Xarray is a library designed for working with labeled multi-dimensional arrays. Built on top of NumPy and Pandas, Xarray adds labels in the form of dimensions, coordinates, and attributes, enhancing the usability of raw NumPy-like arrays. This enables a more intuitive, concise, and less error-prone development experience. The library also includes a large and expanding collection of functions for advanced analytics and visualization.

An overview of the Xarray library and its suitability for N-dimensional data (such as Tilebox time series datasets) is available in the official Why Xarray? documentation page.

The Tilebox Python client provides access to satellite data as an xarray.Dataset. This approach offers a great number of benefits over custom Tilebox-specific data structures:

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Example dataset

To understand how Xarray functions, below is a quick a look at a sample dataset as it might be retrieved from a Tilebox datasets client.

Output
<xarray.Dataset> Size: 305kB
Dimensions:                (time: 514, latlon: 2)
Coordinates:
    ingestion_time         (time) datetime64[ns] 4kB 2024-07-22T09:06:43.5586...
    id                     (time) <U36 74kB '01807eaa-86f8-2a72-1a03-794e7a55...
  * time                   (time) datetime64[ns] 4kB 2022-05-01T08:09:06.5520...
  * latlon                 (latlon) <U9 72B 'latitude' 'longitude'
Data variables: (12/28)
    granule_name           (time) object 4kB 'LC08_L1GT_175018_20220501_20220...
    processing_level       (time) <U2 4kB 'L1' 'L1' 'L1' 'L1' ... 'L1' 'L1' 'L1'
    satellite              (time) object 4kB 'LANDSAT-8' ... 'LANDSAT-8'
    product_type           (time) object 4kB 'L1GT' 'L1GT' ... 'L1GT' 'L1GT'
    copernicus_id          (time) <U36 74kB '2181f9f6-1ef0-510c-b715-0f299320...
    online                 (time) bool 514B True True True ... True True True
    ...                     ...
    resolution             (time) int64 4kB 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
    bands                  (time) int64 4kB 12 12 12 12 12 12 ... 12 12 12 12 12
    path                   (time) int64 4kB 175 175 175 175 ... 209 209 209 209
    row                    (time) int64 4kB 18 30 31 32 27 32 ... 18 21 22 23 24
    sun_azimuth            (time) float64 4kB 164.0 144.9 143.0 ... 153.5 151.6
    sun_elevation          (time) float64 4kB 44.2 57.78 58.76 ... 56.72 57.82

This basic dataset illustrates common use cases for Xarray. To follow along, you can download the dataset as a NetCDF file. The Reading and writing files section explains how to save and load Xarray datasets from NetCDF files.

Here’s an overview of the output:

  • The satellite_data dataset contains dimensions, coordinates, and variables.
  • The time dimension has 514 elements, indicating that there are 514 data points in the dataset.
  • The time dimension coordinate contains datetime values representing when the data was measured. The * indicates a dimension coordinate, which enables label-based indexing and alignment.
  • The ingestion_time non-dimension coordinate holds datetime values for when the data was ingested into Tilebox. Non-dimension coordinates carry coordinate data but are not used for label-based indexing. They can even be multidimensional.
  • The dataset includes 28 variables.
  • The bands variable contains integers indicating how many bands the data contains.
  • The sun_elevation variable contains floating-point values representing the sun’s elevation when the data was measured.

Explore the xarray terminology overview to broaden your understanding of datasets, dimensions, coordinates, and variables.

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Accessing data in a dataset

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By index

You can access data in different ways. The Xarray documentation offers a comprehensive overview of these methods.

To access the sun_elevation variable:

Accessing values
# Print the first sun elevation value
print(satellite_data.sun_elevation[0])
Output
<xarray.DataArray 'sun_elevation' ()> Size: 8B
array(44.19904463)
Coordinates:
    ingestion_time   datetime64[ns] 8B 2024-07-22T09:06:43.558629
    id               <U36 144B '01807eaa-86f8-2a72-1a03-794e7a556271'
    time             datetime64[ns] 8B 2022-05-01T08:09:06.552000

In the output, the first sun elevation value is 44.19904463. It appears as an xarray.DataArray object to allow access to the corresponding coordinates. To retrieve the plain Python object, use the item() method:

