Course: Using the CMDS for Ocean Applications (- online (2020) | EUMETSAT

  • Using the Copernicus Marine Data Stream for Ocean Applications - Online

    Sentinel-3 overlay onto Ocean Colour plot and EUMETSAT timeline


    This EUMETSAT online-only training course will be composed of two parts. The first makes use of this Moodle, and is called the 'self-taught' phase. The second is the online 'classroom' phase, which will take place using Zoom. Through both phases, we will introduce you to the Copernicus Marine Data Stream (CMDS), providing you with the background knowledge of the Copernicus programme, satellites and instrumentation, data access and formats, and tools and software necessary to begin working with this data for marine applications. 

    The aims of this training course (both the self-taught and classroom online phases) are to help you to:

    • Learn what data and products the Copernicus Marine Data Stream provides (variables, timeliness, resolution, data formats);
    • Design workflows tailored to your data needs and project tasks;
    • Select the appropriate products from the Copernicus Marine Data Stream;
    • Access/download data and products provided in the Copernicus Marine Data Stream (CODA, EUMETSAT Data archive, EUMETCast);
    • Investigate the potential of Copernicus Marine Data for your own applications, using SNAP and /or scripting languages (we will provide scripts in Python, but you are welcome to use other languages during the classroom phase). 

    This self-taught online phase of training will consist of several topic areas, containing essential overview material to read and/or watch, further optional material which you may choose to look at depending on your own interests, short quizzes, and activities such as downloading and installing software, and trying to access data. The final topic will focus on preparation for the online classroom phase, where we will ask you to propose a short project that you would like to work on using the CMDS. For those without specific applications in mind, we will also provide some ideas for projects you can work on, to learn more about the data and it's applications.

    Announcements about the course will be displayed below, and you will also be notified of these by email.

    Please take some time to look through the logistics information below which will provide useful information on how to make sure you complete the online phase, and are suitably prepared for the classroom phase that will follow.

    You are invited to use the Discussion Forum below to introduce yourself and share with us your expectations for this course (what you are hoping to learn/use the CMDS data for).

    There will be further discussion forums associated with the different topics and you are invited to post your comments and questions. The training team will be glad to answer your questions as best as we can during the course. As new users of the Copernicus data, this is also a great opportunity for us to get feedback from you about the data, access to it, and how we can improve these services to help you to best use the Copernicus marine data for your applications. 

    We hope you enjoy learning about the Copernicus Marine Data Stream, and we look forward to working with you during the online classroom phase!

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  • 1

    This topic provides an overview of the Copernicus programme, EUMETSAT's role within Copernicus, and the Copernicus Marine Data Stream (CMDS). It's worth getting a clear idea of the Copernicus Marine Landscape here - the information will prove highly relevant when it comes to your workflows, in terms of who collects the marine data you want and where you can find it. 

     

    Hayley Evers-King joins Lauren Biermann for an informal discussion to help simplify the Copernicus Marine Landscape, talking us through the different missions, mechanisms and agencies  working together under the Copernicus Programme and European Commission banner. .


    COPERNICUS:

    Copernicus is the European Union's Earth Observation (EO)  Programme, looking at Earth and our environment. The information services that they provide are free and openly accessible to all users.

    • The Programme is coordinated and managed by the European Commission (EC).
    • It is implemented in partnership with Member States, the European Space Agency (ESA), the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT), the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), EU Agencies, and Mercator Océan.

    Copernicus offers information services based on satellite EO and non-satellite in situ data. Toward the former, Copernicus is served by a set of dedicated satellites (the Sentinel families) and contributing missions (other existing satellites).


    What is EUMETSAT’s role?

    EUMETSAT provides data, products and support services to the Copernicus information services and user communities, with a focus on marine, atmosphere and climate. This involves delivering Earth observation data services to Copernicus from the Sentinel satellites, from its own Metop and Meteosat missions, from the ocean-monitoring Jason-3 satellite, and from missions of its international partners (e.g. USA, China, India and Japan). EUMETSAT is responsible for operating the Sentinel-3 satellites, with ESA support, and delivering the marine data and will also operate and deliver products from the Sentinel-4 and Sentinel-6 satellites, and Sentinel-5 instruments. In addition, upon request of the EC, EUMETSAT will also be responsible for delivering data and products from Sentinel missions to third parties around the world.

