Data & Architecture

Analysis-Ready Data

Analysis-Ready Data (ARD) is satellite imagery that has been processed to a standard where it can be used directly for analysis without additional preprocessing. This means the image has been geometrically corrected (pixels are in the right geographic locations), radiometrically calibrated (pixel values represent meaningful physical quantities like surface reflectance rather than arbitrary digital numbers), atmospherically corrected (the atmosphere's distortion has been removed), and often cloud-masked (unusable pixels are flagged). ARD is the difference between receiving raw ingredients and receiving a prepared, measured, recipe-ready mise en place.