Using load_ard to load and cloud mask multiple satellite sensors ¶

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Compatibility: Notebook currently compatible with both the NCI and DEA Sandbox environments
Products used: ga_ls5t_ard_3, ga_ls7e_ard_3, ga_ls8c_ard_3, s2a_ard_granule, s2b_ard_granule

Description¶

This notebook demonstrates how to use the load_ard function to import a time series of cloud-free observations from either multiple Landsat (i.e. Landsat 5, 7 and 8) or Sentinel-2 satellites (i.e. Sentinel-2A and 2B). The function will automatically apply pixel quality masking (e.g. cloud masking) or contiguity masking to the input data and returns all available data from multiple sensors as a single combined xarray.Dataset.

Optionally, the function can be used to return only observations that contain a minimum proportion of good quality, non-cloudy or shadowed pixels. This can be used to extract visually appealing time series of observations that are not affected by cloud.

The function supports the following products:

Landsat (GA Collection 3):

ga_ls5t_ard_3, ga_ls7e_ard_3, ga_ls8c_ard_3

Sentinel-2 Definitive:

s2a_ard_granule, s2b_ard_granule

Sentinel-2 Near Real Time:

s2a_nrt_granule, s2b_nrt_granule

This notebook demonstrates how to use load_ard to:

Load and combine Landsat 5, 7 and 8 data into a single xarray.Dataset
Optionally apply a cloud mask to the resulting data
Filter resulting data to keep only cloud-free observations
Discard Landsat 7 SLC-off failure data
Filter data before loading using a custom function
Load and combine Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B data into a single xarray.Dataset
Lazily load data using Dask

Getting started¶

To run this analysis, run all the cells in the notebook, starting with the “Load packages” cell.

Load packages¶

[1]:

%matplotlib inline

import datacube
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import sys

sys.path.append('../Scripts')
from dea_datahandling import load_ard

Connect to the datacube¶

[2]:

dc = datacube.Datacube(app='Using_load_ard')

Loading multiple Landsat sensors¶

The load_ard function can be used to load a single, combined timeseries of cloud-masked data from multiple DEA products or satellite sensors. At its simplest, you can use the function similarly to dc.load by passing a set of spatiotemporal query parameters (e.g. x, y, time, measurements, output_crs, resolution, group_by etc) directly into the function (see the dc.load documentation for all possible options). The key difference from dc.load is that load_ard also requires an existing Datacube object, which is passed using the dc parameter. This gives us the flexibilty to load data from development or experimental datacubes.

In the examples below, we load a single band of data (nbart_green) from the three Landsat Collection 3 products (Landsat 5, 7 and 8) by specifying: products=['ga_ls5t_ard_3', 'ga_ls7e_ard_3', 'ga_ls8c_ard_3']. The function always outputs the number of observations for each product, and the total number loaded. For the following examples, the function output shows that 0 Landsat 5 observations, 11 Landsat 7 observations, and 12 Landsat 8 observations were loaded, for a combined total of 23 observations.

Explicit syntax¶

The following example demonstrates how key parameters can be passed directly to load_ard.

[3]:

# Load available data from all three Landsat satellites
ds = load_ard(dc=dc,
              products=['ga_ls5t_ard_3', 'ga_ls7e_ard_3', 'ga_ls8c_ard_3'],
              x=(153.38, 153.47),
              y=(-28.83, -28.92),
              time=('2018-04', '2018-06'),
              measurements=['nbart_green'],
              output_crs='EPSG:3577',
              resolution=(-30, 30),
              group_by='solar_day')

# Print output data
print(ds)

Finding datasets
    ga_ls5t_ard_3
    ga_ls7e_ard_3
    ga_ls8c_ard_3
Applying pixel quality/cloud mask
Loading 16 time steps
<xarray.Dataset>
Dimensions:      (time: 16, x: 342, y: 380)
Coordinates:
  * y            (y) float64 -3.304e+06 -3.304e+06 ... -3.316e+06 -3.316e+06
    spatial_ref  int32 3577
  * x            (x) float64 2.05e+06 2.051e+06 ... 2.061e+06 2.061e+06
  * time         (time) datetime64[ns] 2018-04-01T23:43:28.557464 ... 2018-06-28T23:41:33.464057
Data variables:
    nbart_green  (time, y, x) float32 nan nan nan nan ... 559.0 405.0 395.0
Attributes:
    crs:           EPSG:3577
    grid_mapping:  spatial_ref

Query syntax¶

The following example demonstrates how key parameters can be stored in a query dictionary, to be passed as a single parameter to load_ard. The query can then be reused in other load_ard calls.

