scene. This processing is generally known as
multilook processing. As a result the multilooked image improves the image interpretability.
Additionally, multilook processing can be used to produce an application product with nominal
image pixel size.
Multilook Method
There are two ways to implement the multilook processing:
● The multilooked images can be produced by space-domain averaging of a single look

image, either with or without specific 2D kernels by convolution.
● The multilook images can be produced by frequency-domain method using the sub-
spectral band width.
This operator implements the space-domain multilook method by averaging a single look
image with a small sliding window.
Selecting Range and Azimuth Looks

In selecting the number of range looks and the number of azimuth looks, user has
two options:
● GR square pixel: the user specifies the number of range looks while the number of
azimuth looks is computed based on the ground range spacing and the azimuth
spacing. The window size is then determined by the number of range looks and the
number of azimuth looks. As a result, image with approximately square pixel spacing
on the ground is produced.
● Independent looks: the number of looks in range and azimuth can be selected
independently. The window size is then determined by the number of range looks and
the number of azimuth looks.
Parameters Used
more bands for producing multilooked images. If no bands are selected, then by default
2. GR Square Pixel: If selected, the number of azimuth looks is computed based on the
user selected number of range looks, and range and azimuth spacings are
approximately the same in the multilooked image.
3. Independent Looks: If selected, the number of range looks and the number of azimuth
looks are selected independently by the user.
4. Number of Range Looks: The number of range looks.
5. Number of Azimuth Looks: The number of azimuth looks.
6. Mean GR Square Pixel: The average of the range and azimuth pixel spacings in the
multilooked image. It is computed based on the number of range looks, the number of
azimuth looks and the source image pixel spacings, and is available only when 'GR
Square Pixel' is selected.
7. Output Intensity: This checkbox is for complex product only. If not checked, any user
selected bands (I, Q, intensity or phase) are multilooked and output individually. If
checked, user can only select I/Q or intensity band and the output is multilooked
intensity band.
Reference: Small D., Schubert A., Guide to ASAR Geocoding, RSL-ASAR-GC-AD, Issue 1.0,
March 2008
Speckle Filter
Speckle Filter Operator

SAR images have inherent salt and pepper like texturing called speckles which degrade the
quality of the image and make interpretation of features more difficult. Speckles are caused
by random constructive and destructive interference of the de-phased but coherent return
waves scattered by the elementary scatters within each resolution cell. Speckle noise
reduction can be applied either by spatial filtering or multilook processing.
Filters Supported
The operator supports the following speckle filters for handling speckle noise of
different distributions (Gaussian, multiplicative or Gamma):
● Mean
● Median
● Frost
● Lee
● Refined Lee
● Gamma-MAP
Parameters Used
For most filters, the following parameters should be selected (see figure 1 for example):
more bands for producing filtered images. If no bands are selected, then by default all
bands will be selected. For complex product, only the intensity band can be selected.
2. Filter: The speckle filter.
3. Size X: The filtering kernel width.
4. Size Y: The filtering kernel height.
5. Frost Damping Factor: The damping factor for Frost filter.
Figure 1. Dialog box for Mean filter.
For Frost filter, one extra parameter should be selected (see figure 2):
1. Frost Damping Factor: The damping factor for Frost filter.

Figure 2. Dialog box for Frost filter
For Refined Lee filter, the following parameter should be selected (see Figure 3):
1. Edge Threshold: A threshold for detecting edges. Area of 7x7 pixels with local variance
lower than this threshold is considered flat and normal Local Statistics Filter is used for
the filtering. If the local variance is greater than the threshold, then the area is
considered as edge area and Refined Lee filter will be used for the filtering.
Figure 3. Dialog box for Refined Lee filter.
Reference:
[1] J. S. Lee, E. Pottier, Polarimetric SAR Radar Imaging: From Basic to Applications, CRC
Press, Taylor & Francis Group, 2009.
[2] G. S. Robinson, “Edge Detection by Compass Gradient Masks”, Computer Graphics and
Image Processing, vol. 6, No. 5, Oct. 1977, pp 492-502.
[3] V. S. Frost, J. A. Stiles, K. S. Shanmugan, J. C. Holtzman, \A Model for Radar Images
and Its Application to Adaptive Digital Filtering of Multiplicative Noise", IEEE Transactions
on Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence, Vol. PAMI-4, pp. 157-166, 1982
[4] Mansourpour M., Rajabi M.A., Blais J.A.R., “Effects and Performance of Speckle Noise
Reduction Filters on Active Radar and SAR Images”, http://people.ucalgary.ca/~blais/
Mansourpour2006.pdf
Speckle Filter
Multi-Temporal Speckle Filter Operator

SAR images have inherent salt and pepper like texturing called speckles which degrade the
quality of the image and make interpretation of features more difficult. The speckles are
caused by random constructive and destructive interference of the de-phased but coherent
return waves scattered by the elementary scatters within each resolution cell. Multi-
temporal filtering is one of the commonly used speckle noise reduction techniques.
Multi-Temporal Speckle Filtering

For a sequence of N registered multitemporal images, with intensity at position (x, y) in the
kth image denoted by Ik(x, y), the temporal filtered images are given by:
for k = 1, ..., N, where E[I] is the local mean value of pixels in a window centered at (x, y)
in image I.
Pre-Processing Steps
The operator has the following two pre-processing steps:
1. The first step is calibration in which σ0 is derived from the digital number at each pixel.
This ensures that values of from different times and in different parts of the image are
comparable.
2. The second step is registration of the multitemporal images.
Here it is assumed that pre-processing has been performed before applying this operator.
The input to the operator is assumed to be a product with multiple calibrated and co-
registered bands.
Parameters Used
more bands for producing the filtered image. If no bands are selected, then by default
all bands will be selected.
2. Window Size: Dimension of the sliding window that is used in computing spatial
average in each image of the temporal sequence. The supported window sizes are 3x3,
5x5, 7x7, 9x9 and 11x11.
Reference: S. Quegan, T. L. Toan, J. J. Yu, F. Ribbes and N. Floury, “Multitemporal ERS SAR
Analysis Applied to Forest Mapping”, IEEE Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing,
vol. 38, no. 2, March 2000.
Warp
Warp Operator
The Warp operator is a component of coregistration. This operator computes a warp function from
the master-slave ground control point (GCP) pairs produced by GCP Selection operator, and
generates the final co-registered image.
Compute Warp Polynomial

Once the valid master-slave GCP pairs are known, a polynomial of a certain order is computed
using a least square method, which maps the master GCPs onto the slave GCPs. This function is
known as the warp function and is used to perform the co-registration. Generally the warp function
computed with the initial master-slave GCPs is not the final warp function used in co-registration
because it normally introduces large errors for GCPs. These GCPs must be removed. Therefore the
warp function is determined in an iterative manner.
1. First a warp function is computed using the initial master-slave GCP pairs.
2. Then the master GCPs are mapped to the slave image with the warp function, and the
residuals between the mapped master GCPs and their corresponding slave GCPs are
computed. The root mean square (RMS) and the standard deviation for the residuals are also
computed.
3. Next, the master-slave GCP pairs are filtered with the mean RMS. GCP pairs with RMS greater
than the mean RMS are eliminated.
4. The same procedure (step 1 to 3) is repeated up to 2 times if needed and each time the
remaining master-slave GCP pairs from previous elimination are used.
5. Finally the master-slave GCP pairs are filtered with the user selected RMS threshold and the
final warp function is computed with the remaining master-slave GCP pairs.
The WARP polynomial order is specified by user in the dialog box.
● The valid values for the polynomial order are 1, 2 and 3.

● For most cases where the input images do not suffer from a high level of distortion,
linear warp is generally enough and is recommended as default.
● Higher order warp should be used only when image suffers from a high level distortion and a
very good co-registration accuracy is required.
● Higher order warp requires more GCPs and can introduce large distortions in image regions
containing only a few GCPs.
Generate Co-Registered Image

With the determination of warp function which maps pixels in the master image to the slave
image, the co-registered image can be obtained with interpolation. Currently the following
interpolation methods are supported:
1. Nearest-neighbour interpolation
2. Bilinear interpolation
3. Bicubic interpolation
4. Cubic interpolation (4 and 6 points)
5. Truncated sinc interpolation (6, 8 and 16 points)
Interpolation for InSAR

For interferometric applications Cubic or Truncated sinc kernels are recommended. These kernels
assure the optimal interpolation in terms of Signal-to-Noise ratio.
Residual File
The residual file is a text file containing information about master and slave GCPs before and after
each elimination. The residual for a GCP pair is the errors introduced by the warping function and
can be used as a good indicator of the quality of the warp function. It is often very useful to check
the information contained within the residual file to see if the co-registration process can be
considered to have been successful. For example, the "RMS mean" value can be used as an
approximate figure of merit for the co-registration. User can view the residual file by checkmarking
the "Show Residuals" box in the dialog box. Detailed information contained in the residual file are
listed below:
● Band name
● Warp coefficients
● Master GCP coordinates
● Slave GCP coordinates
● Row and column residuals
● Root mean square errors (RMS)
● Row residual mean
● Row residual standard deviation
● Column residual mean
● Column residual standard deviation
● RMS mean
● RMS standard deviation
Parameters Used
1. RMS Threshold: The criterion for eliminating invalid GCPs. In general, the smaller the
threshold, the better the GCP quality, but lower the number of GCPs.
2. Warp Polynomial Order: The degree of the warp polynomial.
3. Interpolation Method: The interpolation method used computing co-registered slave image
pixel value.
4. Show Residuals: Display GCP residual file if selected.
WSS Deburst
ASAR WSS Deburst Operator

For each subswath, the WSS products have many overlapping ‘bursts’ along the flight
direction associated with a zero Doppler time for each range line.
The first step in performing the azimuth debursting is to find all range lines belonging to the
same zero-Doppler time.
The Operator provides the following options:
Produce intensities only: The complex data is converted to intensity and the peak of each
burst is used.
Average intensities: When producing intensities, the coresponding burst lines are mean
averaged.
If "Product intensities only" is not selected, then complex data will be produced along
with virtual bands for intensity and phase.
WSS Mosaic
ASAR WSS Mosaicing
ASAR WSS products differ from conventional image products in that the data from the five
subswaths acquired by five antenna beams SS1 through SS5 are stored in separate image
records. The five WSS beams acquire data with a substantial overlap (typically several hundred
range samples, ~ 9 Km). The incidence angle variation of 16 to 43 degrees across beams SS1
through SS5 creates large differences in the nominal near and far range backscatter intensities.
An ASAR WSS product is delivered as a single data file containing the subswath data records
arranged sequentially.
Use can use the Graph for Deburst, Calibrate, Detect and Mosaic an ASAR WSS product. It will
deburst and split the WSS product into five subswath products, apply calibration and multilook
and then mosaic them back into one product.
SENTINEL-1 TOPSAR Deburst and Merge
For the TOPSAR IW and EW SLC products, each product consists of one image per swath
per polarization. IW products have 3 swaths and EW have 5 swaths. Each sub-swath image
consists of a series of bursts, where each burst was processed as a separate SLC image.
The individually focused complex burst images are included, in azimuth-time order, into a
single subswath image, with black-fill demarcation in between, similar to the ENVISAT
ASAR Wide ScanSAR SLC products.
For IW, a focused burst has a duration of 2.75 sec and a burst overlap of ~50-100
samples. For EW, a focused burst has a duration of 3.19 sec. Overlap increases in range
within a subswath.
Images for all bursts in all sub-swaths of an IW SLC product are re-sampled to a common
pixel spacing grid in range and azimuth. Burst synchronisation is ensured for both IW and
EW products.
Unlike ASAR WSS which contains large overlap between beams, for S-1 TOPSAR, the
imaged ground area of adjacent bursts will only marginally overlap in azimuth just enough
to provide contiguous coverage of the ground. This is due to the one natural azimuth look
inherent in the data.
For GRD products, the bursts are concatenated and sub-swaths are merged to form one
image. Bursts overlap minimally in azimuth and sub-swaths overlap minimally in range.
Bursts for all beams have been resampled to a common grid during azimuth post-
processing.
In the range direction, for each line in all sub-swaths with the same time tag, merge
adjacent sub-swaths. For the overlapping region in range, merge along the optimal sub-
swath cut. The optimal cut is defined from the Noise Equivalent Sigma Zero (NESZ) profiles
between two sub-swaths. The NESZ is provided in the product.
If the two NESZ profiles intersect inside the overlapping region, the position of the
intersection point is the optimal cut.
If the two profiles do not intersect, all the points in the overlapping region are taken from
the sub-swath that has the lowest NESZ over the overlap region.
In the azimuth direction, bursts are merged according to their zero Doppler time. Note that
the black-fill demarcation is not distinctly zero at the end or start of the burst. Due to
resampling, the data fades into zero and out. The merge time is determined by the average
of the last line of the first burst and the first line of the next burst. For each range cell, the
merging time is quantised to the nearest output azimuth cell to eliminate any fading to zero
data
Create Elevation
Create Elevation Operator

The Create Elevation Operator allows you to add an elevation band to product from within
the Graph Processing.
The altitudes are computed by looking up each pixel in a selected high-resolution DEM.
The SRTM 90m DEM and GETASSE30 DEM will be automatically downloaded in tiles as
needed. For ACE and ASTER DEMs, you will need to download datasets yourself and have
the respective path in the settings dialog point to the location of the datasets.
Note: The Terrain Correction Operator will use DEMs directly and you do not need to create
an elevation before Terrain Correction.
Orthorectification
Range Doppler Terrain Correction Operator

Due to topographical variations of a scene and the tilt of the satellite sensor, distances can
be distorted in the SAR images. Image data not directly at the sensor’s Nadir location will
have some distortion. Terrain corrections are intended to compensate for these distortions
so that the geometric representation of the image will be as close as possible to the real
world.
The geometry of topographical distortions in SAR imagery is shown below. Here we can
see that point B with elevation h above the ellipsoid is imaged at position B’ in SAR image,
though its real position is B". The offset ∆ between B' and B" exhibits the effect of
r
topographic distortions.
Terrain Correction allows geometric overlays of data from different sensors and/or
geometries.
Orthorectification Algorithm
The Range Doppler Terrain Correction Operator implements the Range Doppler
orthorectification method [1] for geocoding SAR images from single 2D raster radar
geometry. It uses available orbit state vector information in the metadata or external
precise orbit (only for ERS and ASAR), the radar timing annotations, the slant to ground
range conversion parameters together with the reference DEM data to derive the precise
geolocation information.
Products Supported
● ASAR (IMS, IMP, IMM, APP, APM, WSM), ERS products (SLC, IMP), RADARSAT-2,
TerraSAR-X are fully supported.
● Some third party missions are not fully supported. Please refer to the
Supported_Mission-Product_vs_Operators_table.xls
DEM Supported
Currently, only the DEMs with geographic coordinates (Plat, Plon, Ph) referred to global
geodetic ellipsoid reference WGS84 (and height in meters) are properly supported.
Various different types of Digital Elevation models can be used (ACE, GETASSE30, ASTER,
SRTM 3Sec GeoTiff).
By default directory C:\AuxData and two sub-directories DEMs and Orbits are used to store
the DEMs. However, the AuxData directory and DEMs sub-directories are customizable from
the Settings dialog (which can be found under Edit tab in the main menu bar).
The location of the default DEMs must be specified in dataPath field in the Setting Dialog in
order to be properly used by Terrain Correction Operator.
The STRM v.4 (3” tiles) from the Joint Research Center FTP (xftp.jrc.it) will automatically
be downloaded in tiles for the area covered by the image to be orthorectified. The tiles will
be downloaded to the folder C:\AuxData\DEMs\SRTM_DEM\tiff.
The Test Connectivity functionality under the Help tab in the main menu bar allows user to
verify if the SRTM downloading is working properly.
Please note that for ACE and SRTM, the height information (being referred to geoid EGM96)
is automatically corrected to obtain height relative to the WGS84 ellipsoid. For Aster Dem
height correction is not yet applied.
Note also that the SRTM DEM covers area between -60 and 60 degrees latitude. Therefore,
for orthorectification of product of high latitude area, different DEM should be used.
User can also use external DEM file in Geotiff format which, as specified above, must be
with geographic coordinates (Plat, Plon, Ph) referred to global geodetic ellipsoid reference
WGS84 (and height in meters).
Pixel Spacing
Besides the default suggested pixel spacing computed with parameters in the metadata,
user can specify output pixel spacing for the orthorectified image.
The pixel spacing can be entered in both meters and degrees. If the pixel spacing in one
unit is entered, then the pixel spacing in another unit is computed automatically.
The calculations of the pixel spacing in meters and in degrees are given by the following
equations:
pixelSpacingInDegree = pixelSpacingInMeter / EquatorialEarthRadius * 180 / PI;
pixelSpacingInMeter = pixelSpacingInDegree * PolarEarthRadius * PI / 180;
where EquatorialEarthRadius = 6378137.0 m and PolarEarthRadius = 6356752.314245 m
as given in WGS84.
Projection Supported
Right now the following projections are supported:
● Geographic Lat/Lon
● Lambert Conformal Conic
● Stereographic
● Transverse Mercator
● UTM
● Universal Polar Stereographic North
● Universal Polar Stereographic South
Radiometric Normalization
This option implements a radiometric normalization based on the approach proposed by
Kellndorfer et al., TGRS, Sept. 1998 where
In current implementation θDEM is the local incidence angle projected into the range plane
and defined as the angle between the incoming radiation vector and the projected surface
normal vector into range plane[2]. The range plane is the plane formed by the satellite
position, backscattering element position and the earth centre.
Note that among σ0, γ0 and β0 bands output in the target product, only σ0 is real band while
γ0 and β0 are virtual bands expressed in terms of σ0 and incidence angle. Therefore, σ0 and
incidence angle are automatically saved and output if γ0 or β0 is selected.
For σ0 and γ0 calculation, by default the projected local incidence angle from DEM [2] (local
incidence angle projected into range plane) option is selected, but the option of incidence
angle from ellipsoid correction (incidence angle from tie points of the source product) is
also available.
ENVISAT ASAR
The correction factors [3] applied to the original image depend on if the product is complex
or detected and the selection of Auxiliary file (ASAR XCA file).
Complex Product (IMS, APS)
● Latest AUX File (& use projected local incidence angle computed from DEM):
The most recent ASAR XCA available from C:\Program Files\NEST4A\auxdata
\envisat compatible with product date is automatically selected. According to this
XCA file, calibration constant, range spreading loss and antenna pattern gain are
obtained.
❍ Applied factors:
1. apply projected local incidence angle into the range plane correction
2. apply calibration constant correction based on the XCA file
3. apply range spreading loss correction based on the XCA file and DEM
geometry
4. apply antenna pattern gain correction based on the XCA file and DEM
geometry
● External AUX File (& use projected local incidence angle computed from DEM):
User can select a specific ASAR XCA file available from the installation folder or from
another repository. According to this selected XCA file, calibration constant, range
spreading loss and antenna pattern gain are computed.
2. apply calibration constant correction based on the selected XCA file
3. apply range spreading loss correction based on the selected XCA file
and DEM geometry
4. apply antenna pattern gain correction based on the selected XCA file
and DEM geometry
Detected Product (IMP, IMM, APP, APM, WSM)
The most recent ASAR XCA available from the installation folder compatible with
product date is automatically selected. Basically with this option all the correction
factors applied to the original SAR image based on product XCA file used during the
focusing, such as antenna pattern gain and range spreading loss, are removed first.
Then new factors computed according to the new ASAR XCA file together with
calibration constant and local incidence angle correction factors are applied during
the radiometric normalisation process.
1. remove antenna pattern gain correction based on product XCA file
2. remove range spreading loss correction based on product XCA file
4. apply calibration constant correction based on new XCA file
5. apply range spreading loss correction based on new XCA file and DEM
geometry
6. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on new XCA file and
DEM geometry
● Product AUX File (& use projected local incidence angle computed from DEM):
The product ASAR XCA file employed during the focusing is used. With this option
the antenna pattern gain and range spreading loss are kept from the original product
and only the calibration constant and local incidence angle correction factors are
applied during the radiometric normalisation process.
2. apply calibration constant correction based on product XCA file
User can select a specific ASAR XCA file available from the installation folder or from
another repository. Basically with this option all the correction factors applied to the
original SAR image based on product XCA file used during the focusing, such as
antenna pattern gain and range spreading loss, are removed first. Then new factors
computed according to the new selected ASAR XCA file together with calibration
constant and local incidence angle correction factors are applied during the
radiometric normalisation process.
4. apply calibration constant correction based on new selected XCA file
5. apply range spreading loss correction based on new selected XCA file
and DEM geometry
6. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on new selected XCA
file and DEM geometry
Please note that if the product has been previously multilooked then the radiometric
normalization does not correct the antenna pattern and range spreading loss and only
constant and incidence angle corrections are applied. This is because the original antenna
pattern and the range spreading loss correction cannot be properly removed due to the
pixel averaging by multilooking.
If user needs to apply a radiometric normalization, multilook and terrain correction to a
product, then user graph “RemoveAntPat_Multilook_Orthorectify” could be used.
ERS 1&2
For ERS 1&2 the radiometric normalization cannot be applied directly to original ERS
product.
Because of the Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) power loss correction , a step before is
required to properly handle the data. It is necessary to employ the Remove Antenna
Pattern Operator which performs the following operations:
For Single look complex (SLC, IMS) products
For Ground range (PRI, IMP) products:

