Getting ready for the upcoming Charter activations - Part 2: Sentinel-2 RGB Composites

The 13 spectral bands of the Sentinel-2 Multispectral Instrument (MSI) range from the Visible (VNIR) and Near Infra-Red (NIR) to the Short Wave Infra-Red (SWIR). The MSI spatial resolution ranges from 10m to 60m.

The Sentinel-2 MSI Level-1C and Level-2A may provide valuable screening products in the context of the Charter activations, in particular for fire events.

The various possible RGB band combinations provide different levels of information with, e.g. the visual analysis of hot spots or burned areas.

Today the Sentinel-2 screening products available in the Charter Processing Platform Trial provide a single RGB composite using bands 4, 3, 2 yielding a true colour composite.

Below an example of the current Sentinel-2 Level-1C screening products for the fire activation [Act-631/Call-725] in Australia in early November 2019 where around 150 fires have fed off tinder-dry conditions coupled with high temperatures, unpredictable winds and lightning. Over 200 homes have been destroyed and bushfires approached within 15km of Sydney’s city centre.

In the context of enriching the future Charter activations, Terradue is preparing new and advanced processing services.

The first major enhancement of the upcoming screening processing service for Sentinel-2 MSI Level-1C and Level-2A provide a larger number of RGB band combinations and in particular for fire Charter activations, the RGB band combinations 12, 8A and 4 for hot spots and 11, 12, 8A for burned areas.

The second and probably the most useful as screening products, is the wide area mosaicking of adjacent Sentinel-2 tiles in order to provide a global high-resolution picture of the Charter activation area.

Below an example of such product for the Australia fire Charter activation shows a false colour composite using the NIR band combining 22 Sentinel-2 tiles at 60m spatial resolution.

And an extract of the RGB band combination 12, 8A and 4 for hot spots at 60m resolution:

More to come!