[4]:

# Create a reusable query
query = {
    'x': (153.38, 153.47),
    'y': (-28.83, -28.92),
    'time': ('2019-01', '2019-05'),
    'measurements': ['nbart_green'],
    'output_crs': 'EPSG:3577',
    'resolution': (-30, 30),
    'group_by': 'solar_day'
}

# Load available data from all three Landsat satellites
ds = load_ard(dc=dc,
              products=['ga_ls5t_ard_3', 'ga_ls7e_ard_3', 'ga_ls8c_ard_3'],
              **query)

# Print output data
print(ds)

Finding datasets
    ga_ls5t_ard_3
    ga_ls7e_ard_3
    ga_ls8c_ard_3
Applying pixel quality/cloud mask
Loading 22 time steps
<xarray.Dataset>
Dimensions:      (time: 22, x: 342, y: 380)
Coordinates:
  * y            (y) float64 -3.304e+06 -3.304e+06 ... -3.316e+06 -3.316e+06
    spatial_ref  int32 3577
  * x            (x) float64 2.05e+06 2.051e+06 ... 2.061e+06 2.061e+06
  * time         (time) datetime64[ns] 2019-01-06T23:42:23.012115 ... 2019-05-30T23:42:14.416872
Data variables:
    nbart_green  (time, y, x) float32 nan nan nan nan ... 543.0 394.0 330.0
Attributes:
    crs:           EPSG:3577
    grid_mapping:  spatial_ref

Working with cloud masking¶

By plotting a time slice from the data we loaded above, you can see an area of white pixels where clouds have been masked out and set to NaN:

[5]:

# Plot single observation
ds.isel(time=5).nbart_green.plot()
plt.show()

../../_images/notebooks_Frequently_used_code_Using_load_ard_12_0.png

By default, load_ard applies a pixel quality mask to loaded data using the fmask band. The default mask is created based on fmask categories ['valid', 'snow', 'water'] which will preserve non-cloudy or shadowed land, snow and water pixels, and set all invalid, cloudy or shadowy pixels to NaN. This can be customised using the fmask_categories parameter. To deactive cloud masking completely, set mask_pixel_quality=False:

[6]:

# Load available data with cloud masking deactivated
ds = load_ard(dc=dc,
              products=['ga_ls5t_ard_3', 'ga_ls7e_ard_3', 'ga_ls8c_ard_3'],
              mask_pixel_quality=False,
              **query)

# Plot single observation
ds.isel(time=5).nbart_green.plot()
plt.show()

Finding datasets
    ga_ls5t_ard_3
    ga_ls7e_ard_3
    ga_ls8c_ard_3
Loading 22 time steps

../../_images/notebooks_Frequently_used_code_Using_load_ard_14_1.png

Filtering to non-cloudy observations¶

In addition to masking out cloud, load_ard allows you to discard any satellite observation that contains less than a minimum proportion of good quality (e.g. non-cloudy) pixels. This can be used to obtain a time series of only clear, cloud-free observations.

To discard all observations with less than X% good quality pixels, use the min_gooddata parameter. For example, min_gooddata=0.99 will return only observations where less than 1% of pixels contain cloud, cloud shadow or other invalid data, resulting in a smaller number of clear, cloud free images being returned by the function:

[7]:

# Load available data filtered to 99% clear observations
ds_noclouds = load_ard(dc=dc,
                       products=['ga_ls5t_ard_3',
                                 'ga_ls7e_ard_3',
                                 'ga_ls8c_ard_3'],
                       min_gooddata=0.99,
                       **query)