After having applied the Remove Antenna Pattern Operator to ERS data, the radiometric
normalisation can be performed during the Terrain Correction.
The applied factors in case of "USE projected angle from the DEM" selection are:
2. apply absolute calibration constant correction
3. apply range spreading loss correction based on product metadata and DEM geometry
4. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on product metadata and DEM
geometry
To apply radiometric normalization and terrain correction for ERS, user can also use one of
the following user graphs:
● RemoveAntPat_Orthorectify
● RemoveAntPat_Multilook_Orthorectify
RADARSAT-2
● In case of "USE projected angle from the DEM" selection, the radiometric normalisation
is performed applying the product LUTs and multiplying by (sin •DEM/sin •el), where
•DEM is projected local incidence angle into the range plane and •el is the incidence
angle computed from the tie point grid respect to ellipsoid.
● In case of selection of "USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid", the radiometric
normalisation is performed applying the product LUT.
These LUTs allow one to convert the digital numbers found in the output product to sigma-
nought, beta-nought, or gamma-nought values (depending on which LUT is used).
TerraSAR-X
is performed applying
1. projected local incidence angle into the range plane correction
2. absolute calibration constant correction
● In case of " USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid " selection, the radiometric
normalisation is performed applying
Please note that the simplified approach where Noise Equivalent Beta Naught is neglected
has been implemented.
Cosmo-SkyMed
is performed deriving σ0Ellipsoid [7] and then multiplying by (sinθDEM / sinθel), where
θDEM is the projected local incidence angle into the range plane and θel is the incidence
angle computed from the tie point grid respect to ellipsoid.
● In case of selection of "USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid", the radiometric
normalisation is performed deriving σ0Ellipsoid [7]
Definitions:
1. The local incidence angle is defined as the angle between the normal vector of the
backscattering element (i.e. vector perpendicular to the ground surface) and the
incoming radiation vector (i.e. vector formed by the satellite position and the
backscattering element position) [2].
2. The projected local incidence angle from DEM is defined as the angle between the
incoming radiation vector (as defined above) and the projected surface normal vector
into range plane. Here range plane is the plane formed by the satellite position,
backscattering element position and the earth centre [2].
Parameters Used
more bands for calibration. If no bands are selected, then by default all bands are
used.
2. Digital Elevation Model: DEM types. Please refer to DEM Supported section above.
3. External DEM: User specified external DEM file. Currently only DEM in Geotiff format
with geographic coordinates (Plat, Plon, Ph) referred to global geodetic ellipsoid
reference WGS84 (and height in meters) is accepted.
4. DEM Resampling Method: Interpolation method for obtaining elevation values from the
original DEM file. The following interpolation methods are available: nearest neighbour,
bi-linear, cubic convolution, bi-sinc and bi-cubic interpolations.
5. Image Resampling Method: Interpolation methods for obtaining pixel values from the
source image. The following interpolation methods are available: nearest neighbour, bi-
linear, cubic and bi-sinc interpolations.
6. Pixel Spacing (m): User can specify pixel spacing in meters for orthorectified image. If
no pixel spacing is specified, then default pixel spacing computed from the source SAR
image is used. For details, the reader is referred to Pixel Spacing section above.
7. Pixel Spacing (deg): User can also specify the pixel spacing in degrees. If the value of
any of the two pixel spacing is changed, the other one is updated automatically. For
details, the reader is referred to Pixel Spacing section above.
8. Map Projection: The map projection types. By default the output image will be
expressed in WGS84 latlong geographic coordinate.
9. Save DEM as a band: Checkbox indicating that DEM will be saved as a band in the
target product.
10. Save local incidence angle as a band: Checkbox indicating that local incidence angle
will be saved as a band in the target product.
11. Save projected (into the range plane) local incidence angle as a band: Checkbox
indicating that the projected local incidence angle will be saved as a band in the target
product.
12. Save selected source band: Checkbox indicating that orthorectified images of user
selected bands will be saved without applying radiometric normalization.
13. Apply radiometric normalization: Checkbox indicating that radiometric normalization
will be applied to the orthorectified image.
14. Save Sigma0 as a band: Checkbox indicating that sigma0 will be saved as a band in
the target product. The Sigma0 can be generated using projected local incidence angle,
local incidence angle or incidence angle from ellipsoid.
15. Save Gamma0 as a band: Checkbox indicating that Gamma0 will be saved as a band in
the target product. The Gamma0 can be generated using projected local incidence
angle, local incidence angle or incidence angle from ellipsoid.
16. Save Beta0 as a band: Checkbox indicating that Beta0 will be saved as a band in the
target product.
17. Auxiliary File: available only for ASAR. User selected ASAR XCA file for radiometric
normalization. The following options are available: Latest Auxiliary File, Product
Auxiliary File (for detected product only) and External Auxiliary File. By
default, the Latest Auxiliary File is used. Details about the corrections applied according
to the XCA selection are provided in Radiometric Normalisation – Envisat ASAR
section above.
Reference:
[1] Small D., Schubert A., Guide to ASAR Geocoding, RSL-ASAR-GC-AD, Issue 1.0, March
2008
[2] Schreier G., SAR Geocoding: Data and Systems, Wichmann 1993
[3] Rosich B., Meadows P., Absolute calibration of ASAR Level 1 products, ESA/ESRIN,
ENVI-CLVL-EOPG-TN-03-0010, Issue 1, Rev. 5, October 2004
[4] Laur H., Bally P., Meadows P., Sánchez J., Schättler B., Lopinto E. & Esteban D., ERS
SAR Calibration: Derivation of σ0 in ESA ERS SAR PRI Products, ESA/ESRIN, ES-TN-RS-PM-
HL09, Issue 2, Rev. 5f, November 2004
[5] RADARSAT-2 PRODUCT FORMAT DEFINITION - RN-RP-51-2713 Issue 1/7: March 14,
2008
[6] Radiometric Calibration of TerraSAR-X data - TSXX-ITD-TN-0049-
radiometric_calculations_I1.00.doc, 2008
[7] For further details about Cosmo-SkyMed calibration please contact Cosmo-SkyMed Help
Desk at info.cosmo@e-geos.it
Orthorectification
SAR Simulation Terrain Correction Operator

The operator generates orthorectified image using rigorous SAR simulation.

Some major steps of the procedure are listed below:
1. SAR simulation: Generate simulated SAR image using DEM, the geocoding and orbit state vectors
from the original SAR image, and mathematical modeling of SAR imaging geometry. The simulated
SAR image will have the same dimension and resolution as the original image. For detailed steps and
parameters used in SAR simulation, please refer to the SAR Simulation Operator.
2. Co-registration: The simulated SAR image (master) and the original SAR image (slave) are co-
registered and a WARP function is produced. The WARP function maps each pixel in the simulated SAR
image to its corresponding position in the original SAR image. For detailed steps and parameters used
in co-registration, please refer to the GCP Selection Operator.
3. Terrain correction: Traverse DEM grid that covers the imaging area. For each cell in the DEM grid,
compute its corresponding pixel position in the simulated SAR image using SAR model. Then its
corresponding pixel position in the original SAR image can be found with the help of the WARP
function. Finally the pixel value for the orthorectified image can be obtained from the original SAR
image using interpolation.
Products Supported
● ASAR (IMS, IMP, IMM, APP, APM, WSM), ERS products (SLC, IMP), RADARSAT-2, TerraSAR-X are fully
supported.
● Some third party missions are not fully supported. Please refer to the Supported_Mission-
DEM Supported
Currently, only the DEMs with geographic coordinates (Plat, Plon, Ph) referred to global geodetic ellipsoid
reference WGS84 (and height in meters) are properly supported.
Various different types of Digital Elevation models can be used (ACE, GETASSE30, ASTER, SRTM
3Sec GeoTiff).
By default directory C:\AuxData and two sub-directories DEMs and Orbits are used to store the DEMs.
However, the AuxData directory and DEMs sub-directories are customizable from the Settings dialog
(which can be found under Edit tab in the main menu bar).
The location of the default DEMs must be specified in dataPath field in the Setting Dialog in order to be
properly used by Terrain Correction Operator.
The STRM v.4 (3” tiles) from the Joint Research Center FTP (xftp.jrc.it) will automatically be downloaded
in tiles for the area covered by the image to be orthorectified. The tiles will be downloaded to the folder C:
\AuxData\DEMs\SRTM_DEM\tiff.
The Test Connectivity functionality under the Help tab in the main menu bar allows user to verify if the
SRTM downloading is working properly.
Please note that for ACE and SRTM, the height information (being referred to geoid EGM96) is
automatically corrected to obtain height relative to the WGS84 ellipsoid. For Aster Dem height correction
is not yet applied.
Note also that the SRTM DEM covers area between -60 and 60 degrees latitude. Therefore, for
orthorectification of product of high latitude area, different DEM should be used.
User can also use external DEM file in Geotiff format which, as specified above, must be with geographic
coordinates (Plat, Plon, Ph) referred to global geodetic ellipsoid reference WGS84 (and height in meters).
Note that the same DEM is used by both SAR simulation and Terrain correction. The DEM is selected
through SAR Simulation UI.
Pixel Spacing
Besides the default suggested pixel spacing computed with parameters in the metadata, user can specify
output pixel spacing for the orthorectified image.
The pixel spacing can be entered in both meters and degrees. If the pixel spacing in one unit is entered,
then the pixel spacing in another unit is computed automatically.
The calculations of the pixel spacing in meters and in degrees are given by the following equations:
where EquatorialEarthRadius = 6378137.0 m and PolarEarthRadius = 6356752.314245 m as given in
WGS84.
Projection Supported
Right now the following projections are supported by NEXT:
● Stereographic
● UTM
This option implements a radiometric normalization based on the approach proposed by Kellndorfer et al.,
TGRS, Sept. 1998 where
In current implementation θDEM is the local incidence angle projected into the range plane and defined as
the angle between the incoming radiation vector and the projected surface normal vector into range plane
[2]. The range plane is the plane formed by the satellite position, backscattering element position and the
earth centre.
Note that among σ0, γ0 and β0 bands output in the target product, only σ0 is real band while γ0 and β0 are
virtual bands expressed in terms of σ0 and incidence angle. Therefore, σ0 and incidence angle are
automatically saved and output if γ0 or β0 is selected.
For σ0 and γ0 calculation, by default the projected local incidence angle from DEM [2] (local incidence
angle projected into range plane) option is selected, but the option of incidence angle from ellipsoid
correction (incidence angle from tie points of the source product) is also available.
Products Supported
● ASAR (IMS, IMP, IMM, APP, APM, WSM), ERS products (SLC, IMP), RADARSAT-2, TerraSAR-X are fully
supported.
● Some third party missions are not fully supported. Please refer to the Supported_Mission-
ENVISAT ASAR
The correction factors [3] applied to the original image depend on if the product is complex or detected
and the selection of Auxiliary file (ASAR XCA file).
The most recent ASAR XCA available from C:\Program Files\NEST4A\auxdata\envisat compatible
with product date is automatically selected. According to this XCA file, calibration constant, range
spreading loss and antenna pattern gain are obtained.
3. apply range spreading loss correction based on the XCA file and DEM geometry
4. apply antenna pattern gain correction based on the XCA file and DEM geometry
User can select a specific ASAR XCA file available from C:\Program Files\NEST4A\auxdata\envisat
or from another repository. According to this selected XCA file, calibration constant, range
spreading loss and antenna pattern gain are computed.
3. apply range spreading loss correction based on the selected XCA file and DEM
geometry
4. apply antenna pattern gain correction based on the selected XCA file and DEM
geometry
The most recent ASAR XCA available from C:\Program Files\NEST4A\auxdata\envisat compatible
with product date is automatically selected. Basically with this option all the correction factors
applied to the original SAR image based on product XCA file used during the focusing, such as
antenna pattern gain and range spreading loss, are removed first. Then new factors computed
according to the new ASAR XCA file together with calibration constant and local incidence angle
correction factors are applied during the radiometric normalisation process.
5. apply range spreading loss correction based on new XCA file and DEM geometry
6. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on new XCA file and DEM geometry
The product ASAR XCA file employed during the focusing is used. With this option the antenna
pattern gain and range spreading loss are kept from the original product and only the calibration
constant and local incidence angle correction factors are applied during the radiometric
normalisation process.
User can select a specific ASAR XCA file available from the installation folder or from another
repository. Basically with this option all the correction factors applied to the original SAR image
based on product XCA file used during the focusing, such as antenna pattern gain and range
spreading loss, are removed first. Then new factors computed according to the new selected ASAR
XCA file together with calibration constant and local incidence angle correction factors are applied
during the radiometric normalisation process.
5. apply range spreading loss correction based on new selected XCA file and DEM
geometry
6. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on new selected XCA file and DEM
geometry
Please note that if the product has been previously multilooked then the radiometric normalization does
not correct the antenna pattern and range spreading loss and only constant and incidence angle
corrections are applied. This is because the original antenna pattern and the range spreading loss
correction cannot be properly removed due to the pixel averaging by multilooking.
If user needs to apply a radiometric normalization, multilook and terrain correction to a product, then user
graph “RemoveAntPat_Multilook_Orthorectify” could be used.
ERS 1&2
For ERS 1&2 the radiometric normalization cannot be applied directly to original ERS product.
Because of the Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) power loss correction , a step before is required to
properly handle the data. It is necessary to employ the Remove Antenna Pattern Operator which performs
the following operations:

After having applied the Remove Antenna Pattern Operator to ERS data, the radiometric normalisation can
be performed during the Terrain Correction.
4. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on product metadata and DEM geometry
To apply radiometric normalization and terrain correction for ERS, user can also use one of the following
user graphs:
RADARSAT-2
● In case of "USE projected angle from the DEM" selection, the radiometric normalisation is performed
applying the product LUTs and multiplying by (sin •DEM/sin •el), where •DEM is projected local
incidence angle into the range plane and •el is the incidence angle computed from the tie point grid
respect to ellipsoid.
● In case of selection of "USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid", the radiometric normalisation is
performed applying the product LUT.
These LUTs allow one to convert the digital numbers found in the output product to sigma-nought, beta-
nought, or gamma-nought values (depending on which LUT is used).
TerraSAR-X
applying
● In case of " USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid " selection, the radiometric normalisation is performed
applying
Please note that the simplified approach where Noise Equivalent Beta Naught is neglected has been
implemented.
Cosmo-SkyMed
deriving σ0Ellipsoid [7] and then multiplying by (sinθDEM / sinθel), where θDEM is the projected local
incidence angle into the range plane and θel is the incidence angle computed from the tie point grid
respect to ellipsoid.
● In case of selection of "USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid", the radiometric normalisation is
performed deriving σ0Ellipsoid [7]
Definitions:
1. The local incidence angle is defined as the angle between the normal vector of the backscattering
element (i.e. vector perpendicular to the ground surface) and the incoming radiation vector (i.e.
vector formed by the satellite position and the backscattering element position) [2].
2. The projected local incidence angle from DEM is defined as the angle between the incoming radiation
vector (as defined above) and the projected surface normal vector into range plane. Here range plane
is the plane formed by the satellite position, backscattering element position and the earth centre [2].
Layover-Shadow Mask Generation

This operator can also generate layover-shadow mask for the orthorectified image. The layover effect is
caused by the fact that the signal backscattered from the top of the mountain is actually received earlier
than the signal from the bottom, i.e. the fore slope is reversed. The shadow effect is caused by the fact
that no information is received from the back slope. This operator generates the layover-shadow mask as
a separate band using the 2-pass algorithm given in section 7.4 in [2]. The value coding for the layover-
shadow mask is defined as the follows:
● 0 - corresponding image pixel is not in layover, nor shadow

