What is an
EOPF Product?

EOPF (Earth Observation Processing Framework) product is a standardized way to represent, organise, and access Earth observation data within modern processing and data ecosystems.

At its core, an EOPF product is a self-contained, structured collection of data and metadata describing observations of the Earth over a defined area and time.
It is designed to be directly usable by processing systems, analytics tools, and digital services.

Structure of an EOPF Product

An EOPF product follows a well-defined data model built around a set of core concepts:

Data variables, representing physical measurements or derived quantities

Dimensions and coordinates, defining the spatial and temporal domain of the data
Attributes and metadata, providing the necessary context for interpretation and use
Optional hierarchical organisation, enabling logical structuring of data elements

Together, these elements form a coherent and machine-readable representation of an observation, enabling both human understanding and automated processing.

Cloud-Native by Design

EOPF products are built with modern data infrastructures in mind. They support:

Direct access to subsets of data, without the need to download entire datasets
Efficient processing on distributed systems, including cloud environments
Scalable storage of large, multi-dimensional datasets, using formats like Zarr

They are a foundational building block for future Earth observation systems, where data, processing, and services are tightly interconnected

Supporting Next-Generation Services

Within the broader ESA Earth Observation Framework, EOPF products play a central role in enabling:

the development of advanced data processing pipelines
the integration of heterogeneous data sources

the delivery of scalable, user-centric services

the adoption of AI and data-driven applications

They are a foundational building block for future Earth observation systems, where data, processing, and services are tightly interconnected

Sample

Samples of EOPF Products and ADFs are a core resource provided within the “EOPF Products and ADFs” service.
They consist of actual data samples and Auxiliary Data Files (ADFs) managed by the test data management service within the Software Development Environment (SDE).
These samples are specifically designed to provide all the data required for the development and validation of re-engineered instrument data processors, ensuring they function correctly according to the framework’s standardized formats.
They typically cover various mission levels (such as L0, L1, and L2 for Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2, and Sentinel-3) and serve as a practical reference for developers to test their software.

Example

Product Structure Examples are a specialized resource provided within the EOPF Products and ADFs section of the framework.
They provide illustrative models and descriptions of the hierarchical organization of data products and Auxiliary Data Files (ADFs).
Their primary purpose is to help developers understand the expected data layout and hierarchy, ensuring that the instrument data processors they develop are compliant with the framework’s standards.
These examples are part of the “extensive documentation” offered by the EOPF to support the full development cycle of re-engineered processors

Join the Community

Forum

Engage with our global network of specialists. Participate in technical discussions, share insights, and get expert help on the Discourse EOPF Forum.

Issue Reporting

Help us strengthen the framework. Report bugs or suggest performance enhancements for our core components.

Developers

Built for the community. EOPF source code is distributed under the Apache License. We welcome contributions from developers worldwide.

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