This is part 5 of a 5 part series. Be sure to read the earlier parts first if you haven’t already.
- Getting the images on your computer
- Visualizing the data
- Examples: Lake Winnipesaukee; Lake Sunapee
- Getting the images while on the ice
- Additional information (this article)
5. Additional information
Q. Why use the EO Browser and not the Sentinel Hub Playground?
A. The Playground is designed to always show results, even if that means stitching together images from a wide range of dates. Since ice conditions change so rapidly, we always want to be looking at the latest images (or if not, to explicitly know that we’re not). I find it easier to achieve this using the EO Browser, but YMMV.
Q. What’s the difference between Sentinel-2 and Harmonized Landsat Sentinel (HLS)?
A. By combining Landsat (8 and 9) and Sentinel-2 data, we get images that are updated every 2-3 days, but have a lower resolution (30m as opposed to 10-20m). (More on how this works.)
Q. Why only use Sentinel-2 / HLS and not Sentinel-1, Landsat, or MODIS (etc.)?
A. The combination of resolution and sensor data. Sentinel-2 gives us the best resolution with the information we need for ice scouting. HLS gives us good enough resolution with the information we need. Sentinel-1 gives better resolution, but not helpful information. The others have much worse resolution.
Q. How often do the images get updated?
A. Depends on exactly where you’re looking, due to the way the orbits overlap. The Sentinel-2 images typically update every 5 days (but some areas effectively more often, due to orbital overlap); the HLS images typically every 2 days.
— Christopher Boone, some rights reserved (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0)