● 1 - corresponding image pixel is in layover
● 2 - corresponding image pixel is in shadow
● 3 - corresponding image pixel is in layover and shadow
User can select output the layover-shadow mask by checkmarking "Save Layove-Shadow Mask as band"
box in SAR-Simulation tab.
To visualize the layover-shadow mask, user can bring up the orthorectified image first, then go to layer
manager and add the layover-shadow mask band as a layer.
Parameters Used
The following parameters are used by the Terrain Correction step:
1. RMS Threshold: The criterion for eliminating invalid GCPs. (see Help for Warp Operator for detail)
2. WARP Polynomial Order: The degree of the WARP polynomial. The valid values are 1, 2 and 3. (see
Help for Warp Operator for detail)
3. DEM Resampling Method: Interpolation method for obtaining elevation values from the original DEM
file. The following interpolation methods are available: nearest neighbour, bi-linear, cubic convolution,
bi-sinc and bi-cubic interpolations.
4. Image Resampling Method: Interpolation methods for obtaining pixel values from the source image.
Three interpolation methods are available: nearest neighbour, bi-linear, cubic and bi-sinc
interpolations.
5. Pixel Spacing (m): User can specify pixel spacing in meters for orthorectified image. If no pixel
spacing is specified, then default pixel spacing computed from the source SAR image is used. For
details, the reader is referred to Pixel Spacing section above.
6. Pixel Spacing (deg): User can also specify the pixel spacing in degrees. If the value of any of the two
pixel spacing is changed, the other one is updated automatically. For details, the reader is referred to
Pixel Spacing section above.
7. Save DEM as band: Checkbox indicating that DEM will be save as a band in the target product.
8. Save local incidence angle as band: Checkbox indicating that local incidence angle will be save as a
band in the target product.
9. Save projected local incidence angle as band: Checkbox indicating that the projected local incidence
angle will be save as a band in the target product.
10. Save selected source band: Checkbox indicating that orthorectified images of user selected bands will
be saved without applying radiometric normalization.
11. Apply radiometric normalization: Checkbox indicating that radiometric normalization will be applied to
the orthorectified image.
12. Save Sigma0 as a band: Checkbox indicating that sigma0 will be saved as a band in the target
product. The Sigma0 can be generated using projected local incidence angle, local incidence angle or
incidence angle from ellipsoid.
13. Save Gamma0 as a band: Checkbox indicating that Gamma0 will be saved as a band in the target
product. The Gamma0 can be generated using projected local incidence angle, local incidence angle or
incidence angle from ellipsoid.
14. Save Beta0 as a band: Checkbox indicating that Beta0 will be saved as a band in the target product.
15. Auxiliary File: available only for ASAR. User selected ASAR XCA file for radiometric normalization. The
following options are available: Latest Auxiliary File, Product Auxiliary File (for detected product
only) and External Auxiliary File. By default, the Latest Auxiliary File is used. Details about the
corrections applied according to the XCA selection are provided in Radiometric Normalisation –
Envisat ASAR section above.
16. Show Range and Azimuth Shifts: Checkbox indicating that range and azimuth shifts (in m) for all valid
GCPs will be displayed. The row and column shifts of each slave GCP away from its initial position are
output to a text file.
Figure 1. SAR Sim Terrain Correction dialog box
Detailed Algorithm for Layover-Shadow Mask Generation
1. First a DEM image is created by the SAR Simulation operator using the geocoding of the original SAR
image. The DEM image has the same dimension as the original SAR image with each pixel value of the
DEM image is the elevation of the corresponding pixel in the original SAR image.
2. Then 2-pass method (see section 7.4 in [2]) is applied to each range line in the DEM image to
generate the layover and shadow mask for the DEM image. The 2-pass method compares the slant
range for a DEM cell to slant ranges of other cells in the same range line to determine if the DEM cell
will be imaged in layover or shadow area.
3. Next the layover-shadow mask for the DEM image is mapped to the simulated image to create the
mask for the simulated image. The map is done using SAR simulation.
4. The layover-shadow mask for the simulated SAR image is then mapped to the original SAR image
using the WARP function, which was created during co-registration of the simulated SAR image and
the original SAR image.
5. Finally the mask for the original SAR image is mapped to the orthorectified image domain to produce
the mask for the orthorectified image.
The algorithm is summarized in the figure below.
Figure 2. Layover-shadow mask generation

Reference:
[1] Small D., Schubert A., Guide to ASAR Geocoding, RSL-ASAR-GC-AD, Issue 1.0, March 2008
[2] Schreier G., SAR geocoding: data and systems, Wichmann-Verlag, Karlsruhe, Germany, 1993
[3] Rosich B., Meadows P., Absolute calibration of ASAR Level 1 products, ESA/ESRIN, ENVI-CLVL-EOPG-
TN-03-0010, Issue 1, Rev. 5, October 2004
Derivation of σ0 in ESA ERS SAR PRI Products, ESA/ESRIN, ES-TN-RS-PM-HL09, Issue 2, Rev. 5f,
November 2004
[5] RADARSAT-2 PRODUCT FORMAT DEFINITION - RN-RP-51-2713 Issue 1/7: March 14, 2008
[6] Radiometric Calibration of TerraSAR-X data - TSXX-ITD-TN-0049-radiometric_calculations_I1.00.doc,
2008
[7] For further details about Cosmo-SkyMed calibration please contact Cosmo-SkyMed Help Desk at info.
cosmo@e-geos.it
SAR Simulation
SAR Simulation Operator

The operator generates simulated SAR image using DEM, the Geocoding and orbit state
vectors from a given SAR image, and mathematical modeling of SAR imaging geometry.
The simulated SAR image will have the same dimension and resolution as the original SAR
image.

Some major steps of the simulation procedure are listed below:
1. First a DEM image is created from the original SAR image. The DEM image has the
same dimension as the original SAR image. The pixel value of the DEM image is the
elevation of the corresponding pixel in the original SAR image.
2. Then, for each cell in the DEM image, its pixel position (row/column indices) in the
simulated SAR image is computed based on the SAR model.
3. Finally, the backscattered power σ0 for the pixel is computed using backscattering
model.
DEM Supported
Right now only the DEMs with geographic coordinates (P‫א‬, P‫א‬, Ph) referred to global
geodetic ellipsoid reference WGS84 in meters are properly supported.
By default the following DEMs are available:
● ACE
● GETASSE30
● SRTM 3Sec GeoTiff
● ASTER GDEM
Since the height information in ACE and SRTM is referred to geoid EGM96, not WGS84
User can also use external DEM file which, as specified above, must be WGS84 (P‫ א‬, P‫א‬,
Ph) DEM in meters.
Layover-Shadow Mask Generation

Besides producing simulated image, this operator can also generate layover-shadow mask
for the simulated image using the 2-pass algorithm given in section 7.4 in [2]. For details
of layover-shadow mask generation, reader is referred to SAR Simulation Terrain
Correction operator.
Parameters Used
more bands for producing simulated image. If no bands are selected, then by default
all bands are selected. The selected band will be output as a band in the target product
together with the simulated image.
2. Digital Elevation Model: DEM types. Choose from the automatically tiled DEMs or
specify using a single external DEM file by selecting "External DEM".
3. DEM Resampling Method: Interpolation method for obtaining elevation values from the
original DEM file. The following interpolation methods are available: nearest neighbour,
bilinear, cubic convolution, binsinc and bicubic interpolations.
4. External DEM: User specified external DEM file. Currently only WGS84-latlong DEM in
meters is accepted as geographic system.
5. Save Layover-Shadow Mask as band: Checkbox indicating that layover-shadow mask is
saved as a band in the target product.
Detailed Simulation Algorithm
Detailed procedure is as the follows:
1. Get data for the following parameters from the metadata of the SAR image product:
❍ radar wave length
❍ range spacing
❍ first_line_time
❍ line_time_interval
❍ slant range to 1st pixel
❍ orbit state vectors
❍ slant range to ground range conversion coefficients
2. Compute satellite position and velocity for each azimuth time by interpolating the orbit
state vectors;
3. Repeat the following steps for each cell in the DEM image:
1. Get latitude, longitude and elevation for the cell;
2. Convert (latitude, longitude, elevation) to Cartesian coordinate P(X, Y, Z);
3. Compute zero Doppler time t for point P(x, y, z) using Doppler frequency
function;
4. Compute SAR sensor position S(X, Y, Z) at time t;
5. Compute slant range r = |S - P|;
6. Compute bias-corrected zero Doppler time tc = t + r*2/c, where c is the light
speed;
7. Update satellite position S(tc) and slant range r(tc) = |S(tc) – P| for the bias-
corrected zero Doppler time tc;
8. Compute azimuth index Ia in the source image using zero Doppler time tc;
9. Compute range index Ir in the source image using slant range r(tc);
10. Compute local incidence angle;
11. Compute backscattered power and save it as value for pixel ((int)Ia, (int)Ir);
Reference:
[1] Liu H., Zhao Z., Lezek K. C., Correction of Positional Errors and Geometric Distortions in
Topographic Maps and DEMs Using a Rigorous SAR Simulation Technique, Photogrammetric
Engineering & Remote Sensing, Vol. 70, No. 9, Sep. 2004
[2] Gunter Schreier, SAR geocoding: data and systems, Wichmann-Verlag, Karlsruhe,
Germany, 1993
Ellipsoid Correction
Ellipsoid Correction GG Operator

The operator implements the Geolocation-Grid (GG) method [1]. The implementation is
exactly the same as for the Range Doppler Terrain Correction operator except that the slant
range is computed from slant range time tie point of the source product instead of using
DEM.

Some major steps of the algorithm are given below:
1. Get the latitudes and longitudes for the four corners of the source image;
2. Determine target image boundaries based on the scene corner latitudes and longitude;
3. Get range and azimuth pixel spacings from the metadata of the source image;
4. Compute target image traversal intervals based on the source image pixel spacing;
5. Compute target image dimension;
6. Get tie points (latitude, longitude and slant range time) from geolocation LADS of the
source image;
7. Repeat the following steps for each cell in the target image raster:
a. Get latitude and longitude for current cell;
b. Determine the corresponding position of current cell in the source image and the
4 pixels that are immediately adjacent to it;
c. Compute slant range R for the cell using slant range time and bi-quadratic
interpolation;
d. Compute zero Doppler time T for the cell;
e. Compute bias-corrected zero Doppler time Tc = T + R*2/C, where C is the light
speed;
f. Compute azimuth index Ia using zero Doppler time Tc;
g. Compute range image index Ir using slant range R;
h. Compute pixel value x(Ia,Ir) using bi-linear interpolation and set it for current
sample in target image.
Resampling Method Supported
● nearest_neighbour
● bilinear_interpolation
● cubic_convolution
Map Projection Supported
● Stereographic
● UTM
Parameters Used
more bands. For complex product, i and q bands must be selected together. If no
bands are selected, then by default all bands are selected.
2. Image resampling method: Interpolation methods for obtaining pixel values from
source image. There are three interpolation methods available: nearest neighbour, bi-
linear and cubic interpolations.
3. Map Projection: The map projection types. The orthorectified image will be presented
with the user selected map projection.
The output will be expressed in WGS84 latlong geographic coodinate.

[1] Small D., Schubert A., Guide to ASAR Geocoding, Issue 1.0, 19.03.2008
Ellipsoid Correction
Ellipsoid Correction RD Operator

The operator implements the Range Doppler orthorectification method [1]. The
implementation is exactly the same as for the Range Doppler Terrain Correction operator
except that the averaged scene height is used instead of DEM.
Resampling Method Supported
● nearest_neighbour
● bilinear_interpolation
● cubic_convolution
Map Projection Supported

● Stereographic
● UTM
Parameters Used
more bands. For complex product, i and q bands must be selected together. If no
bands are selected, then by default all bands are selected.
2. Image resampling method: Interpolation methods for obtaining pixel values from
source image. There are three interpolation methods available: nearest neighbour, bi-
linear and cubic interpolations.
3. Map Projection: The map projection types. The orthorectified image will be presented
with the user selected map projection.
[1] Small D., Schubert A., Guide to ASAR Geocoding, Issue 1.0, 19.03.2008
Map Reprojection
Reprojection Operator
The Map Projection Operator applies a selected Map Projection to the input product and
creates a new transposed output product.
The following parameters are used by the Operator:

Coordinate Reference System (CRS)
Custom CRS: The transformation used by the projection can be selected. Also the
geodetic datum and transformation parameters can be set, if possible for the selected
transformation.
Predefined CRS: By clicking on the Select... button a new dialog is shown where a
predefined CRS can be selected.
Use CRS of: A product can be selected to use its projected Coordinate Reference
System. This will have the effect that source product will cover the same geographic
region on the same CRS. Which means that both products are collocated.
Output Settings
Preserve resolution: If unchecked the Output Parameters... is enabled and the
upcoming dialog lets you edit the output parameters like easting and northing of the
reference pixel, the pixel size and the scene height and width.
Reproject tie-point grids: Specifies whether or not the tie-point grids shall be
included. If they are reprojected they will appear as bands in the target product and not
any more as tie-point grids.
No-data value: The default no-data value is used for output pixels in the projected
band which have either no corresponding pixel in the source product or the source pixel
is invalid.
Resampling Method: You can select one resampling method for the projection. For a
brief description have a look at Resampling Methods.
Output Information
Displays some information about the output, like scene width and height, the
geographic coordinate of the scene center and short description of the selected CRS.
When clicking the Show WKT... button the corresponding Well-Known Text of the
currently defined CRS is shown.
SRGR Operator
Slant Range to Ground Range Operator

The operator re-projects images from slant range (range spacing proportional to echo
delay) to ground range (range spacing proportional to distance from nadir along a
predetermined ellipsoid). The operator works on complex or real slant range product.
Note: The SRGR operator is not required before terrain correcting since terrain corrected
results are always in ground range.

The slant range to ground range conversion consists of the following major steps:
1. Create a warp polynomial of given order that maps ground range pixels to slant range
pixels.
2. For each ground range pixel, compute its corresponding pixel position in the slant
range image using warp polynomial.
3. Compute pixel value using user selected interpolation method.
Interpolation Methods Supported

The operator supports the following interpolation methods:
● Nearest-Neighbour interpolation
● linear interpolation
● Cubic interpolation
● Cubic2 interpolation
● Sinc interpolation
Parameters Used
more bands for producing ground range images. If no bands are selected, then by
2. Warp Polynomial Order: The degree of WARP polynomial. It should be a positive integer.
3. Interpolation Method: User can select interpolation method used in SRGR conversion.
Mosaic
Mosaic Operator
The Mosaic Operator combines overlapping products into a single composite product. The mosaicking is
achieved based on the geocoding of the source products therefore the geocoding needs to be very accurate. It
is recommended that the source products be Terrain Corrected and Radiometric Corrected first.
The following parameters are used by the Operator:
1. Source Bands: All bands (real or virtual) of the source product. You may select one or more bands. If no bands
are selected, then by default all bands will be processed.
2. Resampling Method: Choice of Nearest Neighbour, Bilinear, Cubic, Bi-Sinc or Bi-Cubic resampling.
3. Pixel Size (m): The output scene pixel spacing in meters.
4. Scene Width (pixels): The output scene width in pixels.
5. Scene Height (pixels): The output scene height in pixels.
6. Feather (pixels): The number of pixels skipped on the boundary of the source images.
7. Weight Average of Overlap: Averaging option to blend overlapping pixels. To achieve better mosaic result,
the Normalizer checkbox below should be selected as well.
8. Normalizer: Normalization option to remove mean and normalize standard deviation.
Below is an example of a mosaic of ASA_GM1 products that have been Terrain Corrected and Radiometric
Corrected. Overlapping areas have been normalized and averaged.
Interferometry
Interferometric Functionality of NEST

Since the 4B release, NEST support interferometric processing. The complete interferometric
processing chain is implemented.
The processing setup for InSAR is similar like for the other functionalities of NEST. The set of
interferometric operators is designed and chained into the graph via the Graph Processing
Framework (GPF).
For optimal interferometric processing, many of the core functionalities of NEST are improved and/or
reimplemented to accommodate for the InSAR requirements. Some of the extended modules are , e.
g., Warping function extended with phase preserving and more accurate interpolation kernels. While,
the coregistration has been fully reimplemented and optimized for interferometric applications.
Implementation Overview
Initially for InSAR functionality, as an algorithmic prototype the DORIS (Delft object-oriented radar
interferometric software) software has been used. However, in the course of development many of
these algorithmic prototypes have been further extended and completely reimplemented, and most
of implementations significantly deviated from the original. Because of these developments, and in
order to streamline and simplify further developments a dedicated library and application interface
(API) for interferometric application is designed and developed - jLinda (Java Library for
Interferometric Data Analysis).
InSAR Library Highlights

Some of jLinda's highlights, in context of InSAR functionality of NEST:
● It provides ALL InSAR functionality to NEST.

● The library is independent from NEST/BEAM core.
● The NEST/BEAM libraries are only used in the construction of the operators and in forming of
interferometric graph.
The architecture of interferometric modules of NEST is visualized in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Flowchart of implementation strategy of interferometric modules of NEST.
Algorithmic Base
All implemented algorithms are fully documented, described in the literature, and follow a generally
accepted best practices.
Links and Further Resources
● Web page and Code repository of jLinda - https://github.com/ppolabs/jlinda/ .

