VirtuGhan QGIS Plugin

Bring satellite computation directly into your QGIS desktop workflow.

The VirtuGhan QGIS Plugin integrates the full power of the virtughan Python package into QGIS. It allows you to visualize, compute, and download satellite imagery without leaving your GIS environment — no coding required.

Whether you need a quick NDVI preview, a time-series aggregation, or bulk band extraction, the plugin handles it through a simple panel interface connected to the same engine that powers virtughan.com.

Modules

Tiler

Real-time satellite tile visualization with custom band combinations. Use it for a quick visual check before downloading data.

Shows satellite imagery as map tiles directly in QGIS
Filter by area, date range, cloud cover, and band formula
Fast preview and comparison — no file downloads needed

Engine (Compute)

Process and analyze satellite imagery with spectral indices and time-series aggregation.

Apply formulas like NDVI, NDWI, or custom band math expressions
Aggregate over time with operations: mean, median, max, min, std, sum, variance, mode
Optional time-series output with trend analysis
Results loaded directly as raster layers in QGIS

Extractor (Download)

Bulk download and stack satellite bands for your area of interest.

Download selected Sentinel-2 or Landsat bands as GeoTIFF files
Automatic band stacking and resolution matching
Smart filtering to reduce redundant scene downloads
Output as GeoTIFF/VRT files, optionally zipped

Installation

Prerequisites

QGIS 3.22 or higher
Python 3.10+
Internet connection (for first-run dependency bootstrap)

Steps

Download the latest plugin ZIP from GitHub Releases
In QGIS, go to Plugins → Manage and Install Plugins → Install from ZIP
Select the downloaded virtughan-qgis-plugin.zip
The plugin auto-installs its Python dependencies on first run

How It Works

The plugin uses the same computation engine as the web application. It accesses Cloud Optimized GeoTIFFs (COGs) from Sentinel-2 and Landsat collections via STAC APIs, performs band math and aggregation locally, and loads results directly into your QGIS project.

No data replication is needed — the plugin reads only the pixels it needs from remote COGs, computes on-the-fly, and delivers results as standard raster layers.

Links

Source Code PyPI Package Documentation