---
license: other
license_name: mixed
pretty_name: Earth Compress benchmark corpora
tags:
- geospatial
- earth-observation
- compression
- benchmark
size_categories:
- n<1K
configs:
- config_name: s2-l1c-10m-4
  data_files: s2-l1c-10m-4/manifest.csv
- config_name: s2-l1c-20m-6
  data_files: s2-l1c-20m-6/manifest.csv
- config_name: s2-l1c-60m-3
  data_files: s2-l1c-60m-3/manifest.csv
- config_name: lm-mss-4
  data_files: lm-mss-4/manifest.csv
- config_name: l5-tm-6
  data_files: l5-tm-6/manifest.csv
- config_name: l5-tm-tir
  data_files: l5-tm-tir/manifest.csv
- config_name: l7-etm-6
  data_files: l7-etm-6/manifest.csv
- config_name: l7-etm-pan
  data_files: l7-etm-pan/manifest.csv
- config_name: l7-etm-tir-2
  data_files: l7-etm-tir-2/manifest.csv
- config_name: l8-oli-8
  data_files: l8-oli-8/manifest.csv
- config_name: l8-oli-pan
  data_files: l8-oli-pan/manifest.csv
- config_name: l8-tirs-2
  data_files: l8-tirs-2/manifest.csv
- config_name: goes-abi-16
  data_files: goes-abi-16/manifest.csv
- config_name: s1-grd-iw-2
  data_files: s1-grd-iw-2/manifest.csv
- config_name: emit-l2a-285
  data_files: emit-l2a-285/manifest.csv
- config_name: cop-dem-glo30
  data_files: cop-dem-glo30/manifest.csv
- config_name: esa-wc-v200
  data_files: esa-wc-v200/manifest.csv
- config_name: imerg-pcp-12
  data_files: imerg-pcp-12/manifest.csv
- config_name: era5-msl-1h
  data_files: era5-msl-1h/manifest.csv
- config_name: era5-t2m-1h
  data_files: era5-t2m-1h/manifest.csv
- config_name: era5-tcc-1h
  data_files: era5-tcc-1h/manifest.csv
- config_name: era5-tp-1h
  data_files: era5-tp-1h/manifest.csv
- config_name: era5-u10-1h
  data_files: era5-u10-1h/manifest.csv
- config_name: alphaearth-v1-64
  data_files: alphaearth-v1-64/manifest.csv
- config_name: tessera-v2-codes
  data_files: tessera-v2-codes/manifest.csv
- config_name: tessera-v2-scales
  data_files: tessera-v2-scales/manifest.csv
- config_name: clay-embeddings
  data_files: clay-embeddings/manifest.csv
---

<p align="center">
  <img src="https://huggingface.co/datasets/earth-compress/benchmark/resolve/main/assets/earth-compress.svg" alt="Earth Compress" width="420" class="dark:hidden">
  <img src="https://huggingface.co/datasets/earth-compress/benchmark/resolve/main/assets/earth-compress-dark.svg" alt="Earth Compress" width="420" class="hidden dark:block">
</p>

# Earth Compress benchmark corpora

The [Earth Compress benchmark](https://github.com/earth-compress/benchmark)
has 585 samples in 27 corpora of satellite imagery, reanalysis fields,
elevation, land cover and embeddings. Most samples are windows cut from
published products. ERA5 samples are complete global fields requested on a
regular 0.25-degree grid, and Clay samples are blocks of MajorTOM cells. When
a sample has several planes, the first axis holds bands, time steps or
embedding dimensions. A sample holds the published integers, with their scale
and offset, when these reproduce the published values exactly, and the
published floats otherwise. The compressed sample files total 2.75 GB.

