Level 3 Binning Operator

Overview

The SNAP Level 3 Binning Operator is based on the NASA SeaWiFS binning algorithm as described in: "Level 3 SeaWiFS Data Products: Spatial and Temporal Binning Algorithms" J.W.Campbell, J.M. Blasidell, and M.Darzi , NASA Technical Memorandum 104566, Vol.32

In addition to the original algorithm, this implementation gives the user the ability to:

• Select an arbitrary number of aggregation methods, such as arithmetic mean/sigma, min/max, percentile threshold.
• Programmatically add aggregation methods.
• Predefine a target subset region as minimum/maximum latitude/longitude.
• Define the spatial resolution of the target product.
• Choose a super-sampling in order to avoid Moiré effects.
• Filter observations based on the spatial data-day.

The term binning refers to the process of distributing the contributions of Level 2 pixels in satellite coordinates to a fixed Level 3 grid using a geographic reference system. A sinusoidal projection is used to realize Level 3 grid comprising a fixed number of equal area bins with global coverage. This is for example true for the SeaWiFS Level 3 products.

See here for a description of the user interface as well as the parameters that can be used to perform a binning.