Interferogram formation (InSAR operator)
Computation of interferogram and computation/

removal of the flat-earth phase
This operator computes (complex) interferogram, with or without subtraction of the flat-
earth (reference) phase. The reference phase is subtracted using a 2d-polynomial that is
also estimated in this operator.
If the orbits for interferometric pair are known, the flat-earth phase is estimated using the
orbital and metadata information and subtracted from the complex interferogram. The flat-
earth phase is the phase present in the interferometric signal due to the curvature oif the
reference surface. The geometric reference system of the reference surface is defined by
the reference system of satellite orbits (for now only WGS84 supported, which the
reference system used by all space-borne SAR systems).
The flat-earth phase is computed in a number of points distributed over the total image,
after which a 2d-polynomial is estimated (using least squares) fitting these 'observations',
(e.g. plane can be fitted by setting the degree to 1.)
A polynomial of degree 5 normally is sufficient to model the reference phase for a full SAR
scene (approx 100x100km). While, a lower degree might be selected for smaller images,
and higher degree for 'long-swath' scenes. Note that the higher order terms of the flat-
earth polynomial are usually small, because the polynomial describes a smooth, long wave
body (ellipsoid). To recommended polynomial degree, that should ensure the smooth
surface for most image sizes and areas of the world is 5th degree.
In order to reduce the noise, as the post-processing step, you can perform multilooking
(with Multilook Operator). Multilooking has to be performed seperately on 'virtual' bands
phase or intensity. In future releases complex Multilook operator will be released. Note that
in case of ESA's ERS and Envisat sensors, the factor 5:1 (azimuth:range) or similar ratio
between the factors is chosen to obtain approximately square pixels (20x20 m^2 for
factors 5 and 1). Of course the resolution decreases if multilooking is applied.
Note: The reference phase polynomial is not estimated nor subtracted from the computed
interferogram, if the flag for NOT performing the reference-phase estimation/subtraction is
being marked. Note that if the subtraction of the flat-earth is being skipped the formed
interferogram will still have the fringes caused by the earth curvature, and could hamper
further interferometric processing and analysis. The intention of computing interferogram
without the reference-phase being subtracted is only for demonstration and educational
purposes.
Operator parameters:
The following parameters are used by this operator:
1. Number of points to compute reference phase for least square estimation. Default
value is 501, and sufficient for 100x100km SAR scenes. For smaller/or larger scenes
this number can be adapted.
2. The degree of 2D flat-earth polynomial. Recommended degree, appropriate for most
usage cases is 5th degree.
3. Orbit interpolation method. Defaults to a polynomial of degree (number of state
vectors)-1, but smaller than degree 5. Optionally, the degree for the orbit interpolation
can be declared. The specified degree has to be smaller or equal to (number of state
vectors)-1. The positions of state vectors (x,y,z) are independently interpolated, the
velocities are estimated from the position. The annotated velocities, if available, will be
used in the interpolation and not computed from the positions. NOTE: It is not
recommended to use a degree smaller than the maximum possible, except if it gets too
large to avoid oscillations. However, depending on the temporal posting of the state
vectors and their accuracy different interpolation strategies can give better results.
4. Flag for skipping estimation and subtraction of the reference-phase.
Source bands:
The source bands are the set of, usually coregistered, bands of the complex product
Estimation and Subtraction of Topographic Phase (InSAR operator)
Estimation and Subtraction of Topographic Phase

This operator estimates and subtracts topographic phase from the interferogram. More specifically, this operator
first "radarcodes" the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) of the area of interferogram, and then subtracts it from
the complex interferogram.
This operator has to be performed after the interferogram generation. It also requires an input DEM, SRTM can
be used, or any other DEM supported by NEST. The DEM handling for most of elevation models, selection
and download from internet of tiles covering the area of interest, interpolation, accounting for geoid undulation,
etc, is performed automatically by the operator itself.
A set of freely available, for the scientific use, digital elevation models are supported by NEST. The elevation
models for which tiles are automatically handled by NEST are: SRTM, ACE, and GETASSE. For all others,
some administration and data manipulation work might be needed. Namely, a manual selection and download of
tiles covering the area-of-interest has to be performed; while interpolation and pre-processing of DEM
for interefometric applications is also performed automatically by the operator.
Implementation Details
Note that interpolation of DEM is conceptually different then in other Geometry NEST operators (eg. Range
Doppler Terrain Correction Operator).
The DEM reference phase is computed in two steps:
● In first step, the DEM is radarcoded to the coordinate systems of the master image. Per DEM point the
master coordinate (real valued) and the computed reference phase is saved to a file.
● Then, the reference phase is interpolated to the integer grid of master coordinates. A linear interpolation based on
a Delaunay triangulation is used. Dealunay Triangulation library, developed specifically for NEST and SAR
applications is used.
1. Orbit Interpolation Degree: Degree of orbit interpolation polynomial.

2. Digital Elevation Model: Elevation model to be used for the processing.
3. Elevation Band Name: Name of the elevation band, where interpolated and radarcoded height of the area-
of-interest will be saved.
Input/Output bands:
Source Bands are stack of flat-earth subtracted ("flattened") interferograms.
Output Bands are stack of interferograms with subtracted DEM reference phase and other optional bands,
for example: radarcoded elevation of the area, of topographic phase.
Known issues:
When using 'External DEM' as a reference surface, user has to make sure that the input DEM sufficiently covers
and and extends, the area of input interferogram. In practice, this means that the input DEM should be 10-
15% bigger in its extent (wider and higher) then the interferogram. This issue will be addressed in NEST 5A-
FINAL release.
Coherence estimation (InSAR operator)
Coherence estimation
This operator computes/estimates the coherence image, with or without subtraction of the
reference phase. The reference phase is subtracted if there is a 2d-polynomial computed --
result of "Compute Interferogram" operator. While, it is not subtracted if this information is
not in the metadata, or if the number of polynomial coefficients in "Compute
Interferogram" operator is set to 0.
Note that this is a "general" coherence estimation operator and not exclusive only for
InSAR applications. It can be utilized to estimate the coherence information from any stack
of coregistered complex images.
In order to reduce the noise, as the post-processing step, you can perform multilooking
(with Multilook Operator). In case of ESA's ERS and Envisat sensors, the factor 5:1
(azimuth:range) or similar ratio between the factors is chosen to obtain approximately
square pixels (20x20 m^2 for factors 5 and 1). Of course the resolution decreases if
multilooking is applied.
The input parameters are size of the shifting window for the coherence estimation. The
window size is defined, in both azimuth and range directions.
Source bands:
Source Bands are set of, usually coregistered, bands of the complex product.
Azimuth Filtering (InSAR operator)
Azimuth Filtering
This operator filters the spectras, of stack of SLC images, in the azimuth direction. This is
an optional step in the interferometric processing chain. The part of the spectras do that
does not overlap with the spectrum of the slave is filtered out. This non overlap is due to
the selection of a Doppler centroid frequency in the SAR processing, which normally is not
equal for master and slave image.
This step can in general best be performed after the coregistration. (The offset in range
direction is used to evaluate the polynomial for the Doppler Centroid frequency.)
Operator performs filtering of all images in the stack at the same time. However, if multiple
slave images are present in the stack, only slave images will be filtered, and master image
will remain unfiltered (all slaves coregistered on the same master image). This approach
has the advantage that for each interferogram of the stack a separate set of master images
is created, effectively saving the disk storage space and making the processing more
efficient. The disadvantage of not filtering the master is that a small part of the spectrum of
the master is not shared with the slave spectrum, yielding a minor loss of coherence in the
interferogram.
● FFT Window Length: Length of FFT estimation window per tile in azimuth direction.
In general, the larger the better. However, not that if the value for the FFT Window
Lenght is larger then the size of Tile, the length of the window will be reduced to the
maximum possible length.
● Azimuth Filter Overlap: Half of the overlap between consecutive tiles in azimuth
direction. Partially the same data is used to estimate the spectrum, to avoid border
effects. However, the exact influence of this parameter to the end results scales with
the Doppler Centroid Frequency variability between master and slave images. It has
not been studied yet, what is the optimum ratio between Overlap parameter and
Doppler Centroid Frequency difference. Setting this card to 0 gives the fastest results.
● Hamming Alpha: The weighting of the spectrum in azimuth direction. The filtered
output spectrum is first de-weighted with the specified hamming filter, then re-
weighted with a (newly centered) one. If this parameter is set to 1, no weighting is
performed.
Source bands:
Source Bands are set of coregistered bands of the complex product.

Output bands:
Output Bands are set of bands with spectras filtered in azimuth direction.
Range Filtering (InSAR operator)
Range Filtering
This operator filters the spectras, of stack of SLC images, in the range direction. This is an
optional step in interferometric processing chain. The filtering in range direction of master
and slave image increases Signal-to-Noise Ration (SNR) in the interferogram. This noise
reduction results from filtering out non overlapping parts of the spectrum. This spectral non
overlap in range between master and slave is caused by a slightly different viewing angle of
both sensors. The longer the perpendicular baseline, the smaller the overlapping part.
Eventually a baseline of about 1100 m results in no overlap at all (that is also critical
baseline for ERS). Assuming no local terrain slope, a reduction of typically 10-20% in the
number of residues can be achieved.
The range filtering should be performed after coregistration (after slave images are
resampled/warped to the master grid), because the fringe frequency is estimated from the
interferogram (that is temporary computed). It is performed simultaneously for the master
and slave image, unless there are multiple slave images in the stack. If later is the case, as
with Azimuth Filtering Operator, only slave images will be filtered while the master image
will be left in its original state.
Implementation Details
Currently, only a so-called "adaptive" filtering is implemented, while method based on
orbital data and terrain slope will be implemented in coming releases.
Adaptive range filtering algorithm builds on the local fringe frequency estimated from the
locally computed interferogram. After the warping/resampling of the slave on the master
grid the local fringe frequency is estimated using peak analysis of the power of the
spectrum of the complex interferogram. The warping/resampling is required since the local
fringe frequency is estimated from the interferogram. The fringe frequency is directly
related to the spectral shift in range direction. (Note: that this shift is not an actual shift,
but it is an indication that the different frequencies are mapped on places with this shift.
Input parameters
● FFT Window Length: Length of the estimation window, a peak is estimated for parts
of this length.
● Hamming Alpha: Weight for hamming filter. (Note that, if alpha is set to 1, the
weighting window function will be of rectangular type).
● Walking Mean Window: Number of lines over which the (walking) mean will be
computed. This parameter reduces noise for the peak estimation. The parameter has to
be an odd number. Logically, the walking mean can be compared with the principles of
periodogram estimation.
● SNR Threshold: In peak estimation, weight values to bias higher frequencies. The
reasoning for this parameter is that the low frequencies are (for small Oversample
factors) aliased after interferogram generation. The de-weighting is done by a dividing
by a triangle function (convolution of 2 rect window functions, the shape of the range
spectrum). Effect of this parameter may be negligible to overall results.
● Oversampling factor: Oversample master and slave(s) with this factor before
computing the complex interferogram for the peak estimation. This factor has to be a
power of 2. 2 is default, and with this factor the filter is able to estimate the peak for
frequency shifts larger than half the bandwidth. A factor of 4 for example might give a
better estimate, since the interval between shifts that can be estimated is in that case
halfed (fixed FFT Window Length).
Source bands:
Source Bands are set of coregistered bands of the complex product.
Output bands:
Output Bands are set of bands with spectras filtered in range direction.
Phase Filtering of stacks of interferograms (InSAR operator)
Phase filtering of stacks of interferogram

This operator can be used to optionally filter the stacks complex interferograms. The filtering is performed in order
to reduce noise, e.g., for visualization or to aid the phase unwrapping. It is probably best run after operator
Interferogram. However, the optimal place for the phase filtering in the processing chain depends on the specific
application.
The following filtering methods are implemented: Goldstein method ("goldstein"), and Spatial Convolution
("spatialconv"). Functionality to load and support user defined filters will be soon implemented.
The basic principles of implemented complex phase filters is as follows: In the case of the Goldstein filtering, the
interferometeric fringes become sharper because with filtering the peak in the spectrum (caused by the fringes) is
given a higher relative weight. Method "spatial convolution" is a simple spatial convolution with a certain function
acting as a kernel, e.g., a 3 point moving average. For more details refer to the implementation section and listed
references.
The following input parameters are used by this operator:
1. Filtering Method: Select filtering method. Choose among goldstein method ("goldstein"), spatial convolution
("convolution"). Note that different methods have different parameters and corresponding levels of fine tuning.
2. Alpha: (Input parameter for Goldstein method only) The Alpha parameter, is the input parameter only for
method "goldstein". This parameter, can be understood as a "smoothness coefficient" of the filter, defining the
effective level of filtering. The value for the alpha, must be in the range from [0, 1]. The value 0 means no
filtering, while 1 results in the most filtering. The Alpha parameter is connected and indirectly influenced with
the input parameters for the Filtering Kernel - a higher smoothing, gives a relative decrease to the peak, and
thus the effect of the alpha.
3. Blocksize: (Input parameter for method "goldstein" only). It defines the size of the blocks that are filtered.
The parameter must be a power of 2 value. The value for block-size should be large enough so that the
spectrum can be estimated, and small enough that it contains a peak frequency (1 trend in phase).
Recommended value for block-size is: 32 pixels.
4. Overlap: Input for method "goldstein" only. The overlap value defines half of the size of the overlap between
consecutive filtering blocks and tiles, thus that partially the same data is used for filtering. The total overlap
should be smaller than the BLOCKSIZE value. If the parameter is set to BLOCKSIZE/2-1 (the maximum value
for this parameter) then each output pixel is filtered based on the spectrum that is centered around it. Not that
is probably the most optimal way of filtering, but may well be the most time consuming one.
5. Filtering kernel: This input parameter is for methods "goldstein" and "spatialconv" only. It defines the one-
dimension kernel function used to perform convolution. A number of the pre-defined kernels is offered, while
future releases will have functionality that can allow users to define their own 1D filtering kernels. For method
GOLDSTEIN: default to kernel is [1 2 3 2 1]. This kernel is used to smooth the amplitude of the spectrum of
the complex interferogram. The spectrum is later scaled by the smoothed spectrum to the power alpha. For
method SPATIALCONV: Default is a 3 point moving average [1 1 1] convolution. The real and imaginary part is
averaged separately this way. For more info see implementation section.
Source bands:
Source Bands are stack of interferograms.
Output bands:
Output Bands are stack of phase filtered interferograms.

Implementation notes:
(More details on algorithmic implementation COMING SOON!)
1. Spatial Convolution Method: The input complex interferogram is convoluted with a 2D kernel by FFT's. The
2D kernel is computed from 1D kernel, defined as an input parameter of the operator. The block-size for the
convolution is chosen as high as possible. In future releases, it will be also possible to load 2D kernel from
external file. Note that only odd sized kernels can be used, so if you want to use the kernel of odd simply add a
zero to make a kernel size even.
2. Goldstein Method:
The algorithm is implemented as:
❍ Read a data tile (T);
❍ Get a data block (B) from input tile;
❍ B = fft2d(B) (obtain complex spectrum);
❍ A = abs(B) (compute magnitude of spectrum);
❍ S = smooth(A) (perform convolution with kernel);
❍ S = S/max(S) (scale S between 0 and 1);
❍ B = B.S^alpha (weight complex spectrum);
❍ B = ifft2d(B) (result in space domain);
❍ If all blocks of tile done, write to disk.
Phase to Height conversion (InSAR operator)
Phase to Height conversion

This operator converts the unwrapped interferometric phase to the heights in the radar coded
system. This functionality is sometimes referred to as "slant-to-height" conversion.
Implementation is performed following the Schwabisch method, that uses polynomials to
compare the actual phase with the flat earth (reference) phase.
The Schwabisch method, is a fast method that yields the radar coded heights. It builds on the
idea to first compute the reference phase at a number of discrete heights and then to
compare the actual phase from the interferogram with these pre-computed values to
determine the height.
An obstacle with this method is that the interferograms that are used as input do not contain
the reference phase anymore, so that has to be pre-computed and included in the height-
estimation procedure.
1. Number of estimation points: The number of locations to compute the reference phase
at different altitudes.
2. Number of height samples: Number of height samples in range [0,5000) at which the
reference phase will be estimated.
3. Degree of 1D polynomial: Degree of the one-dimensional polynomial to "fit" the
reference phase through.
4. Degree of 2D polynomial: Degree of the two-dimensional polynomial to fit the
reference phase through.
5. Orbit interpolation degree: Defaults to a polynomial of degree (number of state
vectors)-1, but smaller than degree 5.
Source Products:
Unwrapped interferometric product.
Output bands:
The height estimated from the unwrapped interferogram. The heights are stored meters,
while 0.0 height indicates the problem with unwrapping.
Three-Pass DInSAR (InSAR operator)
Three-Pass Differential Interferometry

Three-pass DInSAR, stands for three-pass differential interferometry. It is a method to
remove the topographic induced phase from an interferogram that contains topographic,
deformation, and atmospheric components.
This step can be performed only if an unwrapped topography interferogram (topo pair) and
a complex deformation interferogram (defo pair) are present. Both defo and topo pair has
to be referenced to a a common master. This can be achieved by processing a stack of
interferograms in NEST-DORIS. Both defo and topo interferograms have to be corrected for
the phase, and sampled on the same grid (see Coregistration and Wrap Operator). Also,
both defo and topo interferograms must have the same multilook factors and the same
dimensions (i.e. overlap exactly).
Recommendation is that the perpendicular baseline of the topo-pair should be larger than
that of the defo-pair. This ratio is recommended in order to prevent that noise is "blown
up". Of course, this geometry cannot be always controlled, and it rather depends on the
available data.
This operation is performed in the stack processing tree. First create a stack of
interferograms, that coregistered to the same master and processed until subtraction of the
reference phase. Then we have to unwrap defo-pair. In order to do so, the deformation pair
has to be selected, and extracted for the external unwrapping in the Snaphu software. After
the unwrap is performed externally, the unwrapped results are imported back into the
NEST. Finally, for DInSAR operators, both defo-pair and topo-pair are listed as a source
products, and the output of the operator is a differential intereferogram.
To geocode the differential phase values, standard geocoding modules of NEST can be
applied.
This operator performs without any parameters, all the necessary processing information is
constructed using product metadata. The only input parameter is the control flag for the
degree of the orbit interpolator.
1. Orbit interpolation degree: Defaults to a polynomial of degree (number of state

vectors)-1, but smaller than degree 5.
Source Products:
Source Products are stack of:

1. Defo-pair: Interferometric product containing bands of so-called defo-pair. See
operator description for more details.
2. Topo-pair: Interferometric product containing bands of so-called topo-pair. Topo-pair
interferogram has to be unwrapped, and stored as 'real' data band. See operator
description for more details.
Output bands:
Output Bands are stack of differential interferograms. The amplitude is the same as that of
the original 'deformation' interferogram. A complex value (0,0) indicates that for that pixel
unwrapping was not performed correctly.
Phase Unwrapping in NEST
Introduction
The principal observation in radar interferometry, is the two-dimensional relative phase
signal, which is the 2pi-modulus of the (unknown) absolute phase signal. The forward
problem, the wrapping of the absolute phase to the [-pi,pi) interval is straightforward and
trivial. The inverse problem, the so-called phase unwrapping, due to inherent non-
uniqueness and non-linearity, is one of the main difficulties and challenges in the
application of radar interferometry.
There are many proposed techniques to deal with the phase unwrapping problem. The
variable phase noise, as well as the geometric problems, i.e., foreshortening and layover,
are the main causes why many of the proposed techniques do not perform as desired.
Furthermore, any of the given phase unwrapping techniques will not give a unique solution,
and without additional a-priori information, or strong assumptions on the data behaviour, it
is impossible to assess the reliability of the solution.
Phase Unwrapping in NEST

There are two methods to perform the phase unwrapping in NEST:
1. Using integrated phase unwrapping functionality.

