The availability of recent high resolution and free data sources with the sentinel missions drive the increased use of sentinel images for disaster mapping. For some analyses such as droughts, images of many different time points are necessary or large areas are covered.
However, on the Copernicus Scihub only two satellite images can be downloaded simultaneously. Therefore, when a large number of images needs to be downloaded a bulk download is often desired. There are multiple options for batch downloading sentinel data by using computer programs such as cURL, Wget or aria2 or by using download managers.
Additionally, batch downloading options may vary for the host sites (Copernicus Open Data Hub, PEPS, CODE-DE, USGS), however, the principle is similar. Here we present the process for aria2 batch downloading.
#1 Acquire Sentinel Data on Scihub Copernicus
- Registration
- Search for Sentinel datasets and add them to the Download Cart (https://scihub.copernicus.eu/userguide/2GraphicalUserInterface)
- By clicking on "Download Cart" a .meta4 file including the URLs is created and will be saved in Downloads as product.meta4
Note: only a maximum of 50 products are inserted in the file, it is therefore recommended to not fill the cart with more than 50, but rather do a second run if needed
#2 Run Batch Download with aria2 (command-line download utility)
- Install aria2 (https://aria2.github.io/) and unzip the folder
- Move the product.meta4 file into the aria2 folder (probably C:\Users\Downloads\aria2-1.34.0-win-64bit-build1)
- Open the Command Prompt
- Set the Working Directory to the aria2 folder where also your .meta4 file is located (type “cd” followed by the file path)
- Use aria2 in Command Promt – type:
aria2c --http-user="your username" --http-passwd="your password" --check-certificate=false --max-concurrent-downloads=2 -M products.meta4
6. press Enter and the bulk download will run and save the datasets in the aria2 folder
Note: Do not delete the images in the Download Cart while the Bulk Download is still running
Command prompt example
The command prompt should look similar to this:
C:\Users\yourusername>cd C:\Users\yourusername\Downloads\aria2-1.34.0-win-64bit-build1
C:\Users\yourusername\Downloads\aria2-1.34.0-win-64bit-build1> aria2c --http-user="your username" --http-passwd="your password" --check-certificate=false --max-concurrent-downloads=2 -M products.meta4
Note: The errorCode=24 Authorization failed occurs when you are missing the " " around the user or password, or have addition signs such as {} around them as presented on some websites.