# Plot single observation
ds_noclouds.isel(time=0).nbart_green.plot()
plt.show()

Finding datasets
    ga_ls5t_ard_3
    ga_ls7e_ard_3
    ga_ls8c_ard_3
Counting good quality pixels for each time step
Filtering to 2 out of 22 time steps with at least 99.0% good quality pixels
Applying pixel quality/cloud mask
Loading 2 time steps

../../_images/notebooks_Frequently_used_code_Using_load_ard_16_1.png

Discarding Landsat 7 SLC-off failure data¶

On May 31 2003, Landsat 7’s Scan Line Corrector (SLC) that compensated for the satellite’s forward motion failed, introducing linear data gaps in all subsequent Landsat 7 observations. For example, the following Landsat 7 image contains visible striping:

[8]:

# Plot Landsat data
ds.isel(time=1).nbart_green.plot()

[8]:

<matplotlib.collections.QuadMesh at 0x7f8c69df1940>

../../_images/notebooks_Frequently_used_code_Using_load_ard_18_1.png

Although this data still contains valuable information, for some applications (e.g. generating clean composites from multiple images) it can be useful to discard Landsat 7 imagery acquired after the SLC failure. This data is known as “SLC-off” data.

This can be achieved using load_ard using the ls7_slc_off. By default this is set to ls7_slc_off=True which will include all SLC-off data. Set to ls7_slc_off=False to discard this data instead; observe that the function now reports that it is ignoring SLC-off observations:

Finding datasets
    ga_ls5t_ard_3
    ga_ls7e_ard_3 (ignoring SLC-off observations)
    ga_ls8c_ard_3

[9]:

# Load available data after discarding Landsat 7 SLC-off data
ds = load_ard(dc=dc,
              products=['ga_ls5t_ard_3', 'ga_ls7e_ard_3', 'ga_ls8c_ard_3'],
              ls7_slc_off=False,
              **query)

# Print output data
print(ds)

Finding datasets
    ga_ls5t_ard_3
    ga_ls7e_ard_3 (ignoring SLC-off observations)
    ga_ls8c_ard_3
Applying pixel quality/cloud mask
Loading 14 time steps
<xarray.Dataset>
Dimensions:      (time: 14, x: 342, y: 380)
Coordinates:
  * y            (y) float64 -3.304e+06 -3.304e+06 ... -3.316e+06 -3.316e+06
    spatial_ref  int32 3577
  * x            (x) float64 2.05e+06 2.051e+06 ... 2.061e+06 2.061e+06
  * time         (time) datetime64[ns] 2019-01-06T23:42:23.012115 ... 2019-05-30T23:42:14.416872
Data variables:
    nbart_green  (time, y, x) float32 nan nan nan nan ... 543.0 394.0 330.0
Attributes:
    crs:           EPSG:3577
    grid_mapping:  spatial_ref

Filtering data before load using a custom function¶

The load_ard function has a powerful predicate parameter that allows you to filter out satellite observations before they are actually loaded using a custom function. Some examples of where this may be useful include:

Filtering to return data from a specific season (e.g. summer, winter)
Filtering to return data acquired on a particular day of the year
Filtering to return data based on an external dataset (e.g. data acquired during specific climatic conditions such as drought or flood)

A predicate function should take a datacube.model.Dataset object as an input (e.g. as returned from dc_landsat.find_datasets(product='ga_ls8c_ard_3', **query)[0]), and return either True or False. For example, a predicate function could be used to return True for only datasets acquired in April:

dataset.time.begin.month == 4

In the example below, we create a simple predicate function that will filter our data to return only satellite data acquired in April:

[10]:

# Simple function that returns True if month is April
def filter_april(dataset):
    return dataset.time.begin.month == 4

# Load data that passes the `filter_april` function
ds = load_ard(dc=dc,
              products=['ga_ls5t_ard_3', 'ga_ls7e_ard_3', 'ga_ls8c_ard_3'],
              predicate=filter_april,
              **query)

