ESA is launching an Announcement of Opportunity for the international scientific community to access SatVu’s HotSat-1 archive data for science and EO-based applications development.

HotSat-1, operational between June - December 2023, is the first of its kind to provide commercially available thermal infrared imaging of the Earth at a high resolution and frequency. The images captured by SatVu’s first satellite, HotSat-1, show heat variations across the surface of the earth at a resolution of up to 3.5 m, both during the day and at night. Thermal data at this unparalleled resolution has wide applications, allowing researchers to study and monitor:

• Infrastructure and industrial facilities
• Human activity and pattern of life
• Humanitarian and natural disasters
• Urban heat mapping
• Solar farm fault detection
• Wildfires

To browse the full list of HotSat-1 archive data on offer and to view the coverage map please visit the SatVu HotSat-1 Imagery Public Database page. Here you can download the archive scene footprints as geojson or kml files.

The imagery database also tags features of interest within each scene, for example: rivers, roads, ports etc.

Learn more about SatVu and the HotSat-1 mission.

Data Description:

The following imagery products are available from the HotSat-1 archive:

• Visual Product
• On request a prototype Brightness Temperature Product can be provided on selected scenes. Brightness temperature allows for a quantitative analysis of temperature variations across and between different scenes.

HotSat-1 Archive specifications:

• Resolution: 3.5 m at nadir
• Scene size: 16 km2 at nadir (a standard scene has a field of view of approximately 3.5 x 4.5 km at nadir)
• Sensitivity: 2 kelvin
• Wavelength: Mid-wave infrared
• Imaging mode: Single image
• Number of collections: 438

Included in each visual product:

• Image File – Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF format
• Metadata File – JSON format, STAC representation
• UDM File – Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF format
• Image Overview - PNG format
• Thumbnail - PNG format
   

How To Access Data

1. Go to the ESA User Services Portal 
2. Register or log in to EO Sign In - Users are recommended to provide their institutional email address when registering a new account
3. After logging in, complete and submit the form with your proposed use of the data
4. The proposal will be evaluated by ESA, which normally takes between 6 and 8 weeks
5. Upon successful evaluation, you will receive a confirmation email, which describes the amount of data to be provided, and details of how to order the data.

Availability and restrictions to the use of the data are described in the Terms of Applicability document. Utilisation of this data is subject to ESA's Earth Observation TPM Terms and Conditions.

The HotSat-1 Announcement of Opportunity Call is open to users worldwide, with a proposal submission deadline of 30 June 2025