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January 19th, 2010:

PARGE version 3.0 has been released. Updates and new features:

• Revised and extended internal data structure to allow more consistent data logging and batch processing,
• Introduced method for orthorectification to ENVI-compatible rotated geometry to reduce output data size substantially,
• Substantially reduced memory demand for nearest neighbour processing in IGM workflow by full tiling capabilities,
• Introduced build number display and personal preferences,
• restructured the help menu and updated the user manual, and
• added a result definition panel.

 

January 12th, 2010:

ATCOR 2/3, version 7.1 and ATCOR 4, version 5.1 have been released. Updates and new features:

• The set of haze termination criteria is augmented. This improves the performance of batch jobs to terminate the haze removal if the haze option is set, and if the haze removal is probably not successful.
• Cloud shadow is included as an additional class in the ”scene out hcw.bsq” file containing haze, cloud, water, land, snow, and saturated pixels.
• The ”scene atm.log” file includes the percentage of cloud cover, cloud shadow, water, and snow.
• An optional new quality file is added to the output. The previous hcw file is created if the corresponding flag in the preference parameter file is set to 1. If the flag is set to 2, this quality file ”scene quality.bsq” is created additionally. Currently, it consists of three bands with a probability map for cloud, water, and snow, and there are three probability levels (low, medium, high, coded 30, 60, 90, respectively). More quality indicators for other classes might be added in future releases.
• Start/stop wavelengths for interpolation in the 940, 1130, 1400, 1900 nm regions can now be defined for hyperspectral instruments. The previous version employed fixed settings. Now there is more flexibility in the definition of those interpolation regions.
• The file extension ’.ini’ is changed into ’.inn’ to avoid conflicts in Windows operating systems. Old ’ini’ files are still valid, but will automatically be copied to the corresponding ’.inn’ file.
• If the ’gain setting’ parameter (line 6 of the ”sensor*.dat” file) is set to 1, then the gainset=g value (line 5 of the ’.inn’ file) is used to update the radiometric calibration c1 with c1/g, where g is the same for all channels. This feature is convenient if the basic calibration c1 applies but a common re-scaling factor is sufficient, e.g. due to a change of the system integration time. In these cases, the same radiometric calibration file (”*.cal”) can be used, and only factor g is updated in the ’.inn’ file. In the past, gain setting was also supported: a vector of re-scaling factors was accepted (on line 5 of the ’.inn’ file), but only up to 10 channels. In general, we have g=1.0 and the complete radiometric calibration is provided in the ”.cal” file.
• The spatially varying visibility mode now employs a finer aerosol optical thickness grid of 0.006 in the visibility index (visindex) file instead of the former 0.01. In addition, the visindex file now has only one channel, the second channel that included the haze / cloud classification is omitted. The haze/cloud mask can be found in the ”* hcw.bsq” file (haze, cloud, water, land). The haze / cloud classification is also removed from the aerosol optical thickness (AOT) file (”* atm aot.bsq”).
• The algorithms and output messages for the buttons ”Aerosol Type” and ”Visib. Estimate” are improved. ”Aerosol Type” works only with DDV pixels, while ”Visib. Estimate” consists of three steps: (a) DDV pixels (red band), (b) non DDV but dark pixels (red band), and (c) water pixels (NIR band). The previous version tended to overestimate the visibility for scenes with water bodies.
• For pushbroom imaging spectrometers the spectral ”smile” effect often needs to be corrected. This optical aberration causes the spectrometer entrance slit to be projected as a curve on the rectilinear detector array. The shift of the center wavelength of a channel in across- track direction is specified as a 4th order polynomial function. A tool was provided by ReSe to calculate this polynomial from image data for a set of channels located in atmospheric absorption regions.
• A change in the file format of the 4th order smile polynomial coefficients was necessary. While the previous format (”smile poly ord4.dat”) had 5 columns for the polynomial coefficients,the new format requires 6 columns with the wavelength or band number in the first column followed by the five polynomial coefficients.
• The calculation of cast shadows has been significantly improved by allowing sub-pixel terrain analysis (avoiding linear artefacts due to pixel resolution).