2. Using 3rd party software.
Integrated phase unwrapping

NEST version 5, brings the internal implementation of the phase unwrapping functionality.
As all other interferometric functionality, the unwrapping support, is provided via jLinda
library.
This unwrapping implementation is following the concept introduced by Costantini, [1];
where the unwrapping problem is formulated and solved as a minimum-cost flow problem
on a network.
Because of the framework restrictions, the unwrapping in NEST is performed as a two-
stage process. First, the initial unwrapping is performed with the unwrap operator, results
need to be saved, and then in a second stage, the unwrapping result is stitched into a
smooth result. Specifically:
Uwrap
First an independent unwrapping of tiles is performed using the Uwrap operator, and
importantly, results need to be saved.
Stitch
As a second step, independently unwrapped tiles are integrated using the Stitch
operator. This operator stitches the unwrapped phases of all tiles to form a complete
smooth image of unwrapped phase.
Interface to 3rd party software: SNAPHU

To obtain the unwrapped interferogram, a 3rd party software should be used. The
recommended tool to perform the phase unwrapping is the "Statistical-Cost, Network-Flow
Algorithm for Phase Unwrapping" (SNAPHU), that can be downloaded from SNAPHU project
web-page. The restricted distribution license of this software prevented a direct integration
in NEST, so from the user it is expected to download and install this, or other, 3rd party
software for the phase unwrapping individually.
SNAPHU support tools

To make integration between NEST and SNAPHU as easy as possible, we developed a set of
tools for exporting and importing data to/from SNAPHU. It should be noted that these tools
are developed for the user convenience and that the same functionality can be achieved
with chaining Product Generation Tools of NEST (eg. Band Arithmetic, Replace Metadata,
and other operations), and manual construction of SNAPHU configuration files.
SNAPHU export
The graph for exporting NEST InSAR data to processing with SNAPHU, building SNAPHU
configuration file, and creating a "phase" product. The phase product serves as a
container an interface with SNAPHU. In the phase product the wrapped phase is saved,
with the corresponding metadata.
SNAPHU import
The importing (ingestion) of data in previously created "phase unwrapping" container
product. With importing the unwrapped phase, the existing wrapped phase data in the
phase product is replaced with unwrapped phase, while preserving the metadata of the
unwrapped product, or the phase product is extended with the unwrapped phase band.
Recommendations, guidelines and notes

Multilooking and Phase Filtering
In order to obtain an optimal results of unwrapping it is recommended to multi-look (i.
e., square) and phase-filter (i.e., increase signal-to-noise and smooth) input
interferogram.
Quality of unwrapping
The quality and reliability of unwrapped results very much depends on the input
coherence. If the input coherence is low, the user should NOT a reliable unwrapping
results. For example, if an input interferogram is coherent only in some areas (e.g.,
"coherence islands"), the reliable results can be expected only in those areas. Also see
the next note, on InSAR being relative technique.
Interpretation of unwrapped results
The interferometry is a relative technique, i.e., gives difference between pixels, rather
than the absolute values. Thus the unwrapped results should also be interpreted as a
relative. For example, height/displacement between two pixels is a relative height/
displacement between those two pixels. To obtain absolute estimates, a tie point can
be used, or assumptions on the signal. For correcting, and making results of
unwrapping absolute a BandMaths operator can be used.
Further information
Integrated unwrapper
Implementation Reference:
[1] Costantini, M. (1998) A novel phase unwrapping method based on network
programming. IEEE Tran. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 36, 813-821.
SNAPHU
Phase unwrapping: For a general reference on phase unwrapping see book of Ghiglia and
Pritt, Two-Dimensional phase unwrapping: theory, algorithms, and software.
Building and running SNAPHU: A good starting point for obtaining further information on
SNAPHU software and algorithms is the project web page. SNAPHU is software developed
for UNIX environment and as such building it on Linux and MacOS systems is
straightforward. On Microsoft Windows operating systems, SNAPHU can be built and
executed on any of the Unix like environments and command-line interface for Windows
(Cygwin, MiniGW, etc.)
Snaphu Data Export
Exporting NEST data for SNAPHU processing
Important note
It is strongly advised before executing graph for exporting NEST data for SNAPHU processing for
user to get familiar with general principles of doing phase unwrapping in NEST.
SNAPHU Data Export Graph

The main purpose of SNAPHU data export functionality is three-fold:
1. To export NEST data (bands) in the format compatible for SNAPHU processing,
2. To build a SNAPHU configuration file (snaphu.conf), the file where processing parameters for
SNAPHU are being stored,
3. To construct a container NEST product that will store metadata and bands to be used when
SNAPHU results are being ingested back into NEST.
The export graph is visualized in the figure below.

In the export graph, there are two readers, and two writers. The argumentation for two readers
is, that as input for SNAPHU export operation both Interferometric, and Coherence product are
needed. The interferometry product is needed for the metadata and (complex) phase, while the
coherence product is required for the coherence information that is used for weighting in the
process of unwrapping. The reason for two writers is, that one writer saves the phase product
that, as already introduced, serves as a container for the data exchange with SNAPHU, especially
in the data ingestion step. While the other writer saves (exports) the data and builds a
configuration file for SNAPHU software.
Phase product part of the export graph

Part indicated in the blue box in the figure bellow performs the following:
1-Read:
Reads the interferometric product.
3-BandSelect:
Selects bands that are to be stored in the "phase" product. It is recommended that only phase
band is selected.
5-Write:
Writes "phase product" in the standard NEST/BEAM DIMAP format.
SNAPHU product part of the export graph
Branches groupd by the red box in the figure bellow performs the following:
1-Read:
Reads the interferometric product.
2-Read:
Reads the coherence product.
4-SnaphuExport:
Selects bands that are to be stored in the SNAPHU product, required bands are phase and
coherence. Also in this step parameters for SNAPHU are being defined. For more details about
the SNAPHU processing parameters please refer to SNAPHU manual.
6-Write:
Write SNAPHU product, using a SNAPHU writer. Note that as output format "Snaphu" format is
being predefined.
External processing with SNAPHU
Given that the SNAPHU software is properly installed and configured, unwrapping of exported
NEST product is quite straightforward. In the directory where the SNAPHU product is being saved,
the following command is to be executed:
snaphu -f snaphu.conf YOUR_PHASE_BAND.img 99999
where YOUR_PHASE_BAND.img stands for the name of the phase band that is to be unwrapped, and
99999 represents the number of lines of the YOUR_PHASE_BAND. Note that the command to be
externally called for the phase unwrapping is listed in the header of snaphu.conf file that is
created with the SNAPHU writer.
Again, it is strongly recommended that before doing any processing with SNAPHU user becomes
familiar with the software and process control flags.
Snaphu Data Import
Importing results from SNAPHU processing in NEST
Important note
It is strongly advised before executing graph for exporting NEST data for SNAPHU processing for
user to get familiar with general principles of doing phase unwrapping in NEST.
SNAPHU Data Import Graph

The main purpose of SNAPHU data import function is two-fold:
1. To import results of SNAPHU processing in NEST,

2. To construct NEST Interferometric product that will contain unwrapped phase band, and the
metadata of the source interferometric product.
The import graph is visualized in the figure below.

In the export graph, there are two readers, and one writer. Two readers are reading the phase
product, constructed during exporting data for SNAPHU processing, and other reader is reading
imported unwrapped result of SNAPHU processing as "Generic Binary". Snaphu Import operator
arranges the metadata and bands, and constructs the unwrapped phase product compatible for
further utilization within NEST. Finally, writer saves the product in NEST/BEAM DIMAP format.
Specifically the import graph performs the following:
1-Read-Phase:
Reads the "phase-only" interferometric product constructed during Snaphu Data Export step.
2-Read-Unwrapper-Phase:
Reads the "unwrapped-phase-only" product ingested in NEST using Generic Binary Readers.
Note that due to restrictions of the framework currently it is not possible to chain the generic
binary reader in the graph, and hence it is not possible to ingest unwrapped data directly into
NEST. This has to be done outside Snaphu Import graph.
3-SnaphuImport:
Arranges the metadata and merges the bands of the source product into a unwrapped phase
product. In this step metadata and bands are arranged in a compatible form for further NEST
InSAR processing.
4-Write:
Writes "unwrapped phase product" in the standard NEST/BEAM DIMAP format.
InSAR Stack Overview
InSAR Stack Overview and Master Selection

This NEST function gives a general information about the interferometric stack. The
information about the acquisition date, sensor, mode, as well as information about
perpendicular and temporal baselines are being listed. Also an estimate for the modeled
(expected) coherence is being computed, and used in selection of the optimal master
image for the InSAR stack.
The master image is selected such that the dispersion of the perpendicular baseline is as
low as possible. The master image is selected maximizing the (expected) stack coherence
of the interferometric stack. The "optimal" master implies improved visual interpretation of
the interferograms and aids quality assessment.
Implementation details for selection of master image
The stack coherence for a stack with master image m is defined as:
where B symbol represents the perpendicular baseline between images m and k at the
center of the image, the symbol T the temporal baseline, and fDC the Doppler baseline (the
mean Doppler centroid frequency difference). The divisor c, in the second equation, can be
regarded as a critical baseline for which the total de-correlation is expected for targets with
the a distributed scattering mechanism.
The values given in the first equation, are typical for ERS and Envisat.
Notes and known issues
Reliability of the modeled coherence:

The coherence modeled by this functionality, and other information provided by this
functionality, is purely based on the metadata information of input products. The complex
data (nor any other information from the source product bands) in modeling of the
coherence and other parameters is not used at all. Thus this function can also be applied on
the detected products, however, the interpretation of the modeled coherence and
acceptance of recommendations for the choice of the master image has to be performed
with great care.
Known issues:
The model used in computation of coherence will severely underestimate the coherence in
ERS-2 / Envisat Cross Interferometry applications. For this, and similar application, more
robust model that integrates the principles of the wave-number shift shall be used.
Object Detection
Object Detection
The operator detects object such as ships on sea surface from SAR imagery.

The object detection operation consists of the following four major operations:
1. Pre-processing: Calibration is applied to source image to make further pre-screening easier and more accurate.
2. Land-sea masking: A land-sea mask is generated to ensure that detection is focused only on the area of interest.
3. Pre-screening: Objects are detected with a Constant False Alarm Rate(CFAR) detector.
4. Discrimination: False alarms are rejected based on object dimension.
For details of calibration, the reader is referred to the Calibration operator. Here it is assumed that the
calibration pre-processing step has been performed before applying object detection.
For details of land-sea mask generation, the reader is referred to the Create Land Mask operator.
Two-Parameter Constant False Alarm Rate (CFAR) Detector

The detector used in pre-screening operation is the two-parameter constant false alarm rate (CFAR) detector.
The basic idea is to searche pixels which are unusually bright when compared to pixels in surrounding area.
Let xt be the pixel under test and T be a given threshold, then the detection criterion can be expressed as
Let f(x) be the ocean clutter probability density function and x range through the possible pixel values,
then the probability of false alarm (PFA) is given by
and the above detection criterion is equivalent to the criterion below
If Gaussian distribution is assumed for the ocean clutter, the above detection criterion can be further expressed as
where μb is the background mean, σb is the background standard deviation and t is a detector design
parameter which is computed from PFA by the following equation
The valid PFA value is in range [0, 1].

In real implementation of the two-parameter CFAR detector, a setup shown in Figure 1 is employed. The
target window contains the pixel under test, the background “ring” contains pixels for estimating the
underlying background statistics while the guard “ring” separates the target window from the background ring
so that no pixels of an extended target are included in the background ring. The background mean
μb and the standard deviation σb used in the criterion are estimated from the pixles in the background ring.
In case that the target window contains more than one pixels, this operator uses the following detection criterion
where μt is the mean value of pixels in the target window. In this case, t should be replaced by t√n (where n is
the number of pixels in the target window) in the PFA calculation.
Adaptive Threshold Algorithm
The object detection is performed in an adaptive manner by the Adaptive Thresholding operator. For each pixel
under test, there are three windows, namely target window, guard window and background window, surrounding
it (see Figure 1).
Normally the target window size should be about the size of the smallest object to detect, the guard window
size should be about the size of the largest object, and the background window size should be large enough
to estimate accurately the local statistics.
The operator
● First computes detector design parameter t from user selected PFA using equation above.
● Then computes background mean μb and standard deviation σb using pixels in the background ring.
● Next computes the mean value μt of the target window.
● If μt > μb + σb*t, then the center pixel is detected as part of an object, otherwise not an object.
● Move all windows by one pixel to detect the next pixel.
Figure 1. Window setup for adaptive thresholding algorithm.
Discrimination
The discrimination operation is conducted by the Object Discrimination operator. During this
operation, false detections are eliminated based on simple target measurements.
1. The operator first clusters contiguous detected pixels into a single cluster.
2. Then the width and length information of the clusters are extracted.
3. Finally based on these measurements and user input discrimination criteria, clusters that are too big or too small
are eliminated.
Parameters Used
For Adaptive Thresholding operator, the following parameters are used (see Figure 2):
1. Target Window Size (m): The target window size in meters. It should be set to the size of the smallest target
to detect.
2. Guard Window Size (m): The guard window size in meters. It should be set to the size of the largest target to detect.
3. Background Window Size (m): The background window size in meters. It should be far larger than the guard
window size to ensure accurate calculation of the background statistics.
4. PFA (10^(-x)): Here user enters a positive number for parameter x, and the PFA value is computed by 10^(-x).
For example, if user enters x = 6, then PFA = 10^(-6) which is 0.000001.
Figure 2. Adaptive Thresholding Operator dialog box.
For Object Discrimination operator, the following parameters are used (see Figure 3):
1. Minimum Target Size (m): Target with dimension smaller than this threshold is eliminated.
2. Maximum Target Size (m): Target with dimension larger than this threshold is eliminated.
Figure 3. Object Discrimination Operator dialog box.
Visualize Detected Objects

To view the object detection results, the following steps should be followed:
1. Bring up the image.

2. Go to Layer Manager and add layer called "Object Detection Results".
The detected object will be circled on top of the image view (see example in the figure below). An Object
Detection Report will also be produced in XML in the .nest/log folder.
Figure 4. Object Detection Results overlayed on the image.
Reference:
[1] D. J. Crisp, "The State-of-the-Art in Ship Detection in Synthetic Aperture Radar Imagery." DSTO–RR–0272,
2004-05.
Oil Spill Detection
Oil Spill Detection

The operator detects dark spot such as oil spill on sea surface from SAR imagery.

The oil spill detection operation consists of the following four operations:
1. Pre-processing: Calibration and speckle filtering are applied to source image in this step.
2. Land-sea masking: Land-sea mask is created in this step to ensure that detection is focused
only on area of interest.
3. Dark spot detection: Dark spots are detected in this step with an adaptive thresholding
method.
4. Clustering and discrimination: Pixels detected as part of the dark spot are clustered and
then eliminated based on the dimension of the cluster and user selected minimum cluster size.
For details of calibration and speckle filtering operations, the readers are referred to the Calibration
operator and the Speckle Filter operator. Here it is assumed that the calibration and speckle filtering
have been performed before applying the oil spill detection operator.
For details of land-sea mask generation, the readers are referred to the Create Land Mask
operator.
Adaptive Threshold Algorithm

The dark spots are detected using an adaptive thresholding method.
1. First the local mean backscatter level is estimated using pixels in a large window.
2. Then the detecting threshold is set k decibel below the estimated local mean backscatter level.
Pixels within the window with values lower than the threshold are detected as dark spot. k is a
user selected parameter (see parameter Threshold Shift below).
3. Shift the window to next window position and repeat step 1 and 2.
Discrimination
1. First the contiguous detected pixels are clustered into a single cluster.
2. Then clusters with their sizes smaller than user selected Minimum Cluster Size are eliminated.
Visualize Detected Oil Spill

The oil spill detection bit mask is output as a separated band. To view the oil spill detection
results, the following steps should be followed:

2. Go to Layer Manager and add the oil spill bit mask band as a layer.
Parameters Used
For dark spot detection, the following parameters are used (see figure 1):
1. Source Bands: All bands (real or virtual) of the source product. User can select one or more
bands for producing multi-looked images. If no bands are selected, then by default all bands
are selected.
2. Background Window Size: The window size in pixels for computing local mean backscatter
level.
3. Threshold Shift (dB): The detecting threshold is lower than the local mean backscatter level by
this amount.
Figure 1. Oil Spill Detection Operator dialog box.

For clustering and discrimination, the following parameters are used (see Figure 2):
1. Minimum Cluster Size: The minimum cluster size in square kilometer. Cluster with size smaller
than this size is eliminated.
Figure 2. Oil Spill Clustering operator dialog box.
Reference:
[1] A. S. Solberg, C. Brekke and R. Solberg, "Algorithms for oil spill detection in Radarsat and
ENVISAT SAR images", Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2004. IGARSS '04.
Proceedings. 2004 IEEE International, 20-24 Sept. 2004, page 4909-4912, vol.7.
Create Land Mask
Create Land Mask

The Create Land Mask operation will turn any pixels on land into no data value. If the
"preserve land" check box is set to true then all land pixels will be preserved and all ocean
pixels will be set to no data value.
The operator will automatically download a course SRTM 5 minute DEM the first time it is
used. This DEM is used to very quickly determine if a pixel is on land or in the ocean.
Alternatively, a geometry from the product could also be used. This could be a user create
ROI or an imported Shape file.
more bands.
2. Mask the Land: Checkbox indicating that land pixels will become nodata value.
3. Mask the Sea: Checkbox indicating that sea pixels will become nodata value.
4. Use Geometry as Mask: Select a geometry or ROI from the product to use as the mask.
Anything outside the area will be nodata value.
5. Invert Geometry: Anything inside the ROI or geometry will be nodata value.
6. Bypass: Skip any land masking.
Wind Field Estimation
Wind Field Estimation

As the wind blows across the ocean surface, it generates surface roughness generally aligned with the
wind direction. Consequently the radar backscatter from this roughened surface is related to the wind
speed and direction. This operator retrieves wind speed and direction from C-band SAR imagery.

