Skip to main content

NASA's Sea, earth, atmosphere Data Analysis System (SeaDAS) is a comprehensive software package for the processing, display, analysis, and quality control of ocean color data. While the primary focus of SeaDAS is ocean color data, it is applicable to many satellite-based earth science data analyses. Originally developed to support the SeaWiFS mission, it now supports most U.S. and international ocean color missions.

The SeaDAS dashboard shows an image of the Caspian Sea in the Spectrum View Tool.

Caspian Sea: Spectrum View Tool. Imagery captured by the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) on March 1, 2024. Credit: NASA's Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC)

The SeaDAS 10.x platform, an extension of the European Space Agency (ESA) Sentinel Application Platform (SNAP) platform, serves as an application platform to the NASA SeaDAS Toolbox and the ESA Optical Toolbox. The core elements of NASA SeaDAS science processing (both command line and GUI-based) are contained within the SeaDAS Toolbox. The NASA satellite mission data file readers and the ESA processors for the Sentinel-3 missions are contained within the Optical Toolbox.

The latest version of SeaDAS is 10.0.0, which contains SeaDAS Toolbox version 10.0.0.

The features below describe the main capabilies of the SeaDAS software. To see a list of recent feature improvements, view the release notes for the latest software distribution.

Visualization

  • Very fast image display and navigation even of giga-pixel images
  • Advanced layer management allows adding and manipulation of new overlays such as images of other bands, images from WMS servers or ESRI shapefiles
  • Rich region-of-interest definitions for statistics and various plotting functions
  • Easy bitmask definition and overlay
  • Flexible band arithmetic using arbitrary mathematical expressions
  • Accurate reprojection and ortho-rectification to common map projections
  • Geo-coding and rectification using ground control points
  • Coastline, land/water masking for navigated data
  • Store and restore the current session including all opened files, views and layers

Science Processing

SeaDAS offers the ability for users to process satellite data from a number of ocean color missions (both U.S. and International) through the various processing levels:

  • Level 0 to Level 1 processing is offered for the MODIS sensors on-board the Terra and Aqua spacecraft
  • Level 1 to Level 2 (l2gen)
  • Level 2 to Level 3 binned (l2bin)
  • Temporal binning of Level 3 (l3bin)
  • Mapping of Level 1 data (l1mapgen)
  • Mapping of Level 2 data (l2mapgen)
  • Mapping of Level 3 binned data (smigen)
  • Browse file creation (l1brsgen,l2brsgen)

Statistics

  • Statistics tool
  • Histogram
  • Scatter Plot
  • Spectrum Plot
  • Correlative Plot
  • Profile Plot

SeaDAS 10 is available for Linux, macOS (AArch64), and Windows 10/11. For using science data processing code in Windows, see SeaDAS-OCSSW Client Server page for configuration options. The SeaDAS source code is publicly available.

Minimum Suggested Hardware

CategoryRequirement
PlatformsLinux (Intel/AMD), macOS Apple Silicon (AArch64 only), Windows 10/11
MemoryMinimum: 8 GB
Recommended: 16 GB+
Disk SpaceSeaDAS application: ~1 GB
OCSSW system (all sensors): ~5 GB
Additional ~10 GB recommended for data storage
DisplayMinimum 1280×1024 resolution (HD or higher recommended)

System Requirements

The core visualization package of SeaDAS is written in Java, and SeaDAS 10 requires Java 21. Installers for Linux, macOS (AArch64), and Windows include a bundled JRE 21, so no separate Java installation is required. Installers without a bundled JRE are also provided for users who prefer to use their own system-installed Java 21.

Supported Operating Systems

  • Linux: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS or newer
  • macOS: AArch64 (Apple Silicon)
  • Windows: Windows 10/11 (64-bit)

Optional Compilers for OCSSW (Linux/macOS)

gcc / g++ / gfortran (8 or higher. OCSSW team uses 10)

ProgramVersionNotes
JavaJava 21 (JDK or JRE)SeaDAS 10 requires Java 21. JRE-bundled installers are provided for all platforms; users may also use the non-JRE installers with their own system Java 21 installation.
Bash4.xRequired only for OCSSW science processing. Bash 3.x may work but is not officially tested.
Python3.8 or aboveRequired only for OCSSW science processing. The requests library (2.18+ or newer) must also be installed.

Earthdata Authentication

Earthdata Login is required for downloading mission and ancillary data. SeaDAS uses Python’s Requests library for authenticated downloads. A valid .netrc file is required, as described on the Search and Download Methods page.

View release notes and download historical versions of the SeaDAS software package.

The SeaDAS team maintains the following resources to assist SeaDAS users and optimize research.
 
General:
 
Ocean Color Science Software (OCSSW):
 
Build Source Code:
 

Tool at a Glance

SeaDAS News

View All News
Filters
Icebergs circulate in the South Atlantic Ocean currents near the island of South Georgia. Around them, phytoplankton is blooming, creating large green-tinted swirls in this NASA Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) acquired on January 5, 2025.

Discover the Help Hub for Ocean Color Learning Resources

The Help Hub hosted by NASA's Ocean Biology Distributed Active Archive Center (OB.DAAC) has been updated with new learning resources for processing ocean color satellite data, working with Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) data, and more.
News
Jan. 15, 2025
Blue rectangle with word SEADAS in white with a small square next to it overlain on a data image showing a land mass and ocean with colored data in the water

Data Tool in Focus: SeaDAS

The SeaDAS software application lets users process, visualize, and analyze NASA ocean color and other data products.
Feature Article
Oct. 3, 2023
SHOWING 4 OF 28

SeaDAS Learning Resources

View All Learning Resources
Filters
SHOWING 4 OF 11

Join Our Community of NASA Data Users

While NASA data are openly available without restriction, an Earthdata Login is required to download data and to use some tools with full functionality.

Learn About the Benefits of Earthdata Login

Frequently Asked Questions

Earthdata Forum

Our online forum provides a space for users to browse thousands of FAQs about research needs, data, and data applications. You can also submit new questions for our experts to answer.

Submit Questions to Earthdata Forumand View Expert Responses

Earthdata
Forum