Xcube
xcube is a tool specifically designed for analyzing and processing spatial and temporal data. It is ideally suited for managing satellite imagery and remote sensing data, enabling users to handle data in both spatial (geographical) and temporal dimensions. xcube is intended for scientists, analysts, developers, and anyone working with large volumes of data, offering a seamless solution for loading, processing, analyzing, and visualizing data.
On the ESTHub xcube viewer platform, data cubes for water quality and vegetation indices are available. Data cubes are multidimensional data structures that allow data to be presented and analyzed consistently across both space and time—for example, monitoring changes in specific geographic areas over weeks, months, or years. The platform enables users to visualize changes in map product parameters over time, create graphs for areas of interest, and export results for further analysis.
When calculating the NDVI product, the Kappazeta cloud mask is applied. If desired, the cloud effect can be visualized by enabling the RGB option under Layers (Dataset RGB). This will display the clouds as an RGB image. The graph next to the map (Figure 2) shows changes in NDVI values for two freely selected points in agricultural fields (marked red and yellow). By marking points or areas on the map for which changes in the parameter over time are of interest, the platform automatically calculates the vegetation index values (within the available data cube's time range, e.g., from May to October 2024).
Figure 2. NDVI data cube for the Tartu area. The patches on the map represent clouds and cloud shadows.
References and additional materials
- xcube official documentation and guides: https://xcube.readthedocs.io
- xcube GitHub page: https://github.com/xcube/xcube