Shared workspace for the ESA Biomass MAAP Hackathon (12 to 16 October 2026, ESOC, Darmstadt): project folders, notebooks and resources.
| Event | ESA Biomass MAAP Hackathon 2026 |
| Dates | 12 to 16 October 2026 (5 days, in person) |
| Location | ESOC (European Space Operations Centre), Darmstadt, Germany |
| Format | Hands on coding, English, Python |
| Goal | Evolve the BioPAL open source processor suite (BPS) and the MAAP platform through collaborative coding |
| Git support | ACRI-ST, Git workflows and Q&A, on site all week |
This repository is the shared home for all hackathon project groups. Add a folder, bring your code, and do not hesitate to ask for help with Git, that is what we are here for.
biomass-hackathon-2026/
├── README.md
├── CONTRIBUTING.md
├── resources/ shared code reusable across groups
│ ├── load/ read products → arrays / xarray
│ ├── process/ arrays in → arrays out
│ ├── evaluate/ metrics, validation, stats
│ ├── plot/ figures, maps
│ └── tests/ pytest for shared code
├── topics/ one folder per group (same name as the GitHub label)
│ ├── 02-RFI/
│ ├── 03-QGIS/
│ ├── 04-3D-TOMO-CANOPY-VISUALIZER/
│ ├── 05_BIOMASS_AND_GEDI/
│ ├── 06A-CARBON/
│ ├── 06B-CARBON/
│ ├── 07-GEOLOGY/
│ ├── 08-ICE-QUEEN/
│ ├── 09-BIODIVERSITY/
│ ├── 10-TOMO-SAR-FOREST-HEIGHT/
│ ├── 11-A-SOIL-MOISTURE/
│ └── 11-B-FLOODED-FOREST/
└── non-chosen-topics/ briefs not running as a group this week
Each project group works in topics/<GROUP-LABEL>/ — the folder name matches the GitHub group label. Put shared helpers in resources/ (see resources/README.md).
| Group label | Topic | Folder |
|---|---|---|
02-RFI |
RFI removal | topics/02-RFI/ |
03-QGIS |
QGIS plugin | topics/03-QGIS/ |
04-3D-TOMO-CANOPY-VISUALIZER |
3D tomographic canopy visualiser | topics/04-3D-TOMO-CANOPY-VISUALIZER/ |
05_BIOMASS_AND_GEDI |
BIOMASS and GEDI intercomparison | topics/05_BIOMASS_AND_GEDI/ |
06A-CARBON |
Carbon map validation (table A) | topics/06A-CARBON/ |
06B-CARBON |
Carbon map validation (table B) | topics/06B-CARBON/ |
07-GEOLOGY |
BIOMASS for Geology | topics/07-GEOLOGY/ |
08-ICE-QUEEN |
BIOMASS for Cryosphere | topics/08-ICE-QUEEN/ |
09-BIODIVERSITY |
BIOMASS for biodiversity | topics/09-BIODIVERSITY/ |
10-TOMO-SAR-FOREST-HEIGHT |
Forest height from TomoSAR | topics/10-TOMO-SAR-FOREST-HEIGHT/ |
11-A-SOIL-MOISTURE |
Soil moisture | topics/11-A-SOIL-MOISTURE/ |
11-B-FLOODED-FOREST |
Flooded forest | topics/11-B-FLOODED-FOREST/ |
On MAAP (and often on ESA public Wi‑Fi):
- SSH is blocked (
git@github.com:...will fail) - You usually cannot install or use
gh auth login - Use HTTPS + a GitHub Personal Access Token (PAT) — that is the supported way to
git clone/git pull/git push
- Open github.com/settings/tokens (while logged into GitHub).
- Generate new token → Generate new token (classic).
- Note: e.g.
maap-hackathon. - Expiration: pick a short period (e.g. 7 or 30 days).
- Scopes: tick
repo(full control of private repositories — needed for private forks; harmless for this public hackathon). - Generate token, then copy it immediately (you will not see it again).
Fine-grained tokens also work: grant your fork Contents: Read and write (and Metadata: Read).
Always use an HTTPS URL (never git@github.com:):
git clone https://github.com/YOUR-USERNAME/biomass-hackathon-2026.git
cd biomass-hackathon-2026When Git asks for credentials:
| Prompt | Enter |
|---|---|
| Username | your GitHub username |
| Password | the PAT (not your GitHub account password) |
Example push after you commit:
git push -u origin YOUR-BRANCH
# Username: YOUR-USERNAME
# Password: ghp_xxxxxxxx ← paste the tokenIf Git never asks and fails with Authentication failed / Permission denied, clear old cached passwords, then retry (or embed the token only for this session — do not commit it):
# macOS / Linux credential helper reset examples — ask on-site support if unsure
git credential reject <<EOF
protocol=https
host=github.com
EOFDo not paste the token into the README, notebooks, or chat logs. Revoke it at github.com/settings/tokens if it leaks.
More Git workflow detail: CONTRIBUTING.md.
Work from a fork (one fork per person; you do not push directly to main):
- Create a Task issue and pick your Group (label is applied automatically).
- Create a PAT (section above), fork BioPAL/biomass-hackathon-2026, clone your fork with HTTPS, create a branch.
- When you start the work, open a draft pull request early with
Closes #<issue-number>in the description. - When ready for a maintainer, mark the PR Ready for review. A maintainer merges (do not merge yourself).
- Group-specific code and notebooks →
topics/<GROUP-LABEL>/ - Code useful to several teams →
resources/(load / process / evaluate / plot)
Details, naming conventions, and ground rules: CONTRIBUTING.md.
https://biopal.github.io/biomass-hackathon-2026/ — HTML board on GitHub Pages, refreshed on issue close and PR merge. Source: dashboard/.
Public board: Hackaton 2026 Board
The board shows Task issues, not pull requests. Example: PR #93 moves issue #68 on the board (via Closes #68 in the PR description) — you will not see card “#93”.
You do not need to drag cards — Status updates from GitHub events:
| Event | Status |
|---|---|
| Task issue opened | Todo (or Backlog) |
Draft PR opened/updated with Closes #N |
Doing (or Started) |
| PR marked Ready for review (or opened non-draft) | In review |
| PR merged / issue closed | Done |
Put Closes #<issue-number> in the PR description when you open it (or edit the description later — that also re-syncs). Open the draft PR as soon as you start so the board shows Doing.
- MAAP platform, BIOMASS data, Brazil SFB ALS acquisitions, compute environment
- PolSARpro, PolSAR and PolInSAR processing
- GEDI data, via MAAP or gediDB
- Lope TLS and ALS datasets, ask the topic referent
- PolInSAR course example code (tomographic processor), ask the topic referent
- BIOMASS validation protocol, ask the topic referent
Code in this repository is released under the Apache License 2.0, matching BioPAL/BPS.