---
tags:
  - Free
catalog:
  name: FORCE 
  description: for mass-processing of medium-resolution satellite images
  license_type: Free
  disciplines:
    - Geosciences
  available_on:
    - Puhti
---

# FORCE 

FORCE (Framework for Operational Radiometric Correction for Environmental monitoring) is an all-in-one solution for mass-processing medium-resolution satellite images

## Available

__FORCE__ is available in Puhti with the following versions:

* 3.7.8

## Usage 

FORCE is included in the __force__ module. You can load it with:

`module load force`

By default the latest __force__ module is loaded. If you want a specific version you can specify the version number

`module load force/<VERSION_NUMBER>`

## Download data from Google Cloud Storage

To download data from Google Cloud Storage using the Level 1 Cloud Storage Downloader provided by FORCE, you need to register an account and authenticate to Google cloud using your own computer using the [gsutil-tool](https://cloud.google.com/storage/docs/gsutil) and copy the configuration file from your computers Home directory `$HOME/.boto` to your `$HOME` directory on Puhti. Following the instructions on [FORCE tutorials page](https://force-eo.readthedocs.io/en/latest/howto/level1-csd.html#downloading-the-metadata-catalogues), you will first have to update/download the metadata catalog. We suggest to store the metadata catalog in your  projects `/scratch` directory, so that other users in your project can share the catalog:

`force-level1-csd -u /path/to/your/scratch/dir` 

Then you can download data from Google Cloud Storage as described on the [FORCE tutorials page](https://force-eo.readthedocs.io/en/latest/howto/level1-csd.html#querying-and-downloading-data).



## Running FORCE commands

FORCE is installed as a container, but it has wrappers for all FORCE commands, so it can be used normally. 

If working interactively, you can also start a shell inside the container with

`_debug_shell`

We have an example of running L1 to L2 pipeline for Sentinel images in [our Github examples](https://github.com/csc-training/geocomputing/tree/master/force)

## License 

[FORCE is licensed under the GNU GPL License](https://github.com/davidfrantz/force/blob/master/LICENSE).

## Citation

This software can be cited by citing the appropriate [FORCE publication](https://force-eo.readthedocs.io/en/latest/refs.html).

## Acknowledgement

Please acknowledge CSC and Geoportti in your publications, it is important for project continuation and funding reports.
As an example, you can write "The authors wish to thank CSC - IT Center for Science, Finland (urn:nbn:fi:research-infras-2016072531) and the Open Geospatial Information Infrastructure for Research (Geoportti, urn:nbn:fi:research-infras-2016072513) for computational resources and support".

## Installation

FORCE was installed to Puhti with [Tykky's wrap-container functionality](../computing/containers/tykky.md#container-based-installations) using the [Docker image provided by the FORCE author on Dockerhub](https://hub.docker.com/r/davidfrantz/force). 

`wrap-container -w /home/docker/bin docker://davidfrantz/force:latest --prefix install_dir`


## References

* [CSC Example](https://github.com/csc-training/geocomputing/tree/master/force)
* [FORCE github](https://github.com/davidfrantz/force)
* [FORCE documentation](https://force-eo.readthedocs.io/en/latest/)
* [FORCE tutorials](https://davidfrantz.github.io/#tutorials)
* [FORCE google group](https://groups.google.com/d/forum/force_eo)
* [FORCE v2.0 (Old) User manual](https://www.uni-trier.de/fileadmin/fb6/prof/FER/Downloads/Software/FORCE/FORCE-user-guide-v-2-0.pdf)
* [Using FORCE v2.0 (Old) in CSC environment (Taito) by Pekka Hurskainen](https://a3s.fi/gis-workshops/Satellite_time_series_processing_with_FORCE_in_CSC_Hurskainen.pdf)
