Community Satellite Processing Package

  CSPP Polar2grid Reprojection Software Version 2.0 Release

12 October 2015

The CSPP Polar2Grid Software was created to enable Polar Orbiter Satellite Imager users (VIIRS, AVHRR and MODIS), including the US National Weather Service (NWS), the capability to easily create high quality reprojected imagery. NOAA JPSS has funded this effort to create an open-source, modular application system. This bundled solution automates tools for converting satellite data including Suomi-NPP VIIRS into a variety of output formats, including GeoTIFFs, AWIPS compatible NetCDF files, NinJo forecasting workstation compatible TIFF images, as well as binary and HDF5 files.

In addition to traditional visible and infrared imagery, the software provides the capability to create sharpened true color, sharpened false color, and user-defined RGB images.

What is new in Version 2.0:

Polar2Grid Version 2.0 is a significant revision of the original software. Because of the expansion of input and output products supported, execution is now more complex; commands that you may have used in previous versions may require modifications. Wherever possible, we have tried to maintain consistency of execution across all front and back end data sets.
  • Support for AVHRR Level 1b from NOAA-18, NOAA-19, Metop-A and Metop-B satellites is now included.
  • KMZ, HDF5 and binary output formats can be created.
  • A new dynamic VIIRS Day/Night Band enhancement option, provided by Dr. Curtis Seaman of the Cooperative Institute for Research in the Atmosphere (CIRA), is now available.
  • MODIS corrected reflectance software execution is now included as part of true color and false color image creation.
  • Output file naming conventions have changed to reflect the vast number of data and products that are supported.
  • MODIS L1B file naming conventions can be either IMAPP or NASA archive.
  • VIIRS and MODIS 24 bit false color image creation is now supported.
  • Users must now explicitly provide the input SDR matching geolocation files in the file argument list.
  • Because of the improvement in efficiency of the software, the --num-procs optional argument has been removed.

Features of Polar2Grid
  • The software is modular, robust and efficient.
  • Execution is performed through simple bash shell scripts, wrapping python underlying modules. For example, to create GeoTIFF files of Suomi-NPP VIIRS I-Bands 1 and 5 using the default Platte Carrée (Google Earth) projection, you can execute a command like this:
    viirs2gtiff.sh -p i01 i05 -f /viirs/sdr/SVI{01,05}*.h5 /viirs/geo/GITCO*.h5
  • True color and False color reprojections can be created using a single command.
  • If more than one contiguous granule is provided as input, an aggregated output image file will be created.
  • Users can define their own grids. A grid definition helper script is included with the package.
  • Proj4 grid definitions can be used.
  • More complete technical documentation is available at the Polar2Grid website.
  • The Polar2Grid open source software code repository is also available through github at: http://github.com/davidh-ssec/polar2grid.
The software uses standard CSPP or IDPS Sensor Data Records (SDRs) as input, and allows the user a selection of projections or grids to use for the remapping. The default GeoTIFF projection is the WGS 84/Platte Carrée coordinate system.

Software, execution scripts and documentation are included with the release.

This version of the software is being co-released as part of the International MODIS/AIRS Processing Package (IMAPP).

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