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  • 2

    Within this topic, we will cover three key types of measurement that are made by the Sentinel-3 satellites that monitor the oceans, and in particular form the basis of data and derived products you will find in the Copernicus Marine Data Service:

    1. Sea Surface Temperature (SST)
    2. Ocean Colour (OC)
    3. Altimetry

    You're mostly going to be treated to video content in this section, so grab some headphones if needed, get comfortable, and enjoy watching these scientists flex their outreach skills on camera!

     
    Neat video showing off all the instruments aboard the Sentinel-3 satellites - Hayley Evers-King is your host, and there's some excellent lounge music in the background!

    Banner for Ocean Colour in Jet colour scale
     Video from the EUMETSAT MOOC "Monitoring the Oceans from Space" giving a 1-minute introduction to ocean colour data    .

    Video from the EUMETSAT MOOC "Monitoring the Oceans from Space" discussing the benefit of Ocean Colour data in monitoring and understanding the oceans and the climate system.


    Banner for SST in Viridis colour scale

    Video from the EUMETSAT MOOC "Monitoring the Oceans from Space" giving a 1-minute introduction to sea surface temperature.

    Video from the EUMETSAT MOOC "Monitoring the Oceans from Space" discussing how SST data can be used for different applications, including understanding tropical storms.


    Banner for SSH in blue with varying letter heights

    Video from the EUMETSAT MOOC "Monitoring the Oceans from Space" giving a 1-minute introduction to altimetry data.

    Video from the EUMETSAT MOOC "Monitoring the Oceans from Space" giving an brief overview of the history of altimetry data.


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  • 3

    Within the Copernicus programme, the Sentinel-3 constellation (composed of Sentinel-3A and Sentinel-3B) contains the primary satellites for providing data on the oceans. The Sentinel-3 spacecraft are operated by EUMETSAT, and the instruments onboard provide the data that forms the Copernicus Marine Data Stream. In this topic you will find information about the historical context of these satellites, and all the instruments onboard.

    IMG_SENTINEL3_DETAILS


    • book icon
      Book
      Sentinel-3 instrumentation Book
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      Within this book you will find information on the Sentinel-3 instrumentation, and the historical sensors that influenced their development. Hopefully, this will all sound familiar to you after the videos you watched in the preceding section!

      There are 6 short sections to read, as follows:

      1. History of sea surface temperature sensors
      2. SLSTR: Sea surface temperature from Sentinel 3A and 3B
      3. History of ocean colour sensors
      4. OLCI: Ocean colour from Sentinel 3
      5. History of altimetry sensors
      6. SRAL: Altimetry from Sentinel 3
      As always, if you have any queries or problems, please use the questions forums to get in touch and let us know.

    • resource icon
      File
      Assignment - Match the Data to the Application File

      Please fill in the last column of this table and upload your answers to this Google Drive Folder, with your name added.

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      Forum
      Questions on Sentinel-3 instrumentation and its historical context Forum
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  • 4

    Within this topic we will look at the format of the Sentinel-3 marine data files, and the processing that takes place to get raw data measured by the satellite sensors down to a usable product. 

    Please begin by watching the videos below as an introduction to the data products available from the CMDS for each of the main instrument packages.

    • Overview of ocean colour products from CMDS: to access the video, please use the password 'copernicus'.

    • Move Administration block

      Overview of sea surface temperature products from CMDS: please enter the password "copernicus" to view the video.

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      Book
      Data processing and file formats Book
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      Within this book you will find two chapters. The first covers the processing that takes place to generate the data that is ultimately received by users of the CMDS. The second chapter goes in to the format of these data files, and the information that can be extracted from them.

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      Forum
      Questions on data processing and file formats Forum
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    Here, we will introduce you to several ways you can access Sentinel-3 data available through the CMDS. The method you choose will depend on a number of factors, including:

    1. The type of data you need (quick look images, netcdf files, what resolution and at what level of timeliness)
    2. How regularly you need this data (for an individual application, or more regularly?)
    3. The facilities and resources you have available (do you have sufficient internet capacity to download the data?)


    Links: CODA User Manual ; codarep.eumetsat.int ; archive.eumetsat.int ; https://www.wekeo.eu/


    Accessing Copernicus Data through CODA

    Accessing Sentinel-3 Ocean Colour Data

    Accessing Sentinel-3 Sea Surface Temperature Data

    Accessing Sentinel-3 Altimetry Data
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  • 6
    Please complete these next steps before continuing.
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  • 7

    Working with marine satellite data often involves using large numbers of (often) individually large data files, of varying formats. The applications for this data are also broad, and range from exploratory, research led purposes, to routine and operational analysis for more commercial applications. As such, there are many different tools available to work with marine satellite data. Here we provide a (non-exhaustive) list and discussion of some of the more commonly used tools by the marine remote sensing community. Choosing which tool to use will be very dependent on the type of application you are working on. Key things you should consider include:

    • Do you know explicitly what you want to do with the data? Or do you want to explore and investigate?

    • Do you need to repeat your application regularly?

    • Do you need to be able to share the processes you go through with others? If so, what is their experience?

    Below you can complete some basic tutorials using software developed specifically to work with the sort of data available through the CMDS. 

    You can also read about other types of software available, the programming languages commonly used across the remote sensing community, and discuss the advantages and disadvantages of these.

    To complete this section you should read all content, complete the tutorials with the data you downloaded in the previous section, install python and/or post about your choice of programming language. 

     

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      SNAP installation Page
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      This guide will help you install the SNAP software for working with OLCI and SLSTR data.

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      SNAP tutorial Page
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      This tutorial will give you a basic overview of using the SNAP software to work with Sentinel-3 data from the OLCI and SLSTR instruments (we will cover altimetry data and SRAL using Python, but you can also look in to the BRAT software should you wish). This is by no means an exhaustive tutorial. We encourage you to explore the software during the online phase of the course, and there will be further time to discuss SNAP in more detail during the classroom phase. You can ask questions/share useful tools you are working with in the discussion forum attached to this part of the course. We would also recommend signing up to the STEP user forum, where you can find much more information about SNAP and ask questions to both other users and the developers of the software. Further tutorials on some SNAP functionalities are available here.

    • forum icon
      Forum
      Discussion of SNAP installation Forum
      Start discussions: 1

      Please make a new discussion post below to confirm you have installed this piece of software. If you have had problems, please post details of these, and we will assist you. 

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      Other types of software Page
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      Programming languages Page
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      Discussion about the different programming languages used within the marine remote sensing community, and their advantages and disadvantages.

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      Python installation Page
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      This book will guide you through the installation process for Python, as well as give you some ideas for the sorts of ways Python can be used to work with Sentinel-3 data.

      You may choose to not install Python if you wish to work in a different language during the classroom phase of this training. However, we will only be providing example scripts in Python.

      We would recommend installing the anaconda distribution of python 3.7, as this is the version we have used to develop training material. Please note the additional packages that need to be installed.

    • forum icon
      Forum
      Discussion of Python installation Forum
      Post replies: 1

      Please make a new discussion post below to confirm you have installed python/or that you would like to use a different language independently (let us know which!) during the classroom phase of this training. If you have had problems, please post details of these, and we will assist you. 

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      Code versioning with Git Page
    • forum icon
      Forum
      Questions about software and tools for working with marine satellite data Forum
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      Discussion of Git installation Forum
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  • 8

    Please take a few minutes to fill in this course evaluation before the classroom phase starts.

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  • 9
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  • 11

    During the classroom phase of this training course, you will be given to opportunity to work with data from the CMDS in ways aligned with your own research interests and planned future uses of the data. Members of the EUMETSAT training team will be present to help with questions about the data and software, and provide feedback for you. 

    We would like you to suggest a small project that you would like to work on during these few days. At the end of the course you will be asked to present a short summary on what you have done, your experiences working with the data and future plans. You are free to work together with other participants if this suits you. We have provided some ideas below for those of you who are new to the use of marine satellite data.

    To complete this section, please post in the discussion forum below about your ideas for a mini project. You should state: your region and topic of interest, and the particular type(s) of data you would like to work with from the CMDS.

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