Specific to ATCOR-4 is the following updates:

• The monochromatic atmospheric database contains new look-up tables for a minimum flight altitude of 100 m above sea level. With the previous versions the minimum altitude LUTs were calculated for a flight level of 1 km, and LUTs for flight altitudes below 1 km were extrapolated using the 1 km and 2 km LUTs. Now the LUTs for flight altitudes below 1 km can be calculated more accurately using interpolation. Note: to comply with the 1000 m grid of the database file names, the names of the 100 m LUTs are listed as height 0.
• The creation of scan angle files from parameter is now consistent with the image data formats.

 
 

October 12th 2009:

SpecTIR Announces Exclusive Delivery of 5 nm Hyperspectral Reflectance Data using ATCOR-4 Atmospheric Modeling Software.

SpecTIR (Reno, NV) announces that it has incorporated ATCOR-4 software into the processing of airborne hyperspectral data from radiance to reflectance files, and is the only commercial firm to deliver 5 nanometer (nm) reflectance files. ATCOR-4 originates from the German Aerospace Center and is available through ReSe Applications Schläpfer. It is used to make atmospheric corrections to the hyperspectral data and produces 5 nm spectral channels. Previously, 10 nm reflectance channels were the best resolution available to the remote sensing industry. The ATCOR-4 software is used to correct small and wide FOV airborne reflective and emissive systems. It derives surface reflectance, emissivity, and temperature from calibrated images by atmospheric correction. This information can be used for monitoring, change detection, surface-vegetation atmosphere transfer (SVAT) modeling, and surface energy balance investigations for modeling. SpecTIR’s President, Mark Landers, said “This is a significant step in our ability to understand and model hyperspectral data. We are now the only firm able to provide clients with 5 nm atmospherically corrected reflectance files, which is a much richer data source, and ultimately a superior product for exploitation and analysis.”

March 1st 2009:

ATCOR 2/3, version 7.0 and ATCOR 4, version 5.0 have been released. Updates and new features:

• A new compilation of the monochromatic database of atmospheric LUTs was generated with the features:
  (a) a higher accuracy in atmospheric absorption regions (use of correlated-k algorithm of Modtran^®)
  (b) a narrow equidistant wavelength grid of 0.6 nm suitable for sensors with bandwidths > 3 nm (instead of the former > 10 nm bandwidth) covering the spectrum from 340 to 2550 nm.
  (c) a separate database was compiled for CHRIS/Proba covering the smaller wavelength range 380 to 1080 nm, containing results for the nadir as well as the 35◦ and 55◦ off-nadir geometries. Automatic tilt angle interpolation is performed if necessary.
  
• An additional file with a water vapor grid point at W=4.0 cm is included in the atmospheric database, providing better accuracy for scenes with high water vapor columns up to W = 5 cm.
• Spectral ”smile” can be accounted for during the surface reflectance retrieval in case of imaging spectrometers with pushbroom area detectors, using a column-by-column water vapor retrieval and atmospheric correction algorithm,
• Water vapor retrieval: a wavelength range can be specified for each window and absorption region to achieve an improved regression over several channels. Note: this implies a change to the ”.ini” file, and files from ATCOR releases of 2007 or earlier are no longer compatible. Furthermore, efficiency and accuracy of band regression-based APDA technique for water vapor retrieval has been improved.
• The water vapor map can be calculated without a surface reflectance retrieval. This facilitates runs with different channel combinations to determine which channels are most suitable for the water vapor retrieval.
• Some plausibility checks are included for the haze removal. The haze removal algorithm is switched off if these criteria are not fulfilled. However, there is also the possibility to set a flag to ignore the termination criteria and to enforce de-hazing.
• The water mask for the haze / cloud / water map is improved, implying better results for the haze removal. In addition, a new class ”cloud over water” is introduced.
• A graphical user interface is now available for the calculation of the radiometric calibration coefficients (offset and gain) for the case of an inflight calibration with multiple ground targets. It supplements the older keyword-driven module that calculates these coefficients using a linear regression analysis. The former module is retained and will also be available in future releases.
• The sensor-specific radiometric calibration file (.cal ) can be located in any directory, e.g. in the image folder. Additionally, the former location in the ATCOR folder (’cal’ or ’sensor’ ) is still valid. Keeping temporary and test calibration files in a non-ATCOR folder may facilitate a handling of these files, which is an advantage if multiple users work simultaneously on images of the same sensor.
• ATCOR3: The phase function dependent path radiance files for tilt sensors have been re-compiled. Please make sure to download these files ”phasefct *.bin” and replace the old files in the atcor/bin folder.
• Users of SPOT and ALOS/AVNIR-2 data should read the updated definition of the tilt geometry parameters (chapters 8.5.2, 8.5.3, p. 103, 104) and 55◦
• support for preference settings regarding upper limit of reflection and saturation level,
• added direct access to ATCOR manual, release notes, build number, and web ressources from main help-menu,

May 14th 2008:

ATCOR capabilities - updated compilation of differences to other atmospheric correction codes including comments about accuracy and validity of the results.

