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15 Free Satellite Imagery Data

Sources
LIST OF FREE SATELLITE DATA TO DOWNLOAD
Image Classication
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We look at the digital image
classication techniques in
remote sensing (such as
supervised, unsupervised &
object-based) to extracts features
of interest.

Free Satellite Imagery - A Listing of Earth Observation Data Sources Available to

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Sources: Best Global
Raster and Vector
Datasets
Free Satellite Imagery From Space
Turbo-charge your search for free
Agencies Around the World GIS data with this list of 10 free,
downloadable global GIS
The secret is that there are dozens of websites from agencies
datasets from highly reputable
around the world that will equip you with high quality satellite sources vector and raster.
imagery.

http://gisgeography.com/freesatelliteimagerydatalist/ 1/17
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But wait theres more

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If you want free satellite data, theres no better way to do it software showdown with
then to follow this incredibly useful guide. Ranked from top to the star-studded lineup in

lower tier, here are your go-to free satellite imagery sources. the GIS industry- ArcGIS
vs QGIS. Discover the
Take a look at our list of eyes from the sky.
differences between
ArcGIS and QGIS
1 USGS Earth Explorer Unlock the Power of
Landsat and More

Top Tier Worldwide Data United States Geological Survey POPULAR POSTS
Registration Required

15 Free Satellite Imagery Data

Whether you live Sources
in the United Magnetic North vs Geographic

States, in the (True) North Pole

13 Free GIS Software Options:
Arctic circle or
Map the World in Open Source
an obscure
What is Geographic Information
country like Systems (GIS)?
Transnistria, we can all appreciate the abundance of data the 27 Differences Between ArcGIS
USGS Earth Explorer has to offer. and QGIS - The Most Epic GIS
Software Battle in GIS History
Weve relentlessly hyped USGS Earth Explorer here, here and 10 Free GIS Data Sources: Best
here .and were about to do it again Global Raster and Vector
Datasets
From no data to hyperspectral data, USGS is the undisputed GIS Spatial Data Types: Vector vs
Raster
world champion of free satellite data providers. Heres why:
Top 6 Free LiDAR Data Sources
7 Geoprocessing Tools Every GIS
Access to Landsat satellite
Analyst Should Know
data a legacy that goes
Free Global DEM Data Sources -
unmatched. 40-years of
Digital Elevation Models
history of our Earth with
consistent spectral bands.
http://gisgeography.com/freesatelliteimagerydatalist/ 2/17
// 15FreeSatelliteImageryDataSourcesGISGeography
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Vertically position yourself LATEST POSTS
with NASAs ASTER and DownloadData
Shuttle Radar Topography
GoogleMapSatellite
Missions global Digital
Elevation Models.
Gain full access to NASAs Land Data Products and
Services including Hyperions hyperspectral data, MODIS
& AVHRR land surface reectance and disperse Radar What Can Esri
data. ArcGIS Online
(AGOL) Do For
We sound like a broken record. But USGS Earth Explorer is a
You?
world class source of free satellite data. Regardless where
Have you ever wanted to
you live, you NEED to look at the USGS Earth Explorer.
create interactive web
maps for your
Download Landsat Data: How to Download Free Landsat
organization? Or how
Imagery from the USGS Earth Explorer about the whole world?
You can with Esris cloud-
2 ESAs Sentinel Mission New Leader in Free based ArcGIS Online.
High Resolution Data? Geosynchronous vs
Geostationary Orbits
Top Tier Worldwide Data European Space Agency
Death, Taxes and the
Registration Required
Esri ArcGIS 999999
Error
Sentinels 9 Free Global Land
Scientic Data Cover / Land Use Data
Sets
Hub is the
What is a
ofcial
Geodatabase?
download Personal vs File
headquarters for Geodatabase

the European
Space Agencys Sentinel satellite data. But the question is: Is
ESAs sentinel satellites a worthy alternative to Landsat? Id
say yes but without the long-lasting legacy. Heres why:

Sentinel-2a and 2b have crisper spatial resolution (10

meters in the visible and near-infrared). More spectral
bands (12 in total). And most important of all, its free
satellite imagery for the masses.
Add Sentinel-1 into the equation. Now, you have C-band
Synthetic Aperture Radar of the entire world at your
ngertips. Simply put, Sentinel satellites give you high
quality passive and active data of the entire Earth.

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Read more: Whats the Difference Between Active and

Passive?
Free satellite
In the last year or so, ESAs Sentinel
2A has dethroned Landsat as the imagery viewer
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SatellitePhotos high spatial resolution satellite Search, View, Analyze and
FreeMaps
data. Bold statement? SAR-C from Download Satelite
Sentinel-1. Add the 12 spectral Imagery for Free
bands from Sentinel 2A. Its not
such a bold statement, after all. lv.eosda.com

ESAs Copernicus Programme is the start of a new and

exciting era for the remote sensing community. They will
launch 5 more Earth observing satellites along with the
Sentinel-2 Toolbox for processing and analyzing Sentinel
data and imagery

Youre wise to take a look at the sharpest, free satellite

imagery source available from the European Space Agency.