The general approach for the wind field retrieval is as the follows:
1. First a land-sea mask is generated to ensure that the estimation is focused only on the sea surface
area.
2. Then the SAR image is divided into grid using user specified window size.
3. For each grid, a wind direction (with 180° ambiguity) is estimated from features in the SAR image
using a frequency domain method.
4. With the wind direction estimated for the grid, finally the wind speed is estimated by using CMOD5
model for the Normalized Radar Cross Section (NRCS).
For details of land-sea mask generation, the reader is referred to the Create Land Mask operator.
Wind Direction Estimation

The wind direction is estimated from the features in the SAR image. Detailed steps for the estimation are
given below:
1. For each window within which a wind direction will be estimated, a local FFT size is determined. The
FFT size is 2/3 of the window size, therefore four spectra can be computed in the window with each
spectra region has a 50% overlap with the neighboring spectrum.
2. Each window is flattened by applying a large average filter, then dividing by the filtered image.
3. The FFT’s are applied and the four resulting spectra are averaged.
4. An annulus is applied to the spectrum to zero out any energy outside of a wavenumber region. The
limits of the annulus are set to wave lengths of 3 km to 15 km.
5. A 3x3 median filter is then applied to the spectrum to remove noise.
6. A 2D polynomial is fit to the resulting spectral samples and the direction through the origin which
has the largest quadratic term (i.e. the widest extent) is determined. The wind direction is then
assumed to be 90 degree from this direction.
Wind Speed Estimation
● The wind speed is estimated using the CMOD5 model for NRCS developed by Hersbach et al.
[1] for VV-polarized C-band scatterometry.
● For ENVISAT HH-polarized product, where CMOD5 model is not directly applicable, the operator
first converts the NRCS at HH polarization into a corresponding NRCS for VV polarization with the
following equation, then applies the CMOD5 model to the converted NRCS:
where θ is the incidence angle and α is set to 1.
For details of the CMOD5 model, the readers are referred to [1].
Products Supported
● The operator now is only supported for ERS and ENVISAT (VV- and HH-polarized) products. The
source product is assumed to have been calibrated before applying the operator.
Parameters Used
1. Source Bands: All bands (real or virtual) of the source product. User can select one or more bands
for producing multi-looked images. If no bands are selected, then by default all bands are selected.
2. Window Size: The dimension of a window for which wind direction and speed are estimated.
Figure 1. Wind Field Estimation dialog box
Visualize Estimated Wind Direction

To view the estimated wind directions, the following steps should be followed:

2. Go to layer manager and add layer called "Wind Field Estimation Results".
Then wind directions will be displayed as shown in the example below. Note that the wind direction is
indicated by double headed arrows because a 180° ambiguity exists in the estimated wind direction. Also
for those grids in which land pixels are found, the wind directions are not estimated and hence not
displayed.
Figure 2. Example of wind direction display
Wind Field Retrieval Result Report

The wind field estimation results are saved into an xml file .nest/log/wind_field_report.xml with the
following information given for each window in which wind estimation is made:
1. lat: Latitude of the central point in the window.

2. lon: Longitude of the central point in the window.
3. speed: Estimated wind speed in m/s.
4. dx: X component of the estimated wind vector.
5. dy: Y component of the estimated wind vector.
6. ratio: In estimating wind direction, the spectrum of a given window is matched with a 2D polynomial
(like f(x,y) = ax2 + bxy + cy2 + dx + ey +f). The ratio in the report is the ratio of the minor semi
axes over the major semi axes of the 2D polynomial. Generally speaking, the smaller the ratio value,
the more reliable the estimated wind direction.
Reference:
[1] H. Hersbach, CMOD5, “An Improved Geophysical Model Function for ERS C-Band Scatterometry”,
Report of the European Centre Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), 2003.
[2] C. C. Wackerman, W. G. Pichel, P. Clemente-Colon, “Automated Estimation of Wind Vectors from
SAR”, 12th Conference on Interactions of the Sea and Atmosphere, 2003.
General Design
NEST Architecture
NEST consists of a collection of processing modules and data product readers and writers.
All modules are centered on the Generic Product Model (GPM) of the BEAM-NEST Core. The GPM is a
common, unified data model designed so that all data readers convert data into this data model and all analysis
and processing tools use this data model exclusively.
Data product reader modules ingest all the data of a particular product, including metadata and transform it into
the GPM data structure. The GPM is abstract enough to handle all types of data products without losing
any information. The NEST tools have only one interface to the GPM in order to work with the data. Data
product writers are able to take the data from the GPM and produce an external file format. With a GPM,
file conversions from one file format to another are easily achieved with the appropriate reader and writer
modules. Furthermore, the DAT, tools and future plug-ins are not dependent on which data products are supported
or any specific complexities of the file formats.
NEST’s primary goal is to read in ESA and third part SAR data products, provide tools for
calibration, orthorectification, co-registration, interferometry, and data manipulation, and then convert the data
into common file formats used by other 3rd party SAR software.
Built on Beam
The NEST architecture is built upon the proven and extensible architecture of BEAM. BEAM features an
Application Programming Interface (API) that was designed and developed from the beginning to be used by
3rd parties to extend BEAM or re-use it in their own applications.
BEAM is an application suite which facilitates the utilization, viewing and processing of MERIS, AATSR and ASAR
data products of the ESA ENVISAT environmental satellite. It provides a multitude of tools and functions to
visualize, analyze, manipulate and modify earth observation data.
Although BEAM has been intended specifically for optical data, the BEAM architecture has been designed
and developed to facilitate the extension and re-use of its code base such that it is feasible to use BEAM’s
core framework as the building blocks to develop a Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) toolbox.
NEST and BEAM share a common core that enables the exchange of modules between the two toolboxes.
This common core is maintained cooperatively by both Array Systems Computing Inc., the developers of NEST
and Brockmann Consult, the developers of BEAM.
The majority of the NEST functionality is encapsulated in BEAM plug-in modules. As such, some modules
are interchangeable between the two systems.
Detailed Design
BEAM-NEST Core
The common BEAM-NEST Core architecture consists of various plug-in modules which are independently
developed, modified and versioned. The core framework is made up of the beam-core, beam-gpf, beam-
processing, beam-ui and beam-visat modules.
The core modules make use of ceres-core, ceres-ui and ceres-binding. These modules package utility
classes for module registration, versioning, application building and swing user interface helper functions.
The beam-core contains most of the managers and data model including the data IO for the product
readers and format writers. The beam-gpf is the Graph Processing Framework (GPF), which implements
the new processing framework introduced in version 4 of the software. Processing tasks are
implemented as Operators. The GPF provides a way to execute a chain of sequential processing steps on
an image. The beam-processing is the old version 3 processing framework, which will not be used by
NEST directly but may still have dependencies for some BEAM operators. The beam-ui provides the user
interface framework for creating applications, windows and dialogs. Beam-visat is the primary
application and user interface to the tools in BEAM. VISAT supports extensions for views for displaying
data, actions to add menu items and toolbar buttons to trigger user initiated events.
For more information, please refer to the Detailed NEST API JavaDoc.
Open Source NEST
Open Source Development

The NEST software and full source code is freely distributed under the GNU GPL license.
Open source makes software inherently independent of specific vendors, programmers and
suppliers. The software can be freely distributed and shared by large communities and
includes the source code and the right to modify it. This not only ensures that there isn’t a
single entity on which the future of the software depends, but also allows for unlimited
improvements and tuning of the quality and functionality of the software.
By making NEST open source, future evolution and growth of the toolbox will be possible by
the community of users and developers that contribute to the project.
Building NEST
Building NEST from the source

1. Download and install the required build tools
● Install J2SE 1.6 JDK and set JAVA_HOME accordingly.

● Install Maven and set MAVEN_HOME accordingly.
● Install Java Advanced Imaging JDK & JRE
● Install JAI Image I/O JDK & JRE
2. Add $JAVA_HOME/bin and $MAVEN_HOME/bin to your PATH.

3. Download the NEST source code and unpack into $MY_PROJECTS/nest.
4. Copy 3rd-party folder found in nest-developer-tools\maven-dependencies into your
Maven repository, which is by default ~/.m2/repository on Linux and C:\Documents and
Settings\user_name\.m2\repository on Windows.
5. Open a Command Prompt or Terminal and CD into the nest source code folder
6. To build NEST from source: Type mvn compile or mvn package
7. To build a release of the software type mvn package assembly:assembly
Using NEST source with an Integrated

Development Environment(IDE)
IntelliJ IDEA users:
1. Build IDEA project files for NEST: Type mvn compile idea:idea
2. In IDEA, go to the IDEA Main Menu/File/Open Project and open the created project
file $MY_PROJECTS/nest/nest.ipr
Eclipse users:
1. Build IDEA project files for NEST: Type mvn compile eclipse:eclipse
2. From Eclipse, click on Main Menu/File/Import
3. Select General/Existing Project into Workspace
4. Select Root Directory $MY_PROJECTS/nest
5. Set the M2_REPO classpath variable:
❍ Open Window/Preferences..., then select Java/Build Path/Classpath Variables

❍ Select New... and add variable M2_REPO
❍ Select Folder... and choose the location of your Maven local repository, e.g ~/.
m2/repository
Note: In Eclipse, some purposely malformed XML in a unit test may prevent you from
building the source.
Simply delete these files module-no-xml.xml and module-malformed-xml.xml in
$MY_PROJECTS/nest/beam/ceres-0.x/ceres-core/src/test/resources/com/bc/ceres/
core/runtime/internal/xml
For both IDEA and Eclipse, use the following configuration to run DAT as an Application:
● Main class: com.bc.ceres.launcher.Launcher

● VM parameters: -Xmx1024M -Dceres.context=nest
● Program parameters: none
● Working directory: $MY_PROJECTS/nest/beam
● Use classpath of module nest-bootstrap (For eclipse click on user entry, press the
button add project and select nest-bootstrap)
Developing A Reader
Readers
To create a reader plugin implement the ProductReaderPlugIn interface.
public interface ProductReaderPlugIn extends ProductIOPlugIn {
/**
* Gets the qualification of the product reader to decode a given input object.
*
* @param input the input object
* @return the decode qualification
*/
DecodeQualification getDecodeQualification(Object input);
/**
* Returns an array containing the classes that represent valid input types for this
reader.
* <p/>
* <p> Intances of the classes returned in this array are valid objects for the
<code>setInput</code> method of the
* <code>ProductReader</code> interface (the method will not throw an
<code>InvalidArgumentException</code> in this
* case).
*
* @return an array containing valid input types, never <code>null</code>
*/
Class[] getInputTypes();
/**
* Creates an instance of the actual product reader class. This method should never
return <code>null</code>.
*
* @return a new reader instance, never <code>null</code>
*/
ProductReader createReaderInstance();
}
The reader plugin should create a new instance of your reader in createReaderInstance().
To create a reader implementation, extend the AbstractProductReader. In

readProductNodesImpl(), read your data files and create a new Product object.
In readBandRasterDataImpl() fill the destination buffer with band data for the requested
rectangular area.
Maven DataIO Archetype
The Maven 2 Archetype Plugin for NEST data I/O modules is used to create archetypes for
NEST data I/O modules.
A Maven Archetype is a template toolkit for generating a new module package. By using the
Maven Archetype you can create a module structure easily and get started adding your code
to the module.
A DataIO Archetype will generate a product reader and writer within the same package.
Before beginning, make sure that you have built the NEST source code and do a maven
install to ensure that all dependencies are in the repository.
From the command line type the following from the NEST source code root folder.:
mvn archetype:create
-DarchetypeGroupId=org.esa.nest.maven
-DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-nest-dataio-archetype
-DarchetypeVersion=1.0
-DgroupId=myGroupId
-DartifactId=myArtifactId
-Dversion=myVersion
-DpackageName=myPackageName
where
● myGroupId will become the groupId of the generated POM

● myArtifactId will become the artifactId of the generated POM and the NEST
module's symbolicName.
● myVersion will become the version of the generated POM and NEST module. Defaults
to 1.0-SNAPSHOT.
● myPackageName will become the source package name. Defaults to the value of
myGroupId .
Please also refer to the documentation of the Maven 2 Archetype Plugin.
Example
mvn archetype:create -DarchetypeGroupId=org.esa.nest.maven -

DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-nest-dataio-archetype -
DarchetypeVersion=1.0 -DgroupId=org.esa.nest -DartifactId=nest-sar-
io
Publishing a Reader
Reader implementations are published via the Java service provider interface (SPI). A JAR
publishes its readers in the resource file META-INF/services/org.esa.beam.framework.dataio.
ProductReaderPlugIn. In this file add your reader SPI eg: org.esa.nest.dataio.radarsat2.
Radarsat2ProductReaderPlugIn
Adding Menu Item Actions

In the modules.xml file found in the resources folder of the package, add an Action to create a
menu item in the DAT. State the class of the Action to be called and the text to show in the
menu item.
<action>
<id>importRadarsat2Product</id>
<class>org.esa.beam.visat.actions.ProductImportAction</class>
<formatName>Radarsat 2</formatName>
<shortDescr>Import a Radarsat2 data product or product subset.</shortDescr>
<description>Import a Radarsat2 data product or product subset.</description>
<largeIcon>icons/Import24.gif</largeIcon>
<placeAfter>importRadarsatProduct</placeAfter>
<helpId>importRadarsat2Product</helpId>
</action>
Developing A Writer
Writers
To create a writer plugin implement the ProductWriterPlugIn interface.
public interface ProductWriterPlugIn extends ProductIOPlugIn {
/**
* Returns an array containing the classes that represent valid output types for this
writer.
* <p/>
* <p> Instances of the classes returned in this array are valid objects for the
<code>setOutput</code> method of the
* <code>ProductWriter</code> interface (the method will not throw an
<code>InvalidArgumentException</code> in this
* case).
*
* @return an array containing valid output types, never <code>null</code>
*
* @see ProductWriter#writeProductNodes
*/
Class[] getOutputTypes();
/**
* Creates an instance of the actual product writer class. This method should never
return <code>null</code>.
*
* @return a new writer instance, never <code>null</code>
*/
ProductWriter createWriterInstance();
}
The writer plugin should create a new instance of your reader in createWriterInstance().
To create a writer implementation, extend the AbstractProductWriter. In

writeProductNodesImpl(), write your data files.
WriteBandRasterData() writes raster data from the given in-memory source buffer into the
data sink specified by the given source band and region.
Maven DataIO Archetype

The Maven 2 Archetype Plugin for NEST data I/O modules is used to create archetypes for
NEST data I/O modules.
A Maven Archetype is a template toolkit for generating a new module package. By using the
Maven Archetype you can create a module structure easily and get started adding your code
to the module.
A DataIO Archetype will generate a product reader and writer within the same package.
From the command line type the following from the NEST source code root folder.:
-DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-nest-dataio-archetype
-DgroupId=myGroupId
-Dversion=myVersion
where

to 1.0-SNAPSHOT.
myGroupId .
Example

DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-nest-dataio-archetype -
DarchetypeVersion=1.0 -DgroupId=org.esa.nest -DartifactId=nest-sar-
io
Publishing a Writer
Writer implementations are published via the Java service provider interface (SPI). A JAR
publishes its writers in the resource file META-INF/services/org.esa.beam.framework.dataio.
ProductWriterPlugIn. In this file add your writer SPI eg: org.esa.beam.dataio.geotiff.
GeoTiffProductWriterPlugIn
In the modules.xml file found in the resources folder of the package, add an Action to create a
menu item in the DAT. State the class of the Action to be called and the text to show in the
menu item.
<action>
<id>exportGeoTIFFProduct</id>
<class>org.esa.beam.dataio.geotiff.GeoTiffExportAction</class>
<formatName>GeoTIFF</formatName>
<useAllFileFilter>true</useAllFileFilter>
<mnemonic>O</mnemonic>
<text>Export GeoTIFF Product...</text>
<shortDescr>Export a GeoTIFF data product or subset.</shortDescr>
<description>Export a GeoTIFF data product or product subset.</description>
<helpId>exportGeoTIFFProduct</helpId>
</action>
Developing An Operator
Operators
The Operator interface is simple to extend. An Operator basically takes a source product as
input and creates a new target product within initialize(). The algorithm implementation for
what your operator does will go inside computTile() or computeTiles(). Operators work on
the data tile by tile. The size of the tile may be dependent on the requests of other
Operators in the graph.
public interface Operator {
OperatorSpi getSpi();
Product initialize(OperatorContext context);
void computeTile(Tile targetTile, ProgressMonitor pm);
void computeTileStack(Rectangle targetTileRectangle, ProgressMonitor pm);
void dispose();
}
The computeTile and computeTileStack methods express different application
requirements. Clients may either implement computeTile or computeTileStack or both. In
general, the algorithm dictates which of the methods will be implemented. Some algorithms
can compute their output bands independently (band-arithmetic, radiance to reflectance
conversion), other cannot.
The GPF selects the method which best fits the application requirements:
● In order to display an image of a band, the GPF is asked to compute tiles of single
bands. The GPF therefore will prefer calling the computeTile method, if implemented.
Otherwise it has to call computeTileStack, which might not be the best choice in this
case.
● In order to process in batch-mode or to save a product to disk, the GPF is asked to
compute the tiles of all bands of a product. The GPF therefore will prefer calling the
computeTileStack method, if implemented. Otherwise it will consecutively call the
computeTile for each output band
Maven GPF Archetype

The Maven 2 Archetype Plugin for NEST GPF modules is used to create archetypes for
NEST GPF modules.
A Maven Archetype is a template toolkit for generating a new module package. By using
the Maven Archetype you can create a module structure easily and get started adding your
code to the module.
A GPF Archetype will generate a single tile and a multi tile Operator within the same
package.
From the command line type the following from the NEST source code root folder:
-DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-nest-gpf-archetype
-DgroupId=myGroupId
-Dversion=myVersion
where

to 1.0-SNAPSHOT.
myGroupId .
Example

DarchetypeArtifactId=maven-nest-gpf-archetype -DarchetypeVersion=1.0
-DgroupId=org.esa.nest -DartifactId=nest-sar-op
Publishing an Operator
Operator implementations are published via the Java service provider interface (SPI). A JAR
publishes its operators in the resource file META-INF/services/org.esa.beam.framework.
gpf.OperatorSpi. In this file add your operator SPI eg: org.esa.nest.gpf.MultilookOp$Spi
In your Operator package add a class to extend the OperatorSpi interface. This class may
also serve as a factory for new operator instances.
public static class Spi extends OperatorSpi {
public Spi() {
super(MultilookOp.class);
}
}

