Best practices for the reprojection and resampling of Sentinel-2 Multi Spectral Instrument Level 1C data

Abstract

The standard geolocated Sentinel-2 Multi Spectral Instrument (MSI) L1C data products are defined in spatially overlapping tiles in different Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM) map projection zones. Best practices for reprojection and resampling to properly utilize and benefit from the L1C data format are presented. Three sets of 10 m Sentinel-2 L1C data acquired in the same orbit at different latitudes are examined to illustrate and quantify (a) the spatial properties of the L1C data and provide insights into the occurrence of overlapping tiles and overlapping tiles defined in different UTM zones from the same MSI swath, (b) the geometric implications of resampling and reprojection approaches that consider only the data from one L1C tile and not the data from other tiles in the overlap region that are defined in different UTM zones and (c) a recommended approach that considers all the overlapping L1C tile data and is shown statistically and qualitatively to improve the geometric fidelity of the reprojected resampled L1C data.