Download Sentinel Data: How to Download Free Satellite

Data (Sentinel-1 and 2A) from the Sentinel Science Data Hub

3 NOAA CLASS An Ocean of Free Satellite

Data

Top Tier Worldwide Data National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration Registration Required

Set sails.

Because NOAA
will take you on
a journey to
stfuls of free
high quality
atmospheric data sets (and more).

NOAA uses an online library system called the

Comprehensive Large Array-data Stewardship System
(CLASS) to store a plethora of environmental data. Data
comes from the US Department of Defense (DoD) Polar-

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orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES), NOAAs

Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES),
and other derived data.

Currently, the NOAA National Data Centers support POES,

DMSP, GOES, MetOp, Jason-2 data, and selected model
reanalysis data. It will archive data collections from the NPP,
JPSS (formerly NPOESS), GOES-R, Jason-3, and planned
Earth-based observing systems include NEXRAD products.

A LOT is here. But we found it a bit hard to navigate in NOAAs

CLASS. The user-friendliness from the USGS Earth Explorer
and Sentinel Science Data Hub simply cant be beat.

4 NASA Reverb Satellite Data from the

Masters

Top Tier Worldwide Data National Aeronautics and Space

Administration Registration Required

Theres a lot to
like about
NASAs Reverb
Data Hub.
Especially, after
its new facelift.
It has a fresh
new look and interface for discovering Earth Science data,
NASA Reverb contends

First off the choices of satellite data is incredible:

Aqua, Terra, Aura, TRMM, Calipso, NASA DC, JASON,

ENVISAT, ALOS, METEOSAT, GOES, ICESAT, GMS, Landsat,
NIMBUS, SMAP, RADARSAT, NOAA satellites, GPS satellites,
the list goes on

Admittedly, it takes a bit of practice to navigate. There are 30

ways to narrow down your data. Our suggestion is to start
with a simple search. Change the time range criteria. Narrow
it down, and download your free satellite imagery.

Youll get the hang of it, after a couple of tries.

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This Reverb Basic Usage Tutorial will help.

5 Earth Observation Link (EOLi) ESAs EO

Catalogue

Middle Tier Worldwide Data European Space Agency

Registration Required

The Earth
Observation
Link (EOLi) is
the European
Space Agencys
client for Earth
Observation
Catalog and Ordering Services.

The EOLi is a bit dated. Its a JAVA application that you can
download to your PC. It works on any major operating system.

While slow and buggy, you can browse and preview images
from Earth Observation data from Envisat, ERS, IKONOS,
DMC, ALOS, SPOT, Kompsat, Proba, IRS, SCISAT.

Select your study area or add a shapele or KMZ. Select your

satellite collection with a limit of 10 to search from. Click
Search catalogue. If satellite data is available, click Append.
The search results will be shown in the bottom with scene
previews on the right. Select the scene you want to download,
and click the order button (shopping cart).

6 National Institute for Space Research (INPE)

Middle Tier South America & Africa Data Brazil and China
Space Agencies Registration Required

The partnership
between Brazil
and China has
their own image
catalog of
remotely-sensed

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data which lets you download free satellite imagery using the
INPE Image Catalog.

The catalog includes satellite imagery from their own China

Brazil Earth Resources Satellite 2 and 2b (CBERS-2, CBERS-
2b). It includes satellites from the United States, the United
Kingdom and the India from Aqua, CBERS, Landsat,
ResourceSat, S-NPP, Terra & UK-DMC 2.

The one caveat is that the data is specic to South America

and Africa. Youll have to create an account because each
request you make will be sent to your email. You can use your
English translation to translate from Portuguese.

Select your satellite and sensor. Choose a country in South

America and Africa. Add it to your cart, and click Go Ahead.
From there you can download your chosen free satellite
imagery from the INPE FTP site.

7 Bhuvan Indian Geo-Platform of ISRO

Middle Tier India Data Indian Remote Sensing

Registration Required

India has really

made big strides
in satellite
remote sensing
technology. It
dates back to
1998 with the launch of the Indian Remote Sensing (IRS 1A)
satellite.

Now, data is available on the Bhuvan Indian Geo-Platform.

The platform is well-built but most of the data is for India
only. This includes IMS-1 (Hyperspectral), Cartosat, OceanSat
and ResourceSat which are all Indian satellites.