April, 2nd 2008:

PARGE, version 2.4 has been released. Updates and new features:

• Tiled processing and other measures for more efficient memory handling
• Preferences for temporary directory and memory management
• Imports synchronization information from file
• Improved batch processing and logging
• Support for new systems (AISA Eagle, HYSPEX)
• Automatic DEM-data preparation for raw geometry-based ATCOR processing
• Resizing and creation of DEMs at arbitrary resolutions.
• Scan angle file creation from MAP or parameters
• Quality control (QC) tools for image-to-image geometric analysis, SNR calculation, and data loss evaluation
• Improved IGM workflow with tiling capability and MAP creation directly from IGM
• Fast nearest neighbour resampling for IGM workflow

5th February 2008:

ATCOR 2/3, version 6.4 and ATCOR 4, version 4.3 have been released. Updates and new features:

• Variable visibility / aerosol optical thickness (AOT): enhanced resolution of 0.01 in AOT instead of the former 0.02 resolution.
• The linear regression ratio (LIRR) of the APDA algorithm was added as an option for the water vapor retrieval. The regression is able to reduce sensor noise and might yield a better water vapor map.
• The accuracy of surface reflectance retrieval in atmospheric absorption regions is improved: the fit functions are evaluated over the smaller scene-dependent range of water vapor columns instead of the maximum possible range of the atmospheric LUT database.
• Improved cloud shadow algorithm: ”holes” in a shadow map are eliminated, and filled with shadow values from the surrounding area, usually yielding a much better performance.
• Haze removal: during batch processing the haze removal is switched off if the scene contains only a small percentage < 2% of haze pixels. It is not switched off in the interactive mode to be able to check results for scenes with a small haze percentage.
• Detection and removal of cirrus clouds if a narrow spectral band around 1.38 μm exists.
  Attention: this requires a high radiometric accuracy and signal-to-noise ratio (e.g., AVIRIS 1992 and later), it does not work for data from the Hyperion sensor!
• The number of empirical BRDF options for rugged terrain is reduced and simplified.
• An optional output file can be created containing the ”haze/cloud/water/land” mask pertain- ing to a scene. The algorithm also flags snow and saturated pixels. The saturation threshold is set at 90% of the data encoding, e.g., at 0.9*255 = 230 for 8 bit data, which is checked for the green or blue channel. No saturation threshold is set for 32 bit input data. The map is a 1-channel false-color ENVI file. It may especially be useful if the calculated haze / cloud / water mask shows ma jor artifacts. For example, if the water mask is not cap- tured adequately, the de-hazing and de-shadowing algorithms will yield products of reduced quality. Then the standard water thresholds (in the NIR and 1.6 μm region) might be raised (in the ”preference parameters.dat” ) to account for very turbid water bodies. A subsequent calculation can be performed, the updated water mask can be checked, and it might yield much better results. If ”image.bsq” is the file name of the scene, the output file with up to four classes (haze, cloud, water, land) is named ”image out hcw.bsq”. It could also be edited (e.g., with ENVI) to modify the masks. Then it can be copied to ”image hcw.bsq”, because the masks of this file will overwrite the internal mask calculation, see Fig. 1.1. The option for creating the file ”image out hcw.bsq” can be enabled/disabled in the file ”preference parameters.dat”. An input file ”image hcw.bsq” will always be used. If this is not intended, the file has to be renamed or moved to another directory.
March, 5th, 2007:
ATCOR 23, version 6.3 has been released. Updates and new features:
• Automatic calculation of the aerosol type (rural, urban, maritime, desert) for sensors with at least a blue or green band, a red and a NIR band, provided the scene contains dark reference (coniferous vegetation) pixels.
• A visibility estimate is provided if the scene contains vegetation and/or water bodies. The estimate requires a red and/or a NIR band and yields a lower bound for the visibility. The estimate can be used before entering the SPECTRA module or before starting the image processing.
• Water vapor retrieval: automatic choice of bands and interactive user interface to select water vapor bands.
• Map of aerosol optical thickness, in addition to the previous visibility index map.
• SPECTRA module: the target location can now be specified in x/y coordinates (in addition to the previous mouse click operation).
• SPECL (spectral reflectance classification) : this has been generalized so it is applicable to any sensor with at least a green, red, and NIR band. The process can be executed in the interactive, batch, and batch- tiling modes.
• Single thermal band sensors: surface emissivity can be defined by user.
• Multiple thermal bands: normalized emissivity method (NEM), adjusted normalized emissivity method (ANEM), and in-scene atmospheric compensation (ISAC) were added.
• Add-on for user-defined (e.g., hyperspectral) sensors
• Sensor simulation tool:
  1. TOA radiances can be simulated from existing surface reflectance images for different atmospheric and/or solar geometries.
  2. Hyperspectral radiance or reflectance cubes can be resampled to multispectral cubes including sensor noise (noise equivalent radiance or noise equivalent reflectance).
• Improvements to log file:
1. Contains relative time per ma jor processing module and total execution time.
2. Information (I), warnings (W), and error (E) messages are included which can be parsed.
3. Reflectance statistics per band is included if sensor has less than 30 bands.
4. A warning is included if a channel contains negative reflectance pixels for more than 1% of the scene.
5. Percentage of saturated pixels per band is included if greater than 1 percent.