Accessing raw values
sun_elevation = satellite_data.sun_elevation[0].item()
print(sun_elevation)
Output
44.19904463

You can access coordinates similarly. For datetime fields, Xarray provides a special dt (datetime) accessor for formatting time as a string:

Accessing and formatting datetime fields
time_format = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"
time = satellite_data.time[0].dt.strftime(time_format).item()
ingestion_time = satellite_data.ingestion_time[0].dt.strftime(time_format).item()
print(f"Measurement 0 was taken at {time} and ingested at {ingestion_time}")
Output
Measurement 0 was taken at 2022-05-01 08:09:06 and ingested at 2024-07-22 09:06:43

You can also retrieve an entire dataset containing all variables and coordinates for a single data point using the isel method (index selection):

Accessing a whole datapoint by index
datapoint = satellite_data.isel(time=0)
print(datapoint)
Output
<xarray.Dataset> Size: 665B
Dimensions:                (latlon: 2)
Coordinates:
    ingestion_time         datetime64[ns] 8B 2024-07-22T09:06:43.558629
    id                     <U36 144B '01807eaa-86f8-2a72-1a03-794e7a556271'
    time                   datetime64[ns] 8B 2022-05-01T08:09:06.552000
  * latlon                 (latlon) <U9 72B 'latitude' 'longitude'
Data variables: (12/28)
    granule_name           object 8B 'LC08_L1GT_175018_20220501_20220504_02_T2'
    processing_level       <U2 8B 'L1'
    satellite              object 8B 'LANDSAT-8'
    ...                     ...

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Subsets of data

You can access subsets of the data as well. Here are methods to retrieve the first three and last three sun elevations.

Accessing raw values
# Individual variables
first_3_sun_elevations = satellite_data.sun_elevation[0:3]
print("First 3 sun elevations", first_3_sun_elevations.values)
last_3_sun_elevations = satellite_data.sun_elevation[-3:]
print("Last 3 sun elevations", last_3_sun_elevations.values)

# Whole sub datasets
first_3 = satellite_data.isel(time=slice(0, 3))
last_3 = satellite_data.isel(time=slice(-3, None))
print("Sub dataset of the last 3 data points")
print(last_3)
Output
First 3 sun elevations [44.19904463 57.77561083 58.76316786]
Last 3 sun elevations [55.60690523 56.72453179 57.81917624]

Sub dataset of the last 3 data points
<xarray.Dataset> Size: 2kB
Dimensions:                (time: 3, latlon: 2)
Coordinates:
    ingestion_time         (time) datetime64[ns] 24B 2024-07-22T09:08:24.7395...
    id                     (time) <U36 432B '018119eb-5291-edbc-381e-ce71e885...
  * time                   (time) datetime64[ns] 24B 2022-05-31T11:41:01.4570...
  * latlon                 (latlon) <U9 72B 'latitude' 'longitude'
Data variables: (12/28)
    granule_name           (time) object 24B 'LC08_L1GT_209022_20220531_20220...
    processing_level       (time) <U2 24B 'L1' 'L1' 'L1'
    satellite              (time) object 24B 'LANDSAT-8' 'LANDSAT-8' 'LANDSAT-8'
    ...                     ...

​
Filtering data

Xarray allows convenient filtering of datasets based on conditions. For example, filter a dataset to only include sun elevation values where cloud cover is 0:

Filtering data by sensor
without_cloud = satellite_data.sun_elevation[satellite_data.cloud_cover == 0]
print(without_cloud)
Output
<xarray.DataArray 'sun_elevation' (time: 27)> Size: 216B
array([63.89629314, 63.35038654, ..., 64.37400345, 64.37400345])
Coordinates:
    ingestion_time  (time) datetime64[ns] 216B 2024-07-22T09:06:43.558629 ......
    id              (time) <U36 4kB '01807f66-8411-2e5d-719b-ce51152175eb' .....
  * time            (time) datetime64[ns] 216B 2022-05-01T11:34:26.577000 ......

