Raster Layer
Raster layers are used to show satellite and aerial imagery. They allow you to work interactively directly with massive, petabyte-scale image collections stored in Cloud Optimized GeoTIFF format.

Raster Layer
Adding a Raster Data Source
To create a raster layer you need to add to a raster data source from the Data Catalog, such as Sentinel, Landsat etc.
When data is added, you can choose +Add New Layer
and choose Raster Tile. The raster layer offers a number of parameters displaying the raster data.
Inside raster layer settings preset, mosaic, rescaling, gamma contrast, sigmoidal contrast, sigmoidal bias, saturation and opacity settings are available.
Time Selection
If images covering multiple time ranges are present in the data source, you can select the time range you are interested in. An important use case for the time selector is to create two layers referencing the same raster tile data source, where each layer shows a different time. These layers can then be compared using the Studio Swipe of Side-by-Side modes.

Raster Layer dual view.
In the image of dual map view from above, ‘Landsat’ is used for Data Source and ‘Forest burn’ is used for Preset. Map on the left is a map from Summer 2018 while the right map is from Fall 2018. The impact of forest fires that occurred in late summer 2018. In California are clearly visible in this example above. By combining different datasets and presets more examples can be made.
Raster Rendering Options
Studio currently supports the following set of rendering options.
Note: The strings mentioned in the "required bands" column reference definitions from the STAC
eo
extension's list of common band names.
Rendering Option | Required Bands | Description |
---|---|---|
True Color | 'red', 'green', 'blue' | True color. |
Infrared | 'nir', 'red', 'green' | False-color infrared composite. Near-infrared, red, green mapped to RGB. |
Agriculture | 'swir16', 'nir', 'blue' | False-color agriculture composite. Short-wave infrared 1, near-infrared, blue mapped to RGB. |
Forest Burn | 'swir22', 'nir', 'blue' | False-color forest burn composite. Short-wave infrared 2, near-infrared, blue mapped to RGB. |
NDVI | 'nir', 'red' | Normalized Difference Vegetation Index |
SAVI | 'nir', 'red' | Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index |
MSAVI | 'nir', 'red' | Modified Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index |
NDMI | 'nir', 'swir16' | Normalized Difference Moisture Index |
NBR | 'nir', 'swir22' | Normalized Burn Ratio |
NBR 2 | 'swir16', 'swir22' | Normalized Burn Ratio 2 |
Single Band | Any | Allows the user to view any individual raster band available in the dataset. |
Custom Raster data
Raster layers can reference user-provided, custom Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFFs (COG) by providing standardized Spatio-Temporal Asset Catalog (STAC) metadata.
Open 'Add Data to Map' dialog, chose the 'Tilesets' tab and inside 'Tilesets' tab select 'Raster' Tile. Enter a URL to a STAC metadata file into the 'Tileset metadata' field and click on 'Add Data' button to add the new dataset. For more information see Tiled Datasets and raster-specific metadata requirements below.
STAC metadata requirements
- The metadata file must be a valid STAC Item, version 1.0.0 or higher. STAC Collections and Catalogs are not currently supported.
- Raster data referenced in STAC assets should be Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFFs and need to be publicly accessible via HTTPS.
- STAC item must have Electro-Optical and Raster extensions, and at least one asset must have both
eo:bands
andraster:bands
information.common_name
must be provided ineo:bands
anddata_type
must be provided inraster:bands
.
STAC Searching
Studio currently supports STAC searching for the Sentinel 2 STAC collection.
To use STAC searching, follow these steps:
1. Click the Use Stack Searching toggle.
2. Select a STAC Search Provider. By default, Studio will select the first available provider.
3. In the Date Range box, provide a start date and end date in YYYY-MM-DD
format.
Configuration
Color Scales
Different Color Scales can be selected for Raster layer.
Properties
For details on how to programmatically specify layer properties, refer to the Layer Configuration specification.
Updated 2 days ago