PANDA
(Package for ADEOS and NOAA Data Analysis )

A software package for NOAA/HRPT data processing, PaNDA(Package for NOAA Data Analysis), was developed in 1989 by a number of Japanese scientists. The PaNDA had been distributed to the science community as a freeware. The software package includes format conversion, radiometric correction, atmospheric correction, geometric correction of the NOAA/HRPT data, and run under UNIX environment. The authors are now upgrading the software package to process the ADEOS/OCTS data as well. The outline of the software package development is presented.

2. Why PANDA ?

Because of the earth environmental problems, the interest to use NOAA/HRPT data has rapidly grown within the passed ten years. A various kinds of software packages for NOAA/HRPT data processing are available in the commercial market. However, most of them are too expensive and/or too complicated for the end users to use.

A number of scientists in Japan including the authors have started to develop a software package for NOAA/HRPT data processing in 1989. The software package was named PaNDA (Package for NOAA Data Analysis) and it's Version 1.0 was released in 1993 as a freeware for the scientific community in Japan. The software package includes format conversion, radiometric correction, atmospheric correction, geometric correction of the NOAA/HRPT data, and run under UNIX environment. The authors are now upgrading the software package to process the ADEOS/OCTS data as well.

3. Functional Specifications

The most fundamental functions needed to process NOAA/HRPT data are included in the PaNDA software package as follows.

The NOAA/HRPT data consist of the image data, orbit data, radiometric correction data, and HIRS data. The PaNDA package generates separate files for each set of data before starting actual processing.

The radiometric correction function includes brightness transformation, atmospheric correction, temperature estimation, and cloud coverage survey. Several kinds of multiple channel formulas, such as Dual-window MCSST, Sprit-window MCSST, Triple-window MCSST etc. are supported for atmospheric correction and temperature estimation.

The Geometric correction procedure of the PANDA are as follows.

• The satellite position and attitude are precisely determined by the ground control points (GCPs).
• Automatic GCP generation with coastline matching.
• Manual generation of GCP using maps and images.
• By applying the relationship between the position / attitude of the satellite and the earth, the relationship between the ground position and the NOAA /HRPT data image is analytically determined.
• In order to carry this out, an interactive computation is required. Depending on the accuracy of the GCP information, operator’s intervention may be required upon processing.
• The correction without GCP is also available for those users who do not require precise correction.
  

(1) Image clipping

In order to allow users to process only the partial area of the whole image of NOAA/AVHRR, clipping function is provided.

(2) Coastlines, latitude / longitude overlay

PaNDA allows users to output an image overlaid with coastlines and latitude / longitude information.

(3) OCTS Data Processing

The authors are now upgrading the software for the ADEOS /OCTS data processing. The upgraded software package will be renamed as PANDA(Package for ADEOS and NOAA Data Analysis), and the package with an English manual will be made available to the international scientific community via internet.

Updated on April 26, 1999