Unit 3: In situ validation of Copernicus Sentinel-3 OLCI products with the ThoMaS toolkit

Satellite validation

Validation is an essential part of the satellite processing chain, allowing us to quality control products, check algorithm performance and develop new approaches to retrievals. Typically, validation involves comparing values retrieved from satellite with high quality measurements taken in situ. In practice, validation can be a challenging exercise, requiring the management of a large amount of data, extensive consideration of data quality (both satellite and in situ), and adopting appropriate statistical approaches for making comparisons. Where satellite overpasses and in situ data co-exist within a given temporal and spatial tolerance, we call this a "match-up". The in situ data in for these match-ups are stored in a number of online databases; e.g. SeaBass Links to an external site..

The ThoMaS toolkit

ThoMaS – a Tool to perform Matchups with S3-OLCI - is a toolkit developed to create matchups of bio-geophysical in situ data with satellite ocean colour products from Sentinel-3 OLCI (S3/OLCI). It ingests SeaBASS/OCDB format in situ data, and compares them EUMETSAT Sentinel-3 OLCI OLCI standard marine products, as well as offering partial support for NASA OBPG standard products, as generated by l2gen.

Training on the installation and use of the ThoMaS toolkit will be provided during our training course.