## Layout

```
{corpus}/manifest.csv
{corpus}/spec.md
{corpus}/npz/{sample}.npz.zst
{corpus}/png/{sample}.png
```

`manifest.csv` has one row per sample with its source asset, CRS, GDAL
geotransform, start and end dates, bands, shape, dtype, unit, scale, offset,
NoData and the SHA-256 of the array. For most corpora, these fields are enough
to write a georeferenced raster. Clay cell rows are not aligned, so
`clay-embeddings/cells/{sample}.csv` gives the exact bounds of each cell.
`spec.md` describes the corpus and how its samples were chosen. The PNG is a
preview.

| corpus | contents | shape | dtype | samples |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | ---: |
| `s2-l1c-10m-4` | Sentinel-2 L1C, bands B2, B3, B4, B8 at 10 m | 4×512×512 | uint16 | 50 |
| `s2-l1c-20m-6` | Sentinel-2 L1C, red-edge, narrow NIR and SWIR bands at 20 m | 6×512×512 | uint16 | 50 |
| `s2-l1c-60m-3` | Sentinel-2 L1C, aerosol, water vapour and cirrus bands at 60 m | 3×512×512 | uint16 | 50 |
| `lm-mss-4` | Landsat 1–5 MSS, four bands at 60 m | 4×512×512 | uint8 | 15 |
| `l5-tm-6` | Landsat 5 TM, six reflective bands at 30 m | 6×512×512 | uint8 | 15 |
| `l5-tm-tir` | Landsat 5 TM, thermal band B6 | 512×512 | uint8 | 15 |
| `l7-etm-6` | Landsat 7 ETM+, six reflective bands at 30 m | 6×512×512 | uint8 | 15 |
| `l7-etm-pan` | Landsat 7 ETM+, panchromatic band at 15 m | 1024×1024 | uint8 | 15 |
| `l7-etm-tir-2` | Landsat 7 ETM+, thermal band at low and high gain | 2×512×512 | uint8 | 15 |
| `l8-oli-8` | Landsat 8 OLI, eight reflective bands at 30 m | 8×512×512 | uint16 | 15 |
| `l8-oli-pan` | Landsat 8 OLI, panchromatic band at 15 m | 1024×1024 | uint16 | 15 |
| `l8-tirs-2` | Landsat 8 TIRS, thermal bands B10 and B11 | 2×512×512 | uint16 | 15 |
| `goes-abi-16` | GOES-16 ABI, sixteen bands as counts with per-band scale and offset | 16×512×512 | uint16 | 15 |
| `s1-grd-iw-2` | Sentinel-1 GRD IW, VV and VH backscatter, linear | 2×512×512 | float32 | 50 |
| `emit-l2a-285` | EMIT L2A reflectance, 285 bands at 60 m | 285×128×128 | float32 | 10 |
| `cop-dem-glo30` | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 elevation | 512×512 | float32 | 50 |
| `esa-wc-v200` | ESA WorldCover 2021 land-cover class codes at 10 m | 512×512 | uint8 | 50 |
| `imerg-pcp-12` | GPM IMERG precipitation rate, 12 half-hourly fields | 12×512×512 | uint16 | 15 |
| `era5-msl-1h` | ERA5 mean sea-level pressure, 24 hourly global fields | 24×721×1440 | uint16 | 10 |
| `era5-t2m-1h` | ERA5 2 m temperature, 24 hourly global fields | 24×721×1440 | uint16 | 10 |
| `era5-tcc-1h` | ERA5 total cloud cover, 24 hourly global fields | 24×721×1440 | uint16 | 10 |
| `era5-tp-1h` | ERA5 total precipitation, 24 hourly global fields | 24×721×1440 | uint16 | 10 |
| `era5-u10-1h` | ERA5 10 m eastward wind, 24 hourly global fields | 24×721×1440 | uint16 | 10 |
| `alphaearth-v1-64` | AlphaEarth Foundations embeddings, 64 dimensions at 10 m | 64×512×512 | int8 | 15 |
| `tessera-v2-codes` | TESSERA v2 embedding codes, 128 dimensions | 128×512×512 | int8 | 15 |
| `tessera-v2-scales` | TESSERA v2 per-pixel scale of the codes | 512×512 | float32 | 15 |
| `clay-embeddings` | Clay v1.5 Sentinel-2 embeddings, 1024 dimensions on 32×32 MajorTOM cells of 2560 m | 1024×32×32 | float32 | 15 |

