EXPLORE-VN at the celebration of 30 years of Institute of Geography in Hanoi

On the occasion of its 30^th anniversary, the Institute of Geography (VAST) in Hanoi will be hosting a celebratory scientific conference on innovation and sustainable development on the 8^th of November 2023. This is a chance for Nazka Mapps and VITO to present EXPORE-VN to the scientific community and other national and international stakeholders.

EXPLORE-VN is a cloud-based solution for the near-real time processing of Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite imagery and generation of analysis ready data for the territory of Vietnam. The analysis ready data are focused on water quality and contain water-leaving reflectance (Level-2A) together with pixel classification and biophysical parameters such as chlorophyll-a, total suspended matter and turbidity.

Sentinel-2 satellite data are freely available via Copernicus, the European Earth Observation Program. The data available in this program is limited to Level-1C data (Top-Of-Atmosphere), but Level-1A data (water-leaving reflectance product) is not provided. These can be generated from the Level-1C data through iCor [De Keukelaere, 2018], an atmospheric correction algorithm that also includes adjacency correction. This Level-1A product can then be used in further analysis, like the creation of biophysical parameters.

Within the EXPLORE-VN product, satellite data for the territory of Vietnam are processed in near-real time with an internationally validated processing chain, and are made accessible and downloadable through a user-friendly web-based graphical user interface (map platform). The EXPLORE-VN platform can also be used to monitor water bodies over time through time series. Information thus becomes available on an operational basis for numerous high-level applications like the monitoring of water quality, following up crop growth and mangrove monitoring.