The following products are available to download outside of

India NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index) Global
Coverage, CartoDem Version -3R1 for SAARC countries and
Climate products for North Indian Ocean.

8 JAXAs Global ALOS 3D World

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8 JAXAs Global ALOS 3D World

Middle Tier Worldwide Data Japan Aerospace Exploration

Agency (JAXA) Registration Required

The ALOS World

3d is a 30-meter
spatial
resolution digital
surface model
(DSM)
constructed by
the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agencys (JAXA). Recently,
this DSM has been made available to the public.

The neat thing about is that it is the most precise global-

scale elevation data at this time using the Advanced Land
Observing Satellite DAICHI (ALOS) PALSARs L-band.
JAXAs SAR mosaics is an exciting development for global
elevation.

In order to obtain this highly accurate DSM, youll have to

register online through the JAXA Global ALOS portal to
download it.

9 NOAA Data Access Viewer Discover

Authoritative Datasets

Lower Tier United States National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)

Once upon a
time, the NOAA
Aerial Photo
Ordering
System was the
place to go for
aerial photos in the United States. Its currently MIA missing
in action.

NOAA Data Access Viewer is now the place to go for imagery,

land cover and elevation data. Heres where you discover

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authoritative datasets, customize and download the latest,

greatest data all free.

Its in beta mode now. The download speeds are slow and
sluggish. Theres no registration needed in beta mode which
is its current state at this time. Well be adjusting this write-up
as all the kinks get ironed out.

10 VITO Vision Coarse Vegetation Data

Lower Tier Global Vegetation Data Registration Required

The VITO Vision

website offers
PROBA-V, SPOT-
Vegetation and
METOP free
satellite
imagery. These coarse resolution satellites carves out
vegetation patterns of the Earths surface.

It takes some time and effort to create an account for VITO

Vision. The interface is easy-to-use and delivers free low
resolution satellite data at your ngertips.

This type of data is a good for large-scale applications that

doesnt need the ner details.

11 NOAA Digital Coast Snorkel the Seashore

Lower Tier Coastal United States National Oceanic and

Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Registration Required

Its all about the

beautiful
seashore, when
youre exploring
for data on
NOAAs Digital
Coast. Coastal data is all youre going to get.

To download data, select your area of interest. Dene your

data set to download. And sift through the results. You have
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benthic, elevation, imagery, land cover and socio-economic

data. You get a range of free satellite imagery to choose from
such as radar, infrared and true color composites.

12 Global Land Cover Facility Derived

Satellite Data

Lower Tier Global University of Maryland No

Registration

Landcover.org is
your location for
derived global
land cover data
from Landsat,
MODIS and
AVHRR satellite
imagery.

Using Global
Land Cover Facility (GLCF) land cover, research efforts can
quantify land cover and land cover change around the world.
This includes vegetation, geologic, agriculture, hydrologic and
urban areas on the Earths surface.

We have never had this good of a perspective of our changing

planet because of satellite imagery. Some of the biggest
challenges that our planet faces can be better understood
because remote sensing cover that much ground.

13 DigitalGlobe Free Product Samples

Sort of Free Worldwide Data DigitalGlobe

DigitalGlobe is
the THE largest
commercial
satellite data
supplier in the
world If you
want to play
with some of the

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sharpest satellite data in the world, these free satellite

imagery samples are just for you.

You can almost see license plates with the 30 cm

spatial resolution data from the newly launched
WorldView-3 satellite.
The spectacular Advanced Elevation Series shines in
elds such as exploration, engineering, land
management and simulation.
Test high spatial resolution short-wave infrared (SWIR)
bands and see the invisible range that cant be seen with
the human eye.

DigitalGlobe always delivers on their promise on seeing a

better world.

See DigitalGlobes product samples and nd out exactly what

you are missing out on.

14 BlackBridge/Geo-Airbus Tag Team

Champions of Satellite Imagery

Sort of Free Worldwide Data Blackbridge/Geo-Airbus

The
BlackBridge/Ge
o Airbus
Defense System
is your provider
for SPOT,
Pleiades,
RapidEye and TerraSAR data. Timely and accurate satellite
data from these satellites are being used in a variety of elds
like security, oil & gas, mining & energy, agriculture,
environment and disaster mapping.

Both companies offer sample products for you to experiment

with. And theres a lot to work with here, with beautiful
satellite imagery of places around the world.

Just to set it straight. For Canadians, Blackbridge is for you.

For the rest of the world, Geo Airbus Defense Systems is your

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provider for these specic satellites. There are a couple of

locations to download sample data. See below:

Airbus Defense & Space Sample Imagery Web Viewer

Free RapidEye Data from BlackBridge
Airbus Defense and Space Gallery Home
Unrivaled pole-to-pole DEM for any spot on Earth

15 UNAVCO Research Data

Worldwide Data UNAVCO Research Registration Required

If you dont
know who
UNAVCO is,
heres a quick
and helpful 3
minute video to
learn what UNAVCO is all about UNAVCO Explained in 3
Minutes.

