Background

This data recipe is for users who wish to view and geocode CEOS format files using ASF’s MapReady software. (Without these steps, users can view only a jpeg browse image included with the products.) Data in CEOS format, available through the ASF DAAC, includes Level 1 JERS, ERS-1, ERS-2 and RADARSAT- 1, as well as Level 1.5 ALOS PALSAR.

ASF uses the CEOS (Committee on Earth Observation Satellites) format to release a number of historic SAR products. The CEOS format was originally developed to create a standard file format for the remote sensing community. Inconsistencies in adoption and vagueness in the original specifications, however, led to a number of different CEOS “flavors,” of which ASF’s is one.

Materials List:

• Windows PC
• ASF MapReady
• CEOS format data granule (sample granule)

Steps

Download Material

1. Download ASF MapReady
2. Install MapReady using the Installation Wizard
3. Download a CEOS-formatted data granule from Vertex (CEOS-formatted datasets include Level 1 JERS-1, ERS-1, ERS-2 and RADARSAT-1, as well as Level 1.5 ALOS PALSAR) or use the sample granule.
4. Create a working directory and extract the .zip file.

View Data — Two Options

Option 1 — View Only

Note: This option simply opens the granule for closer inspection. See Option 2 for projection and conversion to GeoTIFF.

1. Open ASF View
2. Click the Open File… button in the sidebar
3. In the Select File menu, change the data type to CEOS Level 1 Data Files for non-PALSAR data or to ALOS Image for PALSAR data
4. Navigate to your working directory.
5. Double-click an image file to open it in the View window

Hint: Press the End key on your keyboard to view the entire image.