In the modules.xml file found in the resources folder of the package, add an Action to
create a menu item in the DAT. State the class of the Action to be called and the text to
show in the menu item.
<action>
<id>SlantRangeGroundRangeOp</id>
<class>org.esa.nest.dat.SRGROpAction</class>
<text>Slant Range to Ground Range</text>
<shortDescr>Converts a product to/from slant range to/from ground range</
shortDescr>
<parent>geometry</parent>
<helpId>SRGROp</helpId>
</action>
The Action class should extend AbstractVisatAction and override the handler for
actionPerformed
public class SRGROpAction extends AbstractVisatAction {
private DefaultSingleTargetProductDialog dialog;
@Override
public void actionPerformed(CommandEvent event) {
if (dialog == null) {
dialog = new DefaultSingleTargetProductDialog("SRGR", getAppContext(), "Slant
Range to Ground Range", getHelpId());
dialog.setTargetProductNameSuffix("_GR");
}
dialog.show();
}
Remote Sensing Tutorials
Remote Sensing Links

Eduspace Principles of Remote Sensing from ESA
http://www.eduspace.esa.int/eduspace
Fundamentals of Remote Sensing from CCRS

http://ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/resource/tutor/fundam/index_e.php
Remote Sensing Tutorial from NASA

http://rst.gsfc.nasa.gov/
Principles of Remote Sensing from the National University of Singapore

http://www.crisp.nus.edu.sg/~research/tutorial/rsmain.htm
Virtual Library on Remote Sensing from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland
http://virtual.vtt.fi/virtual/space/rsvlib/
Synthetic Aperture Radar Links

SAR Courses and Applications from ESA
http://earth.esa.int/applications/data_util/SARDOCS/spaceborne/
SAR Land Applications from ESA

http://www.tiger.esa.int/training/SAR_LA1_th.pdf
Polarimetry Tutorial from ESA

http://envisat.esa.int/polsarpro/tutorial.html
Radar Remote Sensing from CCRS

http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/resource/tutor/gsarcd/index_e.php
CCRS Image Interpretation Quiz
http://www.ccrs.nrcan.gc.ca/resource/tutor/iquiz/intro_e.php
SAR Users Manual from NOAA

http://www.sarusersmanual.com/
Basic Concepts and Image Formation

http://epsilon.nought.de/tutorials/processing/index.php
Interferometric SAR Training Manual from ESA

http://www.esa.int/esaMI/ESA_Publications/SEM867MJC0F_0.html
SAR Interferometry
http://epsilon.nought.de/tutorials/insar_tmr/index.php
2009 International GEO Workshop on SAR to Support Agricultural Monitoring
http://www.cgeo.gc.ca/events-evenements/sar-ros/training-formation-man-eng.pdf
Radar Remote Sensing Overview
ESA 2010 Warsaw SAR Course part I
ESA 2010 Warsaw SAR Course part II
Quick Start With The DAT
Opening Products
Image Products can be opened by either the Open Raster Dataset menu item in the File menu
or by selecting the reader directly from the Product Readers menu.

The Open Raster menu item will try to automatically determine which reader to use and it can open one or
multiple data products stored on the hard disk in DAT. You can select more than one product, e.g. by
pressing CTRL and selecting the desired products with the mouse.
By selecting the specific Product Reader, the path to datasets of that type can be stored and reused the next
time you open a similar product.
After having opened the product, the data is listed in the Products View where you can examine product
structure and metadata.
A Product consists of the following:
● Identification: Basic information on the product (Mission, Product type, Acquisition time, Track and Orbit)
● Metadata: This includes all the original metadata within the product, the Processing_graph history recording
the processing that was done and the Abstracted Metadata which is the important metadata fields used by
the Operators in a common format.
● Tie Point Grids: Raster grids created interpolating the tie-points information within the product. The interpolation
is done on the fly according to the product.
● Bands: The actual bands inside the product and virtual bands created from expressions. Different icons are used
to distinguish these bands.
The information in the metadata and the bands created can vary according to the product.
Below is an example of an ENVISAT ASAR IMP product opened in the Products View.
Double click on the Abstracted Metadata to view all critical fields.
Double click on a band to open it in an Image View.
After you have opened an Image View you can modify the colors of the image using the colour manipulation
window or overlay an opaque or semi-transparent bitmask with the bitmask overlay window. Both windows operate
in non-modal mode, which means they float over DAT's main frame, and you can place them somewhere on
your desktop.
To see what region of the world is covered by the data product, select the World Map View from the View/
ToolViews menu.
Changing Default Paths

Open the Settings dialog from the Edit menu. The Settings dialog allows you to customize the default data
path directories for your Digital Elevation models and orbit files. For DELFT Precise Orbits and SRTM 3sec DEM,
the Toolbox will automatically download required files as needed and place them in the folders specified in
the Settings dialog. For ACE 30src DEM, you will need to download the files manually and place them in the
folder specified in the Settings dialog.
Creating A Project
With Projects, you can organise and store complex processing over multiple datasets. The main advantage of
using Projects is that it automatically organizes the processed images in separate directories
Start by creating a New Project from the File menu. From the New Project dialog, browse for a folder and
enter the project name. A new Project folder with the Project name given will be created along with a Project XML
file which will store information about your Project.
Next, use the Product Library to browse and select data products to import or double click on them to open
them directly.
From the Project View you can double click on a product to open it in the Product View.
From the Product View you can examine a products metadata or double click on a band to open it in an Image View.
Coregistration Tutorial
Coregistering Products
Image co-registration is fundamental for Interferometry SAR (InSAR) imaging and its
applications, such as DEM map generation and analysis. To obtain a high quality InSAR
image, the individual complex images need to be co-registered to sub-pixel accuracy.
The toolbox will accurately co-register one or more slave images with respect to a master
image. The co-registration function is fully automatic, in the sense that it does not require
the user to manually select ground control points (GCPs) for the master and slave images.
Images may be fully or only partly overlapping and may be from acquisitions taken at
different times using multiple sensors or from multiple passages of the same satellite.
The achievable co-registration accuracy for images in the same acquisition geometry and
over flat areas will be better than 0.2 pixels for two real images and better than 0.05 pixels
for two complex images.
The image co-registration is accomplished in three major processing steps (see Figure 1)
with three operators: Create Stack operator, GCP Selection operator and Warp operator.
Figure 1. Image co-registration
Input Images
The input images for the co-registration function can be complex or real. But all images
must belong to the same type (i.e. they must all be complex or all real) and have the same
projection system (all slant range or all ground range projected or all geocoded). If the
images are not in the same projection, the slave image(s) should be reprojected into the
same projection system as that of the master image.
Create Stack
The Create Stack operator collocates the master and slave images. Basically the slave
image data is resampled into the geographical raster of the master image. By doing so the
master and slave images share the same geopositioning information and have the same
dimension. For details of the Create Stack operator, readers are referred to Create Stack
operator. For coregistration of detected products it is ok to use the resamling methods. For
coregistration of complex products for interferometry, the option to not do any resampling
in the CreateStack should be used.
GCP Selection
The GCP Selection operator then creates an alignment between master and slave images
by matching the user selected master GCPs to their corresponding slave GCPs. There are
two stages for the operation: coarse registration and fine registration. For real images co-
registration, the coarse registration is applied. The registration is achieved by maximizing
the cross-correlation between master and slave images on a series of imagettes defined
across the images. For complex image co-registration, the additional fine registration is
applied. The registration is achieved by maximizing the coherence between master and
slave images at a series of imagettes defined across the images. For details of the GCP
Selection operator, readers are referred to GCP Selection operator.
Warp
With the master-slave GCP pairs selected, a warp function is created by the Warp operator,
which maps pixels in the slave image into pixels in the master image. For details of
the Warp operator, readers are referred to Warp operator.
Co-Registration from the DAT

Detailed steps of using this operator are given below:
1. From the SAR Tools menu, select Coregistration.

2. Add a master product to the ProductSet Reader.
3. Add any slave products to the ProductSet reader or drag and drop products from a
Project.
4. In the CreateStack tab, select one source band from the master and one source band
from the slave for detected products. If you are using complex data products,
select bands i and q for the master and select bands i and q from the slaves. For
interferometric processing, select no resampling and Master extents in the CreateStack.
5. In the GCP Selection tab enter the number of GCPs to create.
6. In the Warp tab select the RMS threshold and warp polynomial order.
7. In the Target tab enter in the output product name and location.
8. Press the Run button to begin processing.
Orthorectification Tutorial
Terrain Correction
The Terrain Correction Operator will produce an orthorectified product in the WGS 84
geographic coordinates. The Range Doppler orthorectification method [1] is implemented for geocoding
SAR images from a single 2D raster radar geometry. It uses available orbit state vector information in
the metadata or external precise orbit, the radar timing annotations, the slant to ground range
conversion parameters together with the reference DEM data to derive the precise
geolocation information. Optionally radiometric normalisation can be applied to the orthorectified image
to produce σ0, γ0 or β0 output.
The Ellipsoid Correction RD and Ellipsoid Correction GG Operators will produce ellipsoid corrected products in
the WGS 84 geographic coordinates. The Terrain Correction Operator should be used whenever DEM is available.
The Ellipsoid Correction (RD and GG) should be used only when DEM is not available.
Orthorectification Algorithm
The Range Doppler Terrain Correction Operator implements the Range Doppler orthorectification method [1]
for geocoding SAR images from single 2D raster radar geometry. It uses available orbit state vector information
in the metadata or external precise orbit (only for ERS and ASAR), the radar timing annotations, the slant to
ground range conversion parameters together with the reference DEM data to derive the precise
geolocation information.
Products Supported
● ASAR (IMS, IMP, IMM, APP, APM, WSM) and ERS products (SLC, IMP) are fully supported.
● RADARSAT-2 (all products)
● TerraSAR-X (SSC only)
● Cosmo-Skymed
DEMs Supported
Right now only the DEMs with geographic coordinates (Plat, Plon, Ph) referred to global geodetic ellipsoid
reference WGS84 (and height in meters) are properly supported.
STRM v.4 (3” tiles) from the Joint Research Center FTP (xftp.jrc.it) are downloaded automatically for the
area covered by the image to be orthorectified. The tiles will be downloaded to the folder C:\AuxData
\DEMs\SRTM_DEM\tiff or the folder specified in the Settings.
The Test Connectivity functionality under the Help tab in the main menu bar allows the user to verify if the
SRTM downloading is working properly.
Please note that for ACE and SRTM, the height information (being referred to geoid EGM96) is automatically
corrected to obtain height relative to the WGS84 ellipsoid. For Aster Dem height correction is already applied.
Note also that the SRTM DEM covers area between -60 and 60 degrees latitude. Therefore, for orthorectification
of product of high latitude area, different DEM should be used.
User can also use external DEM file in Geotiff format which, as specified above, must be with
geographic coordinates (Plat, Plon, Ph) referred to global geodetic ellipsoid reference WGS84 (and height in meters)
Pixel Spacing
Besides the default suggested pixel spacing computed with parameters in the metadata, user can specify output
pixel spacing for the orthorectified image.
The pixel spacing can be entered in both meters and degrees. If the pixel spacing in one unit is entered, then
the pixel spacing in another unit is computed automatically.
The calculations of the pixel spacing in meters and in degrees are given by the following equations:
where EquatorialEarthRadius = 6378137.0 m and PolarEarthRadius = 6356752.314245 m as given in WGS84.
This option implements a radiometric normalization based on the approach proposed by Kellndorfer et al.,
TGRS, Sept. 1998 where
In current implementation θDEM is the local incidence angle projected into the range plane and defined as the
angle between the incoming radiation vector and the projected surface normal vector into range plane[2]. The
range plane is the plane formed by the satellite position, backscattering element position and the earth centre.
Note that among σ0, γ0 and β0 bands output in the target product, only σ0 is real band while γ0 and β0 are
virtual bands expressed in terms of σ0 and incidence angle. Therefore, σ0 and incidence angle are automatically
saved and output if γ0 or β0 is selected.
For σ0 and γ0 calculation, by default the projected local incidence angle from DEM [2] (local incidence angle
projected into range plane) option is selected, but the option of incidence angle from ellipsoid correction
(incidence angle from tie points of the source product) is also available.
ENVISAT ASAR
The correction factors [3] applied to the original image depend on the product being complex or detected
and the selection of Auxiliary file (ASAR XCA file).
The most recent ASAR XCA available from the installation folder \auxdata\envisat compatible with product date is
automatically selected. According to this XCA file, calibration constant, range spreading loss and antenna pattern
gain are obtained.
3. apply range spreading loss correction based on the XCA file and DEM geometry
4. apply antenna pattern gain correction based on the XCA file and DEM geometry
User can select a specific ASAR XCA file available from the installation folder \auxdata\envisat or from another
repository. According to this selected XCA file, calibration constant, range spreading loss and antenna pattern gain
are computed.
3. apply range spreading loss correction based on the selected XCA file and DEM geometry
4. apply antenna pattern gain correction based on the selected XCA file and DEM geometry
The most recent ASAR XCA available compatible with product date is automatically selected. Basically with this
option all the correction factors applied to the original SAR image based on product XCA file used during the
focusing, such as antenna pattern gain and range spreading loss, are removed first. Then new factors computed
according to the new ASAR XCA file together with calibration constant and local incidence angle correction factors
are applied during the radiometric normalisation process.
5. apply range spreading loss correction based on new XCA file and DEM geometry
6. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on new XCA file and DEM geometry
The product ASAR XCA file employed during the focusing is used. With this option the antenna pattern gain and
range spreading loss are kept from the original product and only the calibration constant and local incidence angle
correction factors are applied during the radiometric normalisation process.
The User can select a specific ASAR XCA file available from the installation folder \auxdata\envisat or from another
repository. Basically with this option all the correction factors applied to the original SAR image based on product
XCA file used during the focusing, such as antenna pattern gain and range spreading loss, are removed first. Then
new factors computed according to the new selected ASAR XCA file together with calibration constant and local
incidence angle correction factors are applied during the radiometric normalisation process.
5. apply range spreading loss correction based on new selected XCA file and DEM geometry
6. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on new selected XCA file and DEM geometry
Please note that if the product has been previously multilooked then the radiometric normalization does not
correct the antenna pattern and range spreading loss and only constant and incidence angle corrections are
applied. This is because the original antenna pattern and the range spreading loss correction cannot be
properly removed due to the pixel averaging by multilooking.
If user needs to apply a radiometric normalization, multilook and terrain correction to a product, then user
graph “RemoveAntPat_Multilook_Orthorectify” could be used.
ERS 1&2
For ERS 1&2 the radiometric normalization cannot be applied directly to original ERS product.
Because of the Analogue to Digital Converter (ADC) power loss correction , a step before is required to
properly handle the data. It is necessary to employ the Remove Antenna Pattern Operator which performs
the following operations:

After having applied the Remove Antenna Pattern Operator to ERS data, the radiometric normalisation can
be performed during the Terrain Correction.
4. apply new antenna pattern gain correction based on product metadata and DEM geometry
To apply radiometric normalization and terrain correction for ERS, user can also use one of the following user graphs:
RADARSAT-2
● In case of "USE projected angle from the DEM" selection, the radiometric normalisation is performed applying the
product LUTs and multiplying by (sin •DEM/sin •el), where •DEM is projected local incidence angle into the range
plane and •el is the incidence angle computed from the tie point grid respect to ellipsoid.
● In case of selection of "USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid", the radiometric normalisation is performed applying the
product LUT.
These LUTs allow one to convert the digital numbers found in the output product to sigma-nought, beta-nought,
or gamma-nought values (depending on which LUT is used).
TerraSAR-X
● In case of "USE projected angle from the DEM" selection, the radiometric normalisation is performed applying
● In case of " USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid " selection, the radiometric normalisation is performed applying
Please note that the simplified approach where Noise Equivalent Beta Naught is neglected has been implemented.
Cosmo-SkyMed
● In case of "USE projected angle from the DEM" selection, the radiometric normalisation is performed deriving
σ0Ellipsoid [7] and then multiplying by (sinθDEM / sinθel), where θDEM is the projected local incidence angle into the
range plane and θel is the incidence angle computed from the tie point grid respect to ellipsoid.
● In case of selection of "USE incidence angle from Ellipsoid", the radiometric normalisation is performed deriving
σ0Ellipsoid [7]
Definitions:
1. The local incidence angle is defined as the angle between the normal vector of the backscattering element (i.e. vector
perpendicular to the ground surface) and the incoming radiation vector (i.e. vector formed by the satellite
position and the backscattering element position) [2].
2. The projected local incidence angle from DEM is defined as the angle between the incoming radiation vector (as
defined above) and the projected surface normal vector into range plane. Here range plane is the plane formed
by the satellite position, backscattering element position and the earth centre [2].
Steps to Produce Orthorectified Image
The following steps should be followed to produce an orthorectified image:
1. From the Geometry menu select Terrain Correction. This will call up the dialog for the Terrain Correction Operator
(Figure 1).
2. Select your source bands.
3. Select the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) to use. You can select 30 second GETASSE30 or ACE DEMs if they are
installed on your computer. Preferably, select the SRTM 3 second DEM which has much better resolution and can
be downloaded as need automatically if you have an internet connection. Alternatively, you could also browse for an
External DEM tile. Currently only DEM in Geotiff format with geographic coordinates (Plat, Plon, Ph) referred to
global geodetic ellipsoid reference WGS84 (and height in meters) is accepted.
4. Select the interpolation methods to use for the DEM resampling and the target image resampling.
5. Optionally select the Pixel Spacing in meters for the orthorectified image. By default the pixel spacing
computed from the original SAR image is used. For details, the reader is referred to Pixel Spacing section above.
6. Optionally select the Pixel Spacing in degrees for the orthorectified image. By default it is computed from the pixel
spacing in meters. If any of the two pixel spacing is changed, the other one is updated accordingly. For details,
the reader is referred to Pixel Spacing section above.
7. Optionally select Map Projection. The orthorectified image will be presented with the user selected map projection. By
default the output image will be expressed in WGS84 latlong geographic coordinate.
8. Optionally select to save the DEM as a band and the local incidence angle.
9. Optionally select to apply Radiometric Normalizatin to output σ0, γ0 or β0 of the orthorectified image.
10. Press Run to process the data.
Figure 1. Terrain Correction operator dialog box.
Below are some sample images showing the Terrain Correction result of an ASAR IMS
product ASA_IMS_1PNUPA20081003_092731_000000162072_00351_34473_2366.N1, acquired on October
3, 2008, imaging the area around Rome in Central Italy.
The ASAR IMS image has been multi-looked with 2 Range looks and 10 Azimuth Looks before to be orthorectified.
The DEM employed is the SRTM 3 second Version 4 and since the SRTM height information is referred to
geoid EGM96, not WGS84 ellipsoid, correction has been applied to obtain height relative to the WGS84 ellipsoid
(this is done automatically)
Figure 2 is in the original SAR geometry after multi-looking 2-10.
The orthorectified image and its radiometric normalised image σ0 are shown in Figure 3 and Figure 4 respectively.
Figures 5 and 6 are a zoom of the figure 3 and 4.
The radiometric scale is in dB/m^2.