University NAVSTAR Consortium (UNAVCO) is an

organization of universities who support scientic research
using geodesy technology. Flooding, plate tectonics,
earthquakes our world is all connected. UNAVCO promotes
research by providing access to geodesy data. They do this
with their own UNAVCO SAR Archive Search User Interface.

This website is ooded with Synthetic Aperture Radar

satellites sources and thats a good thing. But youll need a
username and password to get your hands on your very own
SAR data. This could be a big hurdle in the process.

Whats Next?

Satellite data has opened up new channels on how we view

the planet.

Youve learned that instead of spending days searching for a

good basemap, you can tap into this list of free satellite
imagery data.

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Youve learned some of the key data centers to obtain free

satellite imagery from around the globe.

But did we miss anything?

Let us know below.

FEATURED LANDSAT SATELLITE

SATELLITE DATA SENTINEL

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10 COMMENTS ON 15 FREE SATELLITE IMAGERY DATA

SOURCES

erikhund JANUARY 26, 2016 AT 9:16 AM

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Great site! I have a couple of links you can use for the NOAA
Data Access Viewer in Item 9 and the NOAA Digital Coast in
Item 11. The correct link for the NOAA Data Access Viewer in
Item 9 is https://coast.noaa.gov/dataviewer/#. The Data
Access Viewer is fully operational, and we also provide a link
to the new Beta version when you open the Data Access
Viewer. Item 11 actually links to the Data Access Viewer. The
correct link for the NOAA Digital Coast is
https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/. Thanks

kazi hifajat JANUARY 27, 2016 AT 3:28 AM

Thanks thats very helpful .

Alex Irving JANUARY 29, 2016 AT 2:36 AM

Airbus World DEM provides

Pole-to-pole coverage: Homogenous standardised DEM for
any spot on Earth
Unique quality: Superior elevation information anywhere on
Earth
Unrivalled accuracy: 2m (relative) / 4m (absolute) vertical
accuracy in a 12m x 12m raster
Digital Surface Models and Terrain Models available
Easy access

For free samples see http://www.geo-

airbusds.com/worlddem-sampledata/

yusuf JANUARY 31, 2016 AT 8:07 AM

Awesomegreat sitebut one question please. Is the ESA

sentinel data available for Africa

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Markus Neteler MARCH 5, 2016 AT 10:56 AM

Yes, they are available for Africa see here for an overview
map: http://maps.mundialis.de/

Virgil Ruiz MAY 16, 2016 AT 10:31 AM

Whats the name of the magazine that had a recent article

about treasure/, oin & archeaological (sic) hunters, (the most
recent nd of ancient coins in England?) They had searched
through satellite and found, or saw from the sky, ancient
Middle-Aged furrows on a farm in England, Is it Discovery
Magazine? Or is it National Geographic? This article also had a
list of free websites for explorers and legal hunters of
ancient coins & artifacts.

Olivier Hagolle JUNE 19, 2016 AT 3:04 PM

Great list of sources, Thanks

Maybe could you add the French THEIA Land Data Center,
operated by CNES (https://theia.cnes.fr/), which distributes
free data from several satellites :
Spot World Heritage : CNES started reprocessing the whole
SPOT archive. It is a long term project, but already nearly 100
000 SPOT archive images from various sites are available,
ortho rectied and expressed in TOA reectance. Several siltes
are available all over the world.
LANDSAT L2A : surface reectance Landsat data are
systematically produced and distributed over France, since
2009.
SPOT (Take5) : SPOT4 and SPOT5 satellites, at the end of
their operational life, were used to produce time series of
images above 190 sites, with a repetitivity of 5 days, similar to
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the repetitivity that will be provided by Sentinel-2 images when

the second satellite is operational.

Olivier

JCM OCTOBER 26, 2016 AT 5:47 PM

Very good list, thank you.

But just to be clear, the highest resolution, completely free

satellite imagery I or anyone is going to nd is still the Sentinel
2a&b 10m images, correct?

These 1.5m-30cm images are tantalizing, but Ive contacted

some of those sites in the recent past and the prices for
imagery already on hand is astronomical. Sigh.

Thanks.

GISGeography OCTOBER 27, 2016 AT 5:36 AM

Yes, the best freely available are Sentinel 2A & 2B

Bernardo Gorbercik OCTOBER 27, 2016 AT 11:57

AM

Hello, I am looking for high quality imagery of Nassau,

Bahamas in order to convert it into ight simulation scenery
(FSX and P3D). The US Earth Explorer has none. Do you know
which source I can use for that and also be free? Thanks

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