Before you can start analyzing satellite imagery, you need to set up your development environment. This guide will walk you through installing Anaconda and setting up a conda environment with all the essential packages for remote sensing work.

Why Use Conda?

Conda is a package manager that makes it easy to install and manage Python packages, especially those with complex dependencies like geospatial libraries. It creates isolated environments so your projects don’t interfere with each other.

Step 1: Install Anaconda

First, download and install Anaconda from the official website:

1. Visit anaconda.com/download
2. Download the installer for your operating system
3. Run the installer and follow the prompts
4. Restart your terminal after installation

Verify the installation:

conda --version

Step 2: Create a New Environment

Create a dedicated environment:

conda create -n remote-sensing python=3.11
conda activate remote-sensing

Step 3: Install Essential Packages

# Add conda-forge channel
conda config --add channels conda-forge

# Install core packages
conda install -c conda-forge rasterio gdal numpy matplotlib

Key Packages

• rasterio – Read and write geospatial raster data
• gdal – Geospatial Data Abstraction Library
• numpy – Fast numerical operations
• matplotlib – Create visualizations

Step 4: Additional Packages

conda install -c conda-forge geopandas earthpy jupyter

Test Your Installation

import rasterio
import numpy as np
print("Success!")

Useful Commands

conda env list
conda activate remote-sensing
conda install package-name
conda update --all

Now you’re ready to start working with satellite imagery!