We work with researchers from a number of institutes to ensure NEODAAS products reflect the state-of-the-art and fulfil current and future needs of the community. NEODAAS staff are frequently involved in other research projects at Plymouth Marine Laboratory, covering a range of topics. Being able to take new products, incorporate into operational processing and offer to the wider community is a key function of NEODAAS.
Below is a list of recently completed, ongoing and planned development for NEODAAS. If you have any comments or requests for NEODAAS development or would like to help with testing please get in touch.
We also work with researchers on development products utilising AI as part of our AI Service.
Recently completed developments
The following is a list of developments we have recently completed:
- Operational processing chain for Sentinel 1 data
We are now able to routinely download and process Sentinel 1 SAR data to produce backscatter images. We plan to use these to complement the existing data we supply as part of our NRT support as SAR data are unaffected by cloud cover. - Switch to larger processing tiles
Rather than processing specific areas of interest for a given project we have divided the globe into 42 tiles and are processing a subset of these. We then extract areas from these as required. This means we are able to respond much quicker to requests for data than previously and there is a lot less duplicated processing. - Web based portal for visualisation of data
The GIS Portal was developed by PML applications and has been used by a number of other PML projects. It provides an easy way to interact with large datasets and perform simple analysis such as extracting and plotting data. An instance with NEODAAS data and links to training videos are available via the Access Data page. Work is ongoing to improve the performance of the portal. - Routine processing for NOAA-20 VIIRS
We are now routinely processing data from the VIIRS sensor carried onboard NOAA-20 as well as SUOMI VIIRS. Having data from both satellites provides greater coverage, increasing the change of collecting cloud free data. For SUOMI VIIRS a destriping algorithm has been implemented as part of the processing to improve data quality. - Processing chain for Sentinel 3 SLSTR Sea Surface Temperature
NEODAAS are now routinely downloading and processing Sea Surface Temperature data from Sentinel 3A+B and are using to support research cruises. - Geostationary data
To fill in some of the geostationary capability which was previously being provided to NEODAAS as part of the Dundee Satellite Receiving Station, NEODAAS are receiving and processing data from MSG SEVIRI via a EUMETCast receiver at PML. - Satellite Indicators Suite
To enable users who do not specialise in Earth Observation to benefit from these datasets, NEODAAS have developed a suite of satellite indicators which are delivered an a format which can easily be incorporated in existing analysis. More details are available here.
Ongoing developments
The following is a list of some of the development which is currently ongoing:
- Speed improvements for NEODAAS portal
Through a combination of new hardware funded by NERC and improvements to the portal code we are working to improve the performance of the NEODAAS portal, making it quicker for researchers to visualise and analyse data. - Improvements to chlorophyll data supplied from Sentinel 3A+B OLCI
Informed by research at PML, NEODAAS are implementing and validating improved algorithms to estimate chlorophyll, these improved products will be delivered to research cruises and via custom requests. - Updates to airborne data processing for new NCEO airborne sensors
NCEO recently acquired a new suite of airborne instruments, NEODAAS have been working on updating custom software to process and quality check data.
There are also many small improvements constantly being made to our processing systems to ensure we are delivering highest quality data.