International MODIS/AIRS Processing Package

  HYDRA2 Multispectral Data Analysis Toolkit Version 2.0 Release

22 February 2016

The University of Wisconsin-Madison SSEC is pleased to announce a new release of the HYDRA2 Multispectral Data Analysis Toolkit for the visualization and analysis of NASA EOS Aqua and Terra and JPSS Suomi-NPP instrument data. This package is in support of Direct Broadcast users, and is co-sponsored by the NASA International MODIS/AIRS Processing Package (IMAPP) and the NOAA Community Satellite Processing Package (CSPP).

The HYper-spectral data viewer for Development of Research Applications version2 (HYDRA2) has been developed to assist research and development of remote sensing applications as well as education and training of remote sensing scientists. It provides a fast and flexible interface that allows users to explore and visualize relationships between sensor measurements (displayed as brightness temperatures for infrared and reflectances for visible and near infrared) and wavelength (or wavenumber) using spectra diagrams, cross sections, scatter plots, multi-band combinations, and color enhancements on a pixel by pixel basis with full access to the underlying metadata of location and time.

What is new in HYDRA2 Version 2.0?

Many improvements in the user interface and analysis tools have been implemented in HYDRA2 based on ongoing user feedback. These include:
  • Additional supported instruments including AVHRR, HIRS, MHS and FY-3 MERSI.
  • linking the zooming, roaming, and interrogation between multiple image display windows,
  • combining spectral bands or linear combinations of spectral bands from multiple sensors (e.g., MODIS and VIIRS) onto a single image display,
  • managing datasets in a consistent manner,
  • eliminating VIIRS and MODIS cross-track scan “bowtie” artifacts in the re-gridding process,
  • aggregating consecutive and separate file granules into a single cohesive image, and
  • enabling image display export to KML/KMZ for display in the Google Earth Geobrowser.
HYDRA2 enables interrogation of multispectral (and hyperspectral) fields of data so that
  • pixel location and spectral measurement values can be easily displayed;
  • spectral bands can be combined in linear functions and the resulting images displayed;
  • false color images can be constructed from multiple spectral band combinations;
  • scatter plots of spectral band combinations can be viewed;
  • pixels in images can be found in scatter plots and vice versa;
  • transects of measurements can be displayed, and
  • soundings of temperature and moisture as well as spectra from selected pixels can be compared.
The instruments supported for analysis are:
  • Terra: MODIS
  • Aqua: MODIS and AIRS
  • Suomi-NPP: VIIRS, CrIS and ATMS
  • NOAA-15,16,18,19: AVHRR, HIRS, MHS
  • Metop-A and B: IASI, AVHRR, MHS
  • FY-3: MERSI
Supported computer platforms are:
  • Apple OS X
  • Microsoft Windows
  • Intel Linux
The release consists of the software, a document describing the capabilities of the toolkit including installation instructions in Appendix 1, a summary of HYDRA2 commands in Appendix 2, and a a set of lab exercises written by Dr. Paul Menzel, introducing users to HYDRA2 by examining data sets over Europe and Korea.

This release accompanies the publication of the updated capabilities of HYDRA2:

Rink, T., Menzel, W.P., Gumley, L. and Strabala, K., 2015. HYDRA2-A Multispectral Data Analysis Toolkit for sensors on Suomi NPP and other current satellite platforms. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, (2015).

The software is freely distributed under the terms of the GNU Public License Version 3.


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