## Reading a sample

```python
import io
import numpy as np
import zstandard

raw = open("s2-l1c-10m-4/npz/s2-l1c-10m-4-00.npz.zst", "rb").read()
sample = np.load(io.BytesIO(zstandard.decompress(raw)))
data = sample["data"]  # "scale", "offset" and "nodata" when the corpus has them
```

The benchmark reads the corpora from its `corpora/` folder, which has the same
layout as this repository.

```bash
hf download earth-compress/benchmark --repo-type dataset --local-dir corpora
uv run earthcompress corpora/s2-l1c-10m-4
```

Each corpus can also be rebuilt from its manifest with the `build.py` of its
folder in the benchmark repository, which checks every sample against its
SHA-256.

## Use cases

`usecases/` holds the samples and maps of the use cases in
[USECASE.md](https://github.com/earth-compress/benchmark/blob/main/USECASE.md).

```
usecases/{use-case}/npz/{sample}.npz
usecases/{use-case}/png/{sample}/{configuration}.png
```

`methane` holds 20 MethaneSET patches and `change-detection` 13 AlphaEarth
windows in 2017 and 2025. The drainage use case reads `cop-dem-glo30`, so its
folder holds only maps. Each PNG shows the result of the analysis on the
original sample or on its copy decoded by one configuration. The `run.py` of
each use case in the benchmark repository downloads the samples it needs.

## Licence and attribution

Each corpus and use case keeps the licence of its source.

| source | corpora | licence and attribution |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Sentinel-1, Sentinel-2 | `s1-grd-iw-2`, `s2-l1c-*` | Copernicus data policy. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023. |
| Landsat | `lm-mss-4`, `l5-*`, `l7-*`, `l8-*` | Public domain. Landsat data courtesy of the U.S. Geological Survey. |
| GOES-16 ABI | `goes-abi-16` | Public domain. GOES-16 imagery courtesy of NOAA/NESDIS. |
| GPM IMERG | `imerg-pcp-12` | No restrictions. Global Precipitation Measurement (GPM) IMERG data provided by the NASA/GSFC Precipitation Processing System. |
| EMIT | `emit-l2a-285` | No restrictions. EMIT L2A Estimated Surface Reflectance V001, NASA. |
| ERA5 | `era5-*` | Copernicus licence. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2023. Neither the European Commission nor ECMWF is responsible for any use of this data. |
| Copernicus DEM | `cop-dem-glo30` | Produced using Copernicus WorldDEM-30 © DLR e.V. 2010–2014 and © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH 2014–2018, provided under COPERNICUS by the European Union and ESA; all rights reserved. |
| ESA WorldCover | `esa-wc-v200` | CC BY 4.0. © ESA WorldCover project 2021 / Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2021) processed by the ESA WorldCover consortium. |
| AlphaEarth Foundations | `alphaearth-v1-64`, `usecases/change-detection` | CC BY 4.0. The AlphaEarth Foundations Satellite Embedding dataset is produced by Google and Google DeepMind. |
| TESSERA | `tessera-v2-*` | CC0 1.0. |
| Clay | `clay-embeddings` | CC BY 4.0. Clay v1.5 embeddings produced by LGND with the Clay Foundation Model. |
| MethaneSET | `usecases/methane` | CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Patches of [MethaneSET](https://huggingface.co/datasets/tacofoundation/methaneset). |

## Development

Developed in the [Earth Compress](https://asterisk.coop/project-pages/earth-compress.html)
project, led by Asterisk Labs and the National Oceanography Centre.

## Funding

This work was funded by the Advanced Research and Invention Agency
(ARIA).

## Citation

```bibtex
@misc{earth_compress_benchmark,
  title  = {{Earth Compress benchmark corpora}},
  author = {{Asterisk Laboratories Co-operative Ltd.} and {National Oceanography Centre}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://huggingface.co/datasets/earth-compress/benchmark},
  note   = {Earth Compress project}
}
```