Skip to main content

ESA SNAP Toolbox

Introduction to ESA SNAP Toolbox​

ESA SNAP Toolbox (Sentinel Application Platform) is an open-source software suite developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for processing and analyzing Earth observation data. It is widely used for working with data from Sentinel satellites and other remote sensing missions. SNAP provides a rich set of tools for image processing, data visualization, and geospatial analysis.

SNAP supports a variety of data formats and includes advanced features such as atmospheric correction, radar processing, and machine learning integration. It is an essential tool for researchers and professionals working in remote sensing, environmental monitoring, and Earth sciences. For more details, visit the official ESA SNAP documentation.

Using ESA SNAP Toolbox with Modules​

To use the ESA SNAP Toolbox on the terrabyte HPC system, load the SNAP module with the following command:

module load snap

Usage Examples​

Once loaded, you can start using SNAP either in command-line mode or through its graphical user interface (GUI). Below are some examples of common operations:

Example 1: Start SNAP Graphically​

To start the SNAP GUI via the remote desktop on the terrabyte portal:

  1. Log in to the terrabyte portal.
  2. Open the remote desktop environment.
  3. Launch SNAP by typing the following command in a terminal:
module load snap
snap

Example 2: Process Data Using the Command Line​

To process data using the Graph Processing Framework (GPF) in SNAP, use the gpt command. For example, to apply a predefined workflow:

gpt workflow.xml -Pinput="input_file.dim" -Poutput="output_file.dim"

Example 3: Perform Atmospheric Correction​

To perform atmospheric correction on Sentinel-2 data:

  1. Open the SNAP GUI.
  2. Load the Sentinel-2 product.
  3. Navigate to Optical > Preprocessing > Sen2Cor and configure the parameters.
  4. Run the correction process.

Example 4: Export Processed Data​

To export processed data to GeoTIFF format:

  1. In the SNAP GUI, right-click on the processed product.
  2. Select Export > GeoTIFF.
  3. Configure the export settings and save the file.

Example 5: Batch Processing​

To process multiple files in batch mode using the command line:

gpt batch_processing.xml -Pinput="input_folder" -Poutput="output_folder"

For additional usage instructions and configuration details, refer to the ESA SNAP documentation.