Figure 3. Original SAR Geometry after multi-looking 2-10.
Figure 3. Orthrectified image.
Figure 4. Radiometric normalized image.
Figure 5. Zoom in of the orthorectified image.
Figure 6. Zoom in of the
radiometric normalized image.
After Terrain Correction your SAR data will be closer to the real world geometry and you will be able to overlay
layers from other sources correctly.
Reference:
[1] Small D., Schubert A., Guide to ASAR Geocoding, RSL-ASAR-GC-AD, Issue 1.0, March 2008
[2] Schreier G., SAR Geocoding: Data and Systems, Wichmann 1993
[3] Rosich B., Meadows P., Absolute calibration of ASAR Level 1 products, ESA/ESRIN, ENVI-CLVL-EOPG-TN-03-
0010, Issue 1, Rev. 5, October 2004
Derivation of σ0 in ESA ERS SAR PRI Products, ESA/ESRIN, ES-TN-RS-PM-HL09, Issue 2, Rev. 5f, November 2004
[5] RADARSAT-2 PRODUCT FORMAT DEFINITION - RN-RP-51-2713 Issue 1/7: March 14, 2008
[6] Radiometric Calibration of TerraSAR-X data - TSXX-ITD-TN-0049-radiometric_calculations_I1.00.doc, 2008
[7] For further details about Cosmo-SkyMed calibration please contact Cosmo-SkyMed Help Desk at info.
cosmo@e-geos.it
Processing from the Command Line
Running a Graph
First, create a graph using the Graph Builder in the DAT. The graph does not need any
particular source products for the readers as you will be specifying the input products from
the command line. Save the graph to a file.
Next, from the command line (DOS prompt in Windows or terminal in Linux) type gpt.bat -
h or gpt.sh -h to display the help message.
This tutorial will use the command gpt but you may need to specify gpt.bat in Windows or
gpt.sh in Linux.
If the help does not appear, then it may indicate that your environment variables are not
setup. Please refer to the installation FAQ.
In order to run a single reader graph type:
gpt graphFile.xml inputProduct
This will process the graph graphFile.xml and use inputProduct as input. The output will be
created in a file in the current directory called target.dim
To specify the output target product and location type:
gpt graphFile.xml inputProduct -t c:\output\targetProduct.dim
Terrain Correction
To terrain correct using the graph in the Graphs\Standard Graphs folder
gpt "graphs\Standard Graphs\Orthorectify.xml" "c:\data\input.N1"
Coregistration
To coregister you will need a graph with a ProductSet Reader that will help you specify a
list of input products.
Using the Standard Graphs\Coregister.xml graph and an input folder containing all products
we wish to coregister together, type:
gpt "graphs\Standard Graphs\Coregister.xml" -inFolder c:\data
Assuming all products are in relatively the same geolocation, this will coregister all product
in folder c:\data into a coregistered stack
Frequently Asked Questions
Installation F.A.Q.
What is the minimum required hardware to run NEST

It is recommended to have at least 2GB of memory. NEST can work with only 1GB but may
run slower.
To run the 3D WorldWind View, it is recommended to have a 3D graphics card with updated
drivers.
NEST has been tested to work on 32 and 64 bit Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Linux.
I can't start up the DAT

Try running from the command line to see any errors using dat.bat on Windows or dat.sh
on Linux. If the error mentions something to do with any of "WorldWind, native library,
JOGL, glugen, or OpenGL" then it may be a problem with WorldWind:
Try first to update your drivers (How to update windows drivers) (ATI/AMD - Nvidia - Intel)
If that doesn't work, then try removing WorldWind by deleting the file from your NEST
installation folder NEST4C/modules/nest-world-wind-view-3C.jar
When I start the DAT it says it could not create the Java virtual
machine
In dat.bat or dat.sh try reducing the Java maximum heap size -Xmx1024M value to
somthing smaller like -Xmx800M
How can I get WorldWind to work? I see a blank window in the

World View.
To use the WorldWind World Map and 3D View, a 3D video card with updated drivers is
necessary.
Update your video card drivers. (How to update windows drivers) (ATI/AMD - Nvidia - Intel)
The installer is not working for me

Try downloading the Java binary version of NEST. It is simply a zipped folder without an
installer.
If you would like to run he gpt from any folder, you will need to set the NEST_HOME path
to where ever you unzip it.
For example on Windows go to Control Panel -> System -> Advanced -> Evironment
Variables
Add a variable for NEST_HOME to point to the installation folder and also include %
NEST_HOME% in the PATH variable.
On Linux, set these environment variables in .profile or .bash_profile in your home directory
export NEST_HOME=installation folder
export PATH=$PATH:$NEST_HOME
Then either restart your terminal or type
source ~/.bashrc
Also, make sure the paths in NEST4B/config/settings.xml are appropriate for your file
system.
How can I improve performance?

Performance in NEST drops considerably when using virtual memory. If you have more
than 2Gb of RAM and wish to use all of it, on a 64-bit OS you should be using a 64-bit
version of Java. You may then set the heap size for the Java virtual machine to something
larger such as -Xmx4096M
To do so, open in a text editor your gpt.bat on Windows or gpt.sh on Linux found in your
NEST installation folder and replace the -Xmx1024M value with something larger like -
Xmx4096M. You may do the same with dat.bat or dat.sh.
In Windows you may set these for the exe in nest-dat.l4j.ini
For Windows64, the 64-bit Windows version of NEST should already come with 64-bit Java
and be ready for use.
How can I move the .nest folder somewhere else?

By default NEST creates a windows_user_home_folder\.nest (~/.nest on Linux)
The .nest folder is used to store temporary data such as preferences, logs, etc.
If you would like to change the location of this folder:
Edit the file NESTInstallFolder\config\nest.config
change the line

#nest.application_tmp_folder = c:\\AuxData
to
nest.application_tmp_folder = your_new_path
How to change the AuxData folder

Edit the file NESTInstallFolder\config\settings_win.xml or setting_unix.xml
Change the AuxDataPath value to your new path and restart the Toolbox.
Frequently Asked Questions
General F.A.Q.
What SAR products are supported?

NEST supports ENVISAT, ERS-1, ERS-2, and RADARSAT-2 fully.
NEST also supports TerraSAR-X, Cosmo-Skymed, ALOS PALSAR, RADARSAT-1 and JERS
with the exception of some special product types.
For more details on what product types are supported, please refer to the supported
products spreadsheet.
How is NEST licenced?

NEST is licensed under the GNU GPL
If I write an application using NEST API am I forced to distribute

that application?
No. The license gives you the option to distribute your application if you want to. You do
not have to exercise this option in the license.
If I wanted to distribute an application using NEST what license

would I need to use?
The GNU GPL
I am a commercial user. Is there any restriction on the use of

NEST?
NEST can be used internally ("in-house") without restriction, but only redistributed in other
software that is under the GNU GPL unless permission is granted from all copyright holders.
I can't open an ENVISAT product.

First, try to open the products with Enviview http://earth.esa.int/enviview/. If that
works then it could be a version not supported by NEST. Let us know and we'll try to get it
supported asap. If both Enviview and NEST are not able to read the product, then it could
be that the file is corrupt or compressed.
Some users have had difficulty when decompressing files using Winzip. Deactivate the CR/
LF translation option in winzip (this option is activated by default).
When I open a RADARSAT-2 image I don't get any metadata
A RADARSAT-2 product should be opened through it's product.xml file to ensure that the
RADARSAT-2 product reader will recognize all files and import the whole product.
How do I import a PolSARPro result?

Use the PolSARPro reader and select the folder containing all the indivual band files. When
imported, all individual bands will show up within one product.
What method is used for Oil Spill Detection?

The method currently implemented in NEST for oil spill detection is an adaptive
thresholding dark spots detection algorithm. It first estimates the mean backscatter level in
a large window, then set a threshold which is k decibel below the estimated mean
backscatter level. Pixels with backscatter values lower than the threshold are considered
as potential oil spill. Finally the detected pixels are clustered and discriminated. Only those
clusters that are larger enough will be saved as detection result. Here in the algorithm, the
user has fully control of the window size for estimating the mean backscatter level, the
parameter k for setting the threshold, and the minimum cluster size.
The method is based on the following reference in which a much more complicated pyramid
approach was proposed. In NEST however one level detection is implemented.
A. S. Solberg, C. Brekke and R. Solberg, "Algorithms for oil spill detection in Radarsat and
ENVISAT SAR images", Geoscience and Remote Sensing Symposium, 2004. IGARSS '04.
Proceedings. 2004 IEEE International, 20-24 Sept. 2004, page 4909-4912, vol.7.
Can I use the Apply-Orbit-File Operator on JERS-1, Radarsat-1.

ALOS, etc.?
No. The orbit corrections are only for ENVISAT, ERS-1 and ERS-2. If the orbit state vectors
in your products are not accurate then this would be a problem when orthorectifying. You
should be using the SARSimulation Terrain Correction to coregister your image with a
simulated SAR image generated from the DEM and then terrain correcting.
What external DEM does NEST support?

Currently only WGS84-latlong (P‫ א‬, P‫א‬, Ph) DEM in meters is accepted as geographic system.
User can specify one tile (i.e. one file) of the DEM.
What are the definitions of local incidence angle and projected

local incidence angle?
The local incidence angle is defined as the angle between the normal vector of the
backscattering element (i.e. vector perpendicular to the ground surface) and the incoming
radiation vector (i.e. vector formed by the satellite position and the backscattering element
position).
The projected local incidence angle is defined as the angle between the incoming radiation
vector (as defined above) and the projected surface normal vector into range plane. Here
range plane is the plane formed by the satellite position, backscattering element position
and the earth center.
For more information on the definitions, derivations and calculations of the angles please
see section 14.3.4 in "SAR Geocoding: Data and Systems" by Gunter Schreier.
In coregistration I get "Not enough valid GCPs in slave". How can

I fix this?
Some products can have a significant error in their georeferencing. You may need to set
the coarse registration window in the GCP Selection tab to something larger such as 512 or
1024. Also, increasing the number of GCPs will give you a better chance of having more
surviving. For fine registration, you could reduce the coherence threshold. In the warp,
check 'show residuals' to see a summary of where GCPs are being shifted to and what their
RMS values are. Set the RMS threshold to a value where you can get lots of representative
GCPs at the smallest RMS.
I've closed my tool views (world map, layer manager, navigation,

etc). How can I get them back?
In the top menu go to View -> Manage Layout and select Reset Layout or Load Tabbed
Layout.
Why can I not orthorectify my image over the Arctic?

It will depend on the DEM and output map projection. The default SRTM DEM is only
available from +60 to -60 deg latitude. At the polar regions you will need to use either the
low resolution GETASSE30, ASTER GDEM up to 83 deg or your own external DEM. Also, for
the polar regions, using a polar map projection will give you a better result.
Is training and support available for NEST?

ESA provides introductory training at some conference workshops and support for technical
problems through the NEST website forum. Personalized training courses and technical
support subscriptions are available by contacting Array.
Import ATSR
Import ATSR Product

This option allows to import ERS-1 and -2 ATSR data into the DAT application.
Graticule Overlay
If you select 'Show Graticule Overlay' from the View Menu, graticule lines will be drawn over the band image
view, similar to the following figure:
The steps for both latitude and longitude (in °) can be defined in the Preferences dialog.
Export Color Legend
Exporting a Color Legend Image

For non-RGB images it is possible to export the current colour palette setting as a colour
legend image. This function is available from the context menu over non-RGB images. The
menu item Export Color Legend brings up a file selection dialog allowing you to select the
file name for the exported legend image. The legend appearance can be modified by
opening the Properties... button in the dialog:
Note that the transparency mode is only enabled for the image types TIFF and PNG. A
preview dialog for the legend image can be opened by clicking the Preview... button. Within
the dialog, it is also possible to copy the colour legend image to the system clipboard by
using the context menu over the image area:
Select CRS Dialog
Select CRS Dialog
One of the listed

Coordinated
Reference
Systems (CRS)
can be selected.
The list is
defined by the
European
Petroleum
Survey Group
(EPSG).
Filter: In the
text box you can
type in a word to
filter the list of
available
Coordinate
Reference
Systems, the list
beneath will be
updated
immediately.
Well-Known
Text (WKT):
This text area
displays the
definition of the
CRS as Well-
Known Text.
No-Data Value
No-Data Value
Band or tie point grids of a data product determine by two means whether or not a pixel at
a certain position contains data:
● a no-data value and/or
● a valid pixel expression is set.
These properties can be adjusted using the property editor. If valid pixel detection is enabled,
invalid pixels are excluded from range, histogram and other statistical computations. In order
to visualise the invalid pixel positions, the no-data overlay is used.
The no-data property of a band is also set by the band arithmetic and map projection tools.
Reprojection Output Parameters
Output Parameters
This dialog lets you specify the position of the reference pixel and the easting and northing
at this pixel of the output product. Also you are able to set the orientation angle and the
pixel size. The orientation angle is the angle between geographic north and map grid north
(in degrees), with other words, the convergence angle of the projection's vertical axis from
true north. Easting and northing and also the pixel size are given in the units of the
underlying map (e.g. dec. degree for geographic and meter for the UTM projection).
In order to force a certain width and height in pixels for the output product, you must
deselect the fit product size option. Otherwise the size is automatically adjusted, so that
the entire source region is included in the new region.
Import ASTER DEM
Import ASTER DEM Tile

Imports a tile of the ASTER global elevation model at 3 arc second resolution. The GDEM
covers the planet from 83 degrees North to 83 degrees South.
The current version of the GDEM product is "research grade" as it may contain artifacts.
http://www.gdem.aster.ersdac.or.jp/
Unwrapping
Unwrapping Operator
This operator performs unwrapping based on the concept introduced by Costantini, [1]. The
unwrapping problem is formulated and solved as a minimum cost flow problem on a
network.
Input and Output
● The input is the interferometric phase.

● The output is the unwrapped, per tile, interferogram that has to be Stitched for smooth
results.
Processing Parameters
No processing parameter is required.
Reference:
[1] Costantini, M. (1998) A novel phase unwrapping method based on network
programming. IEEE Tran. on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 36, 813-821.
Stitching for Unwrapping
Stitch Operator
When working with tiles, Unwrapping operator stores unwrapped phase for each tile
individually. Therefore between unwrapped tiles, the unwrapped phases have a phase
difference of multiple of pi. This operator stitches the unwrapped phases of all tiles to form
a complete smooth image of unwrapped phase.
Input and Output
● The input is the output of Unwrapping operator.

● The output is the final image of, smooth and integrated, unwrapped phase.
Processing Parameters
No processing parameter is required.
Usage Notes
The unwrapping functionality, because of the restrictions of NEST/BEAM framework is being

implemented as a two-step process. First, the initial unwrapping has to be performed with
the unwrap operator, results need to be saved, and then as a second step, the unwrapping
result is stitched into a smooth result with this operator.
Property Editor
Property Editor
The property editor can be used to edit the properties of a product, a tie-point grid or a
(virtual) band.
Depending on the kind of object for that the propery editor is invoked, different kinds of
properties can be edited. The name and the description can be changed in all cases.
Additionally following properties can be edited:
● Products - the product type.

● Tie point-grids and (virtual) bands - the geophysical unit, the no-data value, the valid
pixel expression, the spectral wavelength and spectral bandwidth.
● Virtual bands - the virtual band expression.
The property editor can be invoked from the context menu, where it is the top item. The
context menu is activated with a click on the rigth mouse button over the object that
should be edited.

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Table of Contents

Product Generation Tools

Next ESA SAR Toolbox

● Display and Analysis Tool (DAT): integrated graphical user-friendly interface

● Statistics & Data Analysis

Supported Product Formats:

SAR Data Products

❍ ENVISAT ASAR, MERIS, AATSR

Common EO Data Formats

Digital Elevation Models

NEST includes readers for the following data products:

● ENVISAT ASAR ( IODD 3H to 4B )

Supported Products Table

The following data format writers are available:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

Display and Analysis Tool Overview

DAT's Tool Windows

Docking, Floating and Tab Mode

● Load User Layout - Load the stored user layout.

The context menu allows you to:

● switching between floating, docked and auto hide mode

List of available Tool Windows

● The Product View

● The Project View

● The Product Library

● The Pixel Info View

● The Pin Manager

● The GCP Manager

● The Colour Manipulation Window

● The World Map

● The Navigation Window

● The Bitmask Overlay Window

● The Statistics Window

External Product Links

● Bands - contains all measured spectral/geophysical and quality raster datasets of a

Pixel Info View

Multiple Windows of the same band

RGB Image Support

Zoom Actual Pixel

A. Editor for images of a single, spectral/geophysical band

B. Editor for images of a single, index-coded band

Editor for images using separate R,G,B channels

Multiple Assignment of the current Settings

Import and Export of the Colour Palette

Zooming into the histogram

Zooming out of the histogram

Layer manager tool window

Layer editor tool window

● ESRI Shapefile - Overlays an ESRI shapefile read from a file.

Layer sources which are restricted to special image views are:

The 'Add Layer' dialog

The World Map is a flat Earth representation of the 3D WorldWind View.

● Show navigation window when image views are opened

● Consider products as spatially compatible, if their geo-locations differ less than

● Relative pixel-X/Y offset

● Save product header (MPH, SPH)

Layer Properties ->

● Use anti-aliasing for rendering text and vector graphics