You can combine conditions to filter for sun elevation values between 45 and 90 with cloud cover 0:

Filtering data by cloud_cover and sun_elevation value
data_filter = (
    (satellite_data.cloud_cover == 0) &
    (satellite_data.sun_elevation > 45) &
    (satellite_data.sun_elevation < 90)
)
filtered_sun_elevations = satellite_data.sun_elevation[data_filter]
print(filtered_sun_elevations)
Output
<xarray.DataArray 'sun_elevation' (time: 27)> Size: 216B
array([63.89629314, 63.35038654, ..., 64.37400345, 64.37400345])
Coordinates:
    ingestion_time  (time) datetime64[ns] 216B 2024-07-22T09:06:43.558629 ......
    id              (time) <U36 4kB '01807f66-8411-2e5d-719b-ce51152175eb' .....
  * time            (time) datetime64[ns] 216B 2022-05-01T11:34:26.577000 ......

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Selecting data by value

You can use dimension coordinate values to index your dataset. For instance, access the data point recorded at 2022-05-01T11:28:28.249000:

Selecting data by value requires unique coordinate values. In case of duplicates, you will encounter an InvalidIndexError. To avoid this, you can drop duplicates.

Indexing by time
specific_datapoint = satellite_data.sel(time="2022-05-01T11:28:28.249000")
print(specific_datapoint)
Output
<xarray.Dataset> Size: 665B
Dimensions:                (latlon: 2)
Coordinates:
    ingestion_time         datetime64[ns] 8B 2024-07-22T09:06:43.558629
    id                     <U36 144B '01807f61-0c59-99ed-8e33-c5d8ed6e7879'
    time                   datetime64[ns] 8B 2022-05-01T11:28:28.249000
  * latlon                 (latlon) <U9 72B 'latitude' 'longitude'
Data variables: (12/28)
    granule_name           object 8B 'LC08_L1GT_207022_20220501_20220501_02_T2'
    processing_level       <U2 8B 'L1'
    ...                     ...

Attempting to access a value not in the dataset raises a KeyError.

Indexing by time (not found)
nearest_datapoint = satellite_data.sel(time="2022-05-01T11:28:28.000000")
>>> raises KeyError: "2022-05-01T11:28:28.000000"

To return the closest value instead of raising an error, specify a method.

Finding the closest data point
nearest_datapoint = satellite_data.sel(time="2022-05-01T11:28:28.000000", method="nearest")
assert nearest_datapoint.equals(specific_datapoint)  # passes

​
Dropping duplicates

Xarray allows you to drop duplicate values from a dataset. For example, to drop duplicate timestamps:

Dropping duplicates
deduped = satellite_data.drop_duplicates("time")

De-duped datasets are required for certain operations, like selecting data by value.

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Statistics

Xarray and NumPy include a wide range of statistical functions that you can apply to a dataset or DataArray. Here are some examples:

Computing dataset statistics
cloud_cover = satellite_data.cloud_cover
min_meas = cloud_cover.min().item()
max_meas = cloud_cover.max().item()
mean_meas = cloud_cover.mean().item()
std_meas = cloud_cover.std().item()
print(f"Cloud cover ranges from {min_meas:.2f} to {max_meas:.2f} with a mean of {mean_meas:.2f} and a standard deviation of {std_meas:.2f}")
Output
Cloud cover ranges from 0.00 to 100.00 with a mean of 76.48 and a standard deviation of 34.17

You can also directly apply many NumPy functions to datasets or DataArrays. For example, to find out how many unique bands the data contains, use np.unique:

Finding unique values
import numpy as np
print("Sensors:", np.unique(satellite_data.bands))
Output
Sensors: [12]

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Reading and writing files

Xarray provides a simple method for saving and loading datasets from files. This is useful for sharing your data or storing it for future use. Xarray supports many different file formats, including NetCDF, Zarr, GRIB, and more. For a complete list of supported formats, refer to the official documentation page.

To save the example dataset as a NetCDF file:

You may need to install the netcdf4 package first.

Saving a dataset to a file
satellite_data.to_netcdf("example_satellite_data.nc")

This creates a file named example_satellite_data.nc in your current directory. You can then load this file back into memory with:

Loading a dataset from a file
import xarray as xr

satellite_data = xr.open_dataset("example_satellite_data.nc")

If you would like to follow along with the examples in this section, you can download the example dataset as a NetCDF file here.

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Further reading

This section covers only a few common use cases for Xarray. The library offers many more functions and features. For more information, please see the Xarray documentation or explore the Xarray Tutorials.

Some useful capabilities not covered in this section include:

Grouping data

Computation

Time series specific functionality

Interpolation

Plotting

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