# Print output data
print(ds)

Finding datasets
    ga_ls5t_ard_3
    ga_ls7e_ard_3
    ga_ls8c_ard_3
Filtering datasets using predicate function
Applying pixel quality/cloud mask
Loading 6 time steps
<xarray.Dataset>
Dimensions:      (time: 6, x: 342, y: 380)
Coordinates:
  * y            (y) float64 -3.304e+06 -3.304e+06 ... -3.316e+06 -3.316e+06
    spatial_ref  int32 3577
  * x            (x) float64 2.05e+06 2.051e+06 ... 2.061e+06 2.061e+06
  * time         (time) datetime64[ns] 2019-04-04T23:34:45.825672 ... 2019-04-28T23:41:55.717144
Data variables:
    nbart_green  (time, y, x) float32 nan nan nan nan ... 599.0 513.0 489.0
Attributes:
    crs:           EPSG:3577
    grid_mapping:  spatial_ref

We can print the time steps returned by load_ard to verify that they now include only April observations (e.g. 2018-04-...):

[11]:

ds.time.values

[11]:

array(['2019-04-04T23:34:45.825672000', '2019-04-05T23:35:51.576906000',
       '2019-04-12T23:41:59.899975000', '2019-04-20T23:34:11.272138000',
       '2019-04-21T23:35:45.185905000', '2019-04-28T23:41:55.717144000'],
      dtype='datetime64[ns]')

Filter to a single season¶

An example of a predicate function that will return data from a season of interest would look as follows:

def seasonal_filter(dataset, season=[12, 1, 2]):
        #return true if month is in defined season
        return dataset.time.begin.month in season

After applying this predicate function, running the following command demonstrates that our dataset only contains months during the Dec, Jan, Feb period

ds.time.dt.season :

<xarray.DataArray 'season' (time: 37)>
array(['DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF',
       'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF',
       'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF',
       'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF', 'DJF',
       'DJF'], dtype='<U3')
Coordinates:
  * time     (time) datetime64[ns] 2016-01-05T10:27:44.213284 ... 2017-12-26T10:23:43.129624

Loading Sentinel-2 data¶

Data from the Sentinel-2A and Sentinel-2B satellites can also be loaded using load_ard. To do this, we need to specify Sentinel-2 products in place of the Landsat products above.

The query parameter can be reused to load Sentinel-2 data for the same specifcations used for the Landsat data above:

[12]:

# Load available data from both Sentinel 2 satellites
ds = load_ard(dc=dc,
              products=['s2a_ard_granule', 's2b_ard_granule'],
              **query)

# Print output data
print(ds)

Finding datasets
    s2a_ard_granule
    s2b_ard_granule
Applying pixel quality/cloud mask
Loading 31 time steps
<xarray.Dataset>
Dimensions:      (time: 31, x: 342, y: 380)
Coordinates:
  * y            (y) float64 -3.304e+06 -3.304e+06 ... -3.316e+06 -3.316e+06
    spatial_ref  int32 3577
  * x            (x) float64 2.05e+06 2.051e+06 ... 2.061e+06 2.061e+06
  * time         (time) datetime64[ns] 2019-01-01T23:52:41.024000 ... 2019-05-31T23:52:51.024000
Data variables:
    nbart_green  (time, y, x) float32 786.0 646.0 664.0 702.0 ... nan nan nan
Attributes:
    crs:           EPSG:3577
    grid_mapping:  spatial_ref

Cloudy pixels are masked out by default from the resulting observations similarly to Landsat:

[13]:

# Plot single observation
ds.isel(time=2).nbart_green.plot()
plt.show()

../../_images/notebooks_Frequently_used_code_Using_load_ard_29_0.png

Additional information¶

License: The code in this notebook is licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0. Digital Earth Australia data is licensed under the Creative Commons by Attribution 4.0 license.

Contact: If you need assistance, please post a question on the Open Data Cube Slack channel or on the GIS Stack Exchange using the open-data-cube tag (you can view previously asked questions here). If you would like to report an issue with this notebook, you can file one on Github.

Last modified: June 2020

Compatible datacube version:

[16]:

print(datacube.__version__)

1.8.0

Tags¶

Browse all available tags on the DEA User Guide’s Tags Index

Tags: sandbox compatible, NCI compatible, load_ard, time series analysis, landsat 5, landsat 7, landsat 8, sentinel 2, cloud masking, cloud filtering, pixel quality, SLC-off, predicate function, Dask, lazy loading