---
license: cc-by-4.0
tags:
- sentinel-2
- cloud-properties
- remote-sensing
- clouds
- clouds-decoded
---

# Sentinel-2 Cloud Property Retrievals over the UK and India

Rendered per-scene quicklook layers of cloud optical and microphysical properties
retrieved from Sentinel-2 (MSI) Level-1C imagery over eight tiles (four in the UK
and four in India). These images power the interactive report at
[asterisk-labs-clouds-decoded-rain-check.static.hf.space](https://asterisk-labs-clouds-decoded-rain-check.static.hf.space). Cloud properties are estimated with the [clouds-decoded retrieval code](https://github.com/asterisk-labs/clouds-decoded), developed as part of the [clouds decoded project](https://asterisk.coop/project-pages/project-clouds-decoded.html) funded by ARIA.


## Coverage

| Region | Tiles (MGRS) |
|--------|--------------|
| UK     | T29VMC, T30UVA, T31UDA, T31VDF |
| India  | T42QYE, T43PDM, T44PNB, T45QWB |

~8,400 scenes spanning 2015–2026; each tile is ~110 × 110 km.

## Layers

Each scene directory holds these per-scene PNGs:

| File | Description |
|------|-------------|
| `true_colour.png`              | RGB true-colour composite |
| `cloud_mask.png`               | cloud / clear mask |
| `cloud_height.png`             | cloud-top height (m) |
| `ice_composite.png`            | ice / phase composite |
| `properties_tau.png`           | cloud optical thickness (τ) |
| `properties_r_eff_liq.png`     | liquid effective radius (µm) |
| `properties_r_eff_ice.png`     | ice effective radius (µm) |
| `properties_ice_liq_ratio.png` | ice / liquid ratio (thermodynamic phase) |
| `properties_uncertainty.png`   | retrieval uncertainty |
| `overview.png`                 | combined multi-panel overview |

## Layout

```
figures/<SCENE_ID>/<layer>.png
```

`<SCENE_ID>` is the Sentinel-2 L1C product identifier
(e.g. `S2A_MSIL1C_20150712T111036_N0500_R137_T31UDA_20231010T005751`), which
encodes the acquisition date, relative orbit and MGRS tile.

## Retrieval & sources

Generated with the [clouds-decoded](https://github.com/asterisk-labs/clouds-decoded)
processing chain applied to Sentinel-2 L1C.

- Sentinel-2 MSI L1C — Copernicus / ESA

## License

CC-BY-4.0.