Package: eradiate
Eradiate Radiative Transfer ModelEradiate is a modern radiative transfer simulation software package for Earth
observation applications. Its main focus is accuracy, and for that purpose, it
uses the Monte Carlo ray tracing method to solve the radiative transfer
equation.Detailed list of featuresSpectral computationSolar reflective spectral regionEradiate ships spectral data within from 280 nm to 2400 nm. This range can be
  extended with additional data (just ask for it!).Line-by-line simulationThese are true monochromatic simulations (as opposed to narrow band
  simulations).
  Eradiate provides monochromatic absorption datasets spanning the wavelength
  range [250, 3125] nm.
  It also supports user-defined absorption data provided it complies with the
  dataset format specifications.Band simulationThese simulations computes results in spectral bands.
  The correlatedk-distribution (CKD) method with configurable
  quadrature rule is used. This method achieves a trade-off between performance
  and accuracy for the simulation of absorption by gases.
  Eradiate ships with absorption datasets suitable for use within the CKD
  method in spectral bands of variable width (including 1 nm and 10 nm
  wavelength bands and 100 cm^-1 wavenumber bands), from 250 nm up to 3125 nm.
  It also supports user-defined absorption data provided it complies with the
  dataset format specifications.AtmosphereOne-dimensional atmospheric profilesBoth standard profiles, e.g. the AFGL (1986) profiles, and customized
  profiles are supported.Plane-parallel and spherical-shell geometriesThis allows for more accurate results at high illumination and viewing
  angles.SurfaceLambertian and RPV reflection modelsModel parameters can be varied against the spectral dimensions.Detailed surface geometryAdd a discrete canopy model (either disk-based abstract models, or more
  realistic mesh-based models).Combine with atmospheric profilesYour discrete canopy can be integrated within a scene featuring a 1D
  atmosphere model in a fully coupled simulation.IlluminationDirectional illumination modelAn ideal illumination model with a Delta angular distribution.Many irradiance datasetsPick your favourite—or bring your own.MeasureTop-of-atmosphere radiance and BRF computationAn ideal model suitable for satellite data simulation.Perspective camera sensorGreatly facilitates scene setup: inspecting the scene is very easy.Many instrument spectral response functionsOur SRF data is very close to the original data, and we provide advice to
  further clean up the data, trading off accuracy for performance.Monte Carlo ray tracingMitsuba renderer as radiometric kernelWe leverage the advanced Python API of this cutting-edge C++ rendering
  library.State-of-the-art volumetric path tracing algorithmMitsuba ships a null-collision-based volumetric path tracer which performs
  well in the cases Eradiate is used for.TraceabilityDocumented data and formatsWe explain where our data comes from and how users can build their own data
  in a format compatible with Eradiate's input.Transparent algorithmsOur algorithms are researched and documented, and their implementation is
  open-source.Thorough testingEradiate is shipped with a large unit testing suite and benchmarked
  periodically against community-established reference simulation software.InterfaceComprehensive Python interfaceAbstractions are derived from computer graphics and Earth observation and
  are designed to feel natural to EO scientists.Designed for interactive usageJupyter notebooks are now an essential tool in the digital scientific
  workflow.Integration with Python scientific ecosystemThe implementation is done using the Scientific Python stack.Standard data formats (mostly NetCDF)Eradiate uses predominantly xarray data structures for I/O.Installation and usageFor build and usage instructions, please refer to thedocumentation.SupportGot a question? Please visit ourdiscussion forum.Authors and acknowledgementsEradiate is developed by a core team consisting of Vincent Leroy, Yvan Nollet,
Sebastian Schunke, Nicolas Misk and Yves Govaerts.Eradiate uses theMitsuba 3 renderer, developed by
theRealistic Graphics Lab,
taking advantage of its Python interface and proven architecture, and extends it
with components implementing numerical methods and models used in radiative
transfer for Earth observation. The Eradiate team acknowledges Mitsuba creators
and contributors for their work.The development of Eradiate is funded by theCopernicus programmethrough a project managed by
theEuropean Space Agency(contract no
40000127201/19/I‑BG).
The design phase was funded by theMetEOC-3 project(EMPIR grant 16ENV03).LicenseEradiate is free software licensed under theGNU Lesser General Public License (v3).Project statusEradiate is actively developed. It is beta software.