ENVI 6.3: Remote Sensing Image Processing & Analysis Software

ENVI 6.3 is a major release from NV5 Geospatial, launched in September 2026. It builds on version 6.2 by further strengthening data management and automated processing, introducing ENVI Catalog and Task Scheduler, and enabling ENVI Server to run background parallel tasks without requiring GSF.

Key New Features

ENVI Catalog

Helps users organize raster files scattered across directories and search/open imagery by metadata such as filename, sensor, and location. A built-in catalog ships with the installation and supports collections of up to 250 images. Features include catalog scanning, merging, and pruning, with scan tasks running in the background and periodically adding new imagery — ideal for continuously accumulating data. Export options include KML and STAC formats. Full features like custom catalogs require a separate license.

Task Scheduler

Leverages the operating system’s scheduling framework to run ENVI Modeler workflows or API automation tasks in the background on a schedule. Supports one-time execution or recurring intervals by minute, hour, day, week, or month, without keeping ENVI open in the foreground.

ENVI Server Enhancement

Starting with this release, ENVI Server no longer depends on a GSF installation. It can distribute tasks in parallel across multiple machines via queues and configurable worker counts, offloading heavy processing from workstations.

Other Improvements

  • Enhanced Interactive Viewshed Analysis: Supports reverse viewshed analysis (what a viewpoint can see vs. what can see the viewpoint), GIF/MPEG animation export, and JSON position saving and reuse.

  • Feature Counