Download Free Sentinel Satellite Data
Source: GIS Geography
If you want to download Sentinel satellite data, then you’ve come to the right place.
One of the most exciting developments in remote sensing at this time is the European Space Agency’s Copernicus Programme.
Copernicus’ six Sentinel satellites collect comprehensive pictures of our land, ocean, emergency response, atmosphere, security, and climate change to understand the health of our planet.
Until very recently, this data has become available to the public at no cost. Today, we show you step-by-step how to download Sentinel satellite data:
1. Sentinels Scientific Data Hub
In 2014-15, Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2A were successfully launched from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana.
One Sentinel scene after the other, data has been rolling out on a user interface called the Sentinels Scientific Data Hub.
It’s now available for the public to access.
But you will have to hop through a couple of hoops before you can get your fingers on it.
Follow these steps to download free Sentinel satellite data:
Step 1 Create a User Account
Go to Sentinels Scientific Data Hub.In the top-right of the web map, click the SIGN UP button.
Insert valid entries for your name, email, and location. Click register. Validate your email.
With a few clicks of the mouse, you’ve gained access to ESA’s Sentinel data.
Step 2 Select Your Area of Interest
Where is your study area?
Using the SEARCH CRITERIA text box in the top-left, type in your area of interest.
In our example, we’ve typed Germany. Click Enter twice.
From here your search will yield results for all the Sentinel satellite data available.
Sentinel-1 (Synthetic Aperture Radar C-Band) swaths are depicted in red. Sentinel-2 (multi-spectral data) swaths are depicted in green.
READ MORE: What’s the difference between active and passive sensors?
Step 3 Download Sentinel Data
Now, that we have our user account created with our study area defined – all we have to do is sift through the results and download our chosen Sentinel data.
As we are working with large data sets, you will have to be patient with download speeds. It’s easy for the server to timeout during the download.
Select the product you want to download. S1A is Sentinel-1A. S2A is Sentinel-2A.
Below the product thumbnail that has the download URL. This is what you want to clip in order to download your chosen Sentinel data.
2. What’s Next?
After you download Sentinel satellite data, chances are that you are going to want to display it in the visible spectrum. This is exactly how our eyes see objects around us.
Each image is separated by its respective spectral band. See our table below for the spectral bands of Sentinel 2. Sentinel 2B will be identical to Sentinel 2A.
If you want to combine the red, green and blue channels as composite bands (such as Google Earth imagery) – read our composite bands tutorial.
…Or maybe you’d like to perform an NDVI analysis in ArcGIS or an image classification.
You now have free satellite data from Sentinel to help you.
3. What are the Spectral Bands of Sentinel 2A and 2B?
We’ve listed below, the spectral and spatial resolution of Sentinel 2A. There are 13 bands in total. Four spectral bands have a 10-meter resolution. Six bands have a 20-meter resolution. And the remaining 3 have a spatial resolution of 60 meters.
Here are the spectral band details for Sentinel 2A:
Every single satellite revisit time is 10 days.
Because there are two satellites (Sentinel 2A and 2B), this means it has a combined constellation revisit of 5 days.