February, 22nd, 2007:

ATCOR 4, version 4.2 has been released. The updated version supports the following new features:

• Automatic calculation of the aerosol type (rural, urban, maritime, desert) for sensors with at least a blue or green band, a red and a NIR band, provided the scene contains dark reference (coniferous vegetation) pixels.
• A visibility estimate is provided if the scene contains vegetation and/or water bodies. The estimate requires a red and/or a NIR band and yields a lower bound for the visibility. The estimate can be used before entering the SPECTRA module or before starting the image processing.
• Water vapor retrieval: automatic choice of bands and interactive user interface to select water vapor bands.
• map of aerosol optical thickness, in addition to the previous visibility index map.
• SPECTRA module: the target location can now be specified in x/y coordinates (in addition to the previous mouse click operation).
• SPECL (spectral reflectance classification) : generalized to be applicable for any sensor with at least a green, red, and NIR band. Can be executed in the interactive, batch, and batch-tiling modes.
• Single thermal band sensors: surface emissivity can be defined by user.
• Multiple thermal bands: normalized emissivity method (NEM), adjusted normalized emissivity method (ANEM),and in-scene atmospheric compensation (ISAC) were added.
• Sensor simulation tool:
  1. TOA radiances can be simulated from existing surface reflectance images for different atmospheric and/or solar geometries.
  2. Hyperspectral radiance or reflectance cubes can be resampled to multispectral cubesincluding sensor noise (noise equivalent radiance or noise equivalent reflectance).
  3. Similar calculations can be performed for thermal cubes: surface emissivity images can be resampled to a new set of multispectral thermal bands including the sensor noise in terms of NEDT (noise equivalent delta temperature).
• Improvements to log file:
  
  1. contains relative time per major processing module and total execution time.
  2. information (I), warnings (W), and error (E) messages are included, in comprehensive (parsable) standard.
  3. reflectance statistics per band is included if sensor has less than 30 bands.
  4. A warning is included if a channel contains negative reflectance pixels for more than 1% of the scene.
  5. Percentage of saturated pixels per band is included if greater than 1 percent.
• Inclusion of a scan angle file generation tool (from GLT or from flight parameters)
• New user-specific preferences to allow for multiple users to access the ATCOR installation (in a floating license environment).
• Various bug fixes (e.g.: Interactive panels can be closed with the Windows 'x' symbol without causing a widget ID error (as an alternative to using the exit/return/done buttons).

7th February 2007:

MODO PRO including the fully functional Modtran^® executables is now available for Mac OS X intel machines in its current version (3.0.8). No upgrade is required for current users.

