European Facility For Airborne Research

European Facility For Airborne Research March 29, 2024, 13:22

Tools

To facilitate airborne research measurements, a number of EUFAR’s activities are dedicated to developing and maintaining a range of toolboxes that serve to assist operators and researchers with the handling of data. From in-situ or remote sensing data collection to data processing, analysis and archiving, these toolboxes are made freely accessible on or via the EUFAR website and are documented in user manuals.

The Standards and Protocols (S&P) activity aims to efficiently integrate data in the EUFAR database and ensure its interoperability with other standards by developing and updating open-source data processing toolboxes. The activity also keeps track of existing open-source toolboxes, which would be relevant for operators and users within EUFAR. For example, the S&P team proposes a set of tools dedicated to the processing of in-situ data (EGADS) and the creation of INSPIRE compliant metadata for in-situ and hyperspectral data (EMC and ASMM). Through the Database activity, data from EUFAR transnational access campaigns are stored and made widely accessible online through a single gateway, with a search tool to facilitate locating specific data (EFF). In addition, data are stored in community compliant data formats with well-documented supporting metadata. Toolboxes are also developed as part of EUFAR’s Education & Training activity with the aim to familiarise and assist early researchers participating in training courses with the different aspects of airborne research for the environment. EUFAR’s Joint Research Activities are dedicated to developing methodologies and tools for the integrated use of airborne hyperspectral imaging and airborne laser scanning data (HYLIGHT and HYSOMA).

 

List of Toolboxes and Tools for:

Metadata

Data Processing

Others

     
EUFAR Metadata Creator EUFAR General Airborne Data-processing Software EUFAR Flight Finder tool

The goal of the EUFAR Metadata Creator is to produce metadata (conform to INSPIRE standards) to facilitate data storage and searches for Airborne Scientific Campaigns.

Offline version (python): sources & binaries ; online version (java + GWT): sources

EGADS is a Python-based toolbox for processing airborne atmospheric data. It provides a framework for researchers to apply expert-contributed algorithms to data files, and acts as a platform for data intercomparison.

Under development

EFF is a geospatial-temporal search interface to locate EUFAR data within the EUFAR data archive at BADC. The aim of the EFF is to facilitate the location and identification of EUFAR flights and to link to the appropriate data files in the archive.
     
Airborne Science Mission Metadata creator Airborne Laser Scanning and Hyperspectral Imaging Data tools SWAMP Training Course

This project was motivated by the need to create a standard set of mission reports, aiding in classification and searches of data sets based on flight phenomena, mission parameters or other criteria.

Offline version (python): sources & binaries ; Online version (java + GWT): sources

More information is available in the Research section of the website, or following this link: JRA1 - HYLIGHT.

Hands-on lesson and data for vegetation studies with pktools (SWAMP).
     
 
  Hyperspectral Soil Mapper toolbox TETRAD Training Course
  HYSOMA is an experimental platform for soil mapping applications of hyperspectral imagery that allows easy implementation in the hyperspectral and non-hyperspectral communities (distribution under the idl-virtual machine) and gives the choice of multiple algorithms for each soil parameter. The main motivation for HYSOMA development is to provide experts and non-expert users with a suite of tools that can be used for soil applications. Hands-on lesson for airborne measurements in atmospheric science: focus on turbulence and clouds (TETRAD).
     
 

Other Toolboxes

Other Educational Material

 

Free-toolboxes

This is a compilation of available free software tools dealing with the analysis of remote sensing data, and hyperspectral data in particular.

 

Hyperspectral Earth Observation, data processing and analysis training course material

An online course for PhD students and early stage researchers developed by Dr Alasdair Mac Arthur (NCEO-FSF, U. of Edinburgh), Dr Gary Llewellyn (BAS NARF), Mr Ben Taylor (NARF-DAN-PML), Dr Jose Gormez-Dans (NCEO-UCL), Prof. Martin Wooster (NCEO-KCL).

 
 

The educational material includes presentations and videos on

  • Hyperspectral imaging
  • Flight planning and cal/val
  • Field sampling strategies
  • NERC hyperspectral instruments
  • Atmospheric corrections
  • ATCOR4
  • Hyperspectral data processing and use of APL
  • Introduction to radiative transfer modelling
  • Radiative transfer of leaves and canopies
  • Inferring the characteristics of the surface from optical data

ARTMO

ARTMO developed by Dr Jochem Verelst (U. of Valencia) allows: 

  •  to choose between various plant leaf and canopy RT models (e.g. models from the PROSPECT and SAIL family, FLIGHT),
  • to choose between spectral band settings of various air- and space-borne sensors or defining own sensor settings,
  • to simulate a massive amount of spectra based on a look up table (LUT) approach and storing it in a relational database,
  •  to plot spectra of multiple models and compare them with measured spectra, and finally,
  • to run various retrieval toolboxes (parametric, non-parametric, LUT-based inversion) to map biophysical variables.
     

HYPERTEACH

Hands-on lessons and data for airborne hyperspectral remote sensing developed by Dr Ils Reusen (VITO)

Lesson 1a :
 Atmospheric corrections

Lesson 1b : 
Geometric corrections

Lesson   2 :
Data preparation

Lesson 9 :
The colour of leaves

Lesson 10 :
Classification of vegetation species using spectral similarity measures

Lesson 11 : 
Statistical techniques for classifying vegetation species

Lesson 12 :
Submerged colours

Lesson 13 :
Atmospheric correction for water bodies

Lesson 14 :
Sediment concentration mapping

         

tools developed within EUFAR

tools developed outside EUFAR

training course materials

Back to top
Copyright © 2024 EUFAR All rights reserved.