20th October 2006:

The MODO manual has finally been completed and released. At the same time, modo has moved to version 3.0.8. Despite of some bug fixes, this version adds a new small linear spectral unmixing tool for evaluation of spectra.
The manual itself is downloadable from here (PDF, 1.6 MB).

July 8th, 2006:

PARGE, version 2.3 has been released.

The major extension of this release is the support of orthorectification in raw scan geometry ('IGM-based'). This allows avoidance of any resampling, even for atmospheric/topographic correction. A built-in tool is used to invert ancillary data layers or DEM information to scan geometry prior to subsequent processing.

Other enhancements are:

• improved image masking procedures,
• Tiled triangulation/interpolation for large data sets,
• increased accuracy for triangulation coding,
• fixes and updates to the image display tool,
• support for the AISA system,
• various bug fixes and minor updates, and
• .. a completely revised and extended PDF User Manual.

20th February 2006:

ATCOR 4, version 4.1 has been released. The updated version supports the following new features:

• tiling: large scenes with RAM exceeding available memory can be processed in sub-scenes ("tiles")
• all modules are machine-independent (no external calls of C codes)
• enhanced BRDF options for rugged terrain
• DDV (dense dark vegetation) algorithm was modified to be applicable for sensors with only VIS/NIR bands, e.g. CASI. It enables the automatic calculation of the visibility (aerosol optical depth) map for DDV areas.
• a specified constant-scene visibility is automatically updated if it leads to more than 1% negative reflectance pixels in the scene in the red or NIR band. This update is also done for the visibility map derived from the DDV reference areas.
• radiometric saturation of pixels is checked and saturated pixels in the blue-to-red region are classified as "cloud" (mainly a problem for 8 bit data),
• spectral classification of surface reflectance improved (concerning cloud and water bodies),
• improved de-shadowing,
• added helper routines for display of ENVI images, ATCOR system files, response functions, and calibration files.

16th January 2006:

ATCOR 2/3, version 6.2 has been released. The updated version supports the following new features:

• tiling: large scenes with RAM exceeding available memory can be processed in sub-scenes ("tiles")
• all modules are machine-independent (no external calls of C codes)
• enhanced BRDF options for rugged terrain
• the DDV (dense dark vegetation) algorithm was modified to be applicable for sensors with only VIS/NIR bands, e.g. Ikonos, DMC, SPOT-3. It enables the automatic calculation of the visibility (aerosol optical depth) map for DDV areas.
• a specified constant-scene visibility is automatically updated if it leads to more than 1% negative reflectance pixels in the scene in the red or NIR band. This update is also done for the visibility map derived from the DDV reference areas.
• radiometric saturation of pixels is checked and saturated pixels in the blue-to-red region are classified as "cloud" (mainly a problem for 8 bit data)
• arbitrary tilt geometry supported for tilt sensors, geometry no longer restricted to a discrete set of sensor tilt and azimuth angles
• spectral classification of surface reflectance improved (concerning cloud and water bodies)
• improved de-shadowing
• synthetic blue channel can be created for sensors without a blue spectral band, e.g., SPOT, DMC, for atmospherically corrected surface reflectance data
• new sensors included: CHRIS modes, IRS-P6
• Input TIFF format supported. Restrictions:
  
  • (a) band order must be wavelength increasing in the TIFF file (i.e. SPOT DIMAP format with band order 3,2,1,4 not supported)
  • (b) If each band is stored as a separate TIFF file the band number must be the last character of the file name, e.g. image_band1.tif, image_band2.tif, etc.
  • (c) Number of spectral bands must be less than 10.

 

12th April 2005:

MODO, version 3.0 has been released. The updated version supports the following new features:

• full support for Modtran4^®, version 3.1 outputs,
• eased installation of MODO - no more external scripts required,
• full support for Solaris, Windows, X86-Linux, and MacOSX,
• includes Modtran^® executables (no separate installation required),
• fast at sensor radiance simulation,
• sensitivity analysis tool for creation of parameter series,
• surface reflectance series based on ENVI spectral libraries,
• broad collection of sensor response functions,

 

10th January 2005:

The revised ATCOR software family (ATCOR4 version 4.0 / ATCOR2/3 version 6.1) is released - what's new:

• selection of 940 nm or 1130 nm channels for wv correction (or combination 940&1130) ; previous version only allowed combination 940&1130,
• improved water vapor algorithm (scan angle dependence accounted for more accurately),
• stand-alone batch mode (requires new *ini file format),
• autonomous cloud/building cast shadow removal algorithm,
• calculation of a TOA (top-of-atmosphere) radiance cube from an airborne surface reflectance cube (airborne ATCOR-4),
• improved value-added products (map of global radiation, separate heat flux models for rural and urban areas),
• slope/ aspect, skyview, and DEM shadow calculation based on DEM file (batch jobs),
• satellite ATCOR: new sensors supported: IRS-P6 Liss-3, Liss-4, AWiFS; DMC (disaster monitoring constellation),
• spectral calibration using atmospheric absorption features
  (the center wavelength of all channels are shifted by the calculated value, independent calculation for each spectrometer of a sensor; airborne ATCOR-4 model only),
• extended input file formats:
  byte, unsigned 16 bit integer, signed 16 bit integer, long (32 bit) integer, float,
• extended output file formats for surface reflectance cube:
  
• byte, (default scale factor 4.0), 16 bit integer ((scale factor >= 10.0, typically 10 or 100), float (scale factor=1.0),
• user control over spectral reflectance thresholds for cloud and water, options for on/off switching of interpolation for bands in oxygen and water vapor regions, and
• user manuals completely revised.

14th February 2004:

The revised ATCOR software family (ATCOR4 version 3.1 / ATCOR2/3 version 6.0) is released - what's new:

• Enhanced water vapor retrieval algorithms for airborne and satellite systems.
• Now supports the new IDL virtual machine (no more IDL license required!).
• Updated spectral polishing routines.
• New automatic haze removal algorithm.
• Full batch capability using a text control file.
• Improved user interface and updated manuals.

20th September 2003:

The PARGE maintenance release 2.0.7 is available. It includes various bug fixes and minor enhancements to the processor. Also, preliminary import filter for the MIVIS and AISA sensor have been included.
An upgrade to the ATCOR programs is now in Beta testing stage and will be available by January 2004. It will contain an improved water vapor retrieval and correction scheme. Furthermore, batch processing capabilities will be improved and more sensors are included.

28th February 2003:

The completely revised ATCOR4 software (version 3) is released - what's new in Version 3.0:

• A separate Modtran^® license is no longer required (all Modtran^®-4 radiative transfer calculations were done off-line and results are stored in a 'monochromatic' atmospheric database).
• Added compatibility with Windows and Mac OSX operating systems.
• the atmospheric database covers the same wide range of atmospheric conditions as the satellite database, i.e. different aerosol types, water vapor columns, terrain elevations from 0 - 2.5 km above sea level, and solar zenith angles of 0 - 70 degree. In addition, different flight altitudes are provided with altitude-interpolation.
• ATCOR 4 (airborne) now includes all capabilities of ATCOR 3 (satellite ATCOR), i.e. automatic masking of dark reference pixels, spatially varying aerosol and image based water vapor retrieval.
• new spectral polishing algorithm.
• enhanced empirical BRDF correction: normalizing reflectance cube to nadir reflectance, works with geocoded or non-geocoded imagery.
• combined atmospheric / topographic correction or quick topographic correction (without atmospheric correction).
• improved inflight calibration.

27th February 2003:

The upgraded versions 5.5 of the ATCOR2/3 software products is released. What's new in Version 5.5:

• new supported sensors: SPOT-5, Quickbird, Hyperion, MERIS, SAC-C/MMRS, including a first hyperspectral sensor (i.e. Hyperion).
• visibility index (optical depth) map with improved resolution (equidistant optical depth increment of 0.022) covering the visibility range 4.3 - 190 km.
• improved automatic masking of dark reference pixels (1.6 or 2.2 um band required).
• triangular interpolation for visibility map
• empirical BRDF correction: normalizing reflectance cube to nadir reflectance, intended for wide-FOV imagery (e.g., MERIS, IRS-1D WiFS). Works with geocoded or non-geocoded imagery.
• improved inflight calibration, regression for multiple targets
• new spectral polishing (hyperspectral sensors only)
• redesign of GUI panels, almost same appearance for satellite and airborne ATCOR.
• combined atmospheric / topographic correction,
• quick topographic correction (without atmospheric correction)

1st February 2003:

PARGE Version 2.0.3 is now available and includes the following improvements:

• Improved image display and export capabilities
• Better handling of side outputs in main processor
• Full DEM processing capabilities (incl. skyview and cast shadow calculation for compatibility to ATCOR4 radiometric processing)
• Improved auxiliary data synchronization accuracy
• full support for IDL5.6 (includes support for Mac OSX)
• support for Probe-1 Sensor
• various minor bug fixes

The upgrade is free of charge for licensed users.

20th August 2002:

PARGE Version 2 is now available to licensed users. This version includes a large amount of upgrades including higher sub-pixel accuracy, improved plotting and printing capabilities, consistent coordinate conversion, history tracking, support for pushbroom and generic sensor models, comprehensive resampling options, and much more bug fixes and enhancements...

25th April 2002:

First Beta Version of PARGE Version 2 is available to interested users. Further development of Version 1 is ceased.

18th January 2002:

MODO Version 2.4.4 is released. This update finally includes compatibility to the Windows Version of Modtran^® 4 (great thanks to Vittorio Brando from CSIRO for providing the required link).

1st January 2002:

ATCOR2/3, version 5.4 are released as IDL-based stand alone applications. The software provides atmospheric correction to state-of-the-art satellite imagery for retrieval of surface reflectance. It is available as stand-alone application for UNIX/Windows on IDL 5.4 and later.

20th December 2001:

ATCOR4, version 2.1 is released. The update includes a new empirical BRDF correction method, improvement of the online help system, and a better calculation of emissivity coefficients using thermal data.

15th November 2001:

PARGE Version 2 is currently under development. A Beta-Version will be available in January 2002. The major planned improvents are: Full support for airborne pushbroom sensors, vastly enhanced plotting capabilities, improved support for various coordinate systems, support for CASI and ROSIS data, enhanced internal data format, history-tracking and UNDO capability.
Please send requests for improvements NOW to be included in this first major revision of PARGE since Version 1.

1st September 2001:

PARGE Version 1.3.4 has been released. The upgrade includes improved coordinate conversion support. This version is the last version for PARGE V1. Version 2 is currently in preparation.

1st September 2001:

MODO Version 2.4.3 has been released. The upgrade includes some bug fixes and improved plotting routines.

5th July 2001:

ANNOUNCEMENT: ReSe Applications will be distributing the ATCOR2/3 applications for atmospheric correction of satellite images in the near future. The Programs will be available by the end of this year. Please ask if you need further information.

28th June 2001:

PARGE upgrade 1.3.3 has been released including the following improvements:

• more flexible import and synchronization options for non-standard attitude and GPS data
• no more artefacts at image borders when processing
• improved compatibility for flat terrain coding options
• full support of linear interpolation on final image

14th February 2001:

MODO Version 2.4.1 has been released. The upgrade includes some bug fixes for selecting spectra in evaluation mode and for the tape7-plotting routine.

9th February 2001:

Version 1.3 of the parametric orthorectification and geocoding software PARGE is available now!
The new version includes the following new features:


• Support of Hymap data, year 2000,
• Import filters for Hymap .out and .log files,
• Direct UTM conversion of navigation data to user defined zones,
• Creation of TIFF/JPEG single band and RGB outputs,
• Fast BIL/BIP to BSQ conversion,
• Interpolation of the geocoded outputs using linear, bilinear or multilinear approaches,
• Updated User Manual and online help files
• Support of IDL 5.4/ENVI 3.4, IDL 5.3, and IDL 5.2

Users with valid support contracts are entitled for a free upgrade to the software. An updated software key is available upon request (as far as required).

December 2000

MODO Version 2.4 has been released. This completely revised new version of the popular interface to Modtran4^® includes Full Support of Modtran^® 4.0, Full Surface reflectance support, Adjacency effect support, Aerosol layer support, and much more,...

November, 2000

PARGE Version 1.2 is available for download. Major new features are: Improved handling of GCPs, more cancelling options, various bug fixes, better writing of ENVI headers, new BIP conversion tool.

November, 2000

ATCOR 4 Version 2.0 is available for download to registered users. This is the first version of ATCOR4 featuring a direct link to PARGE, distributed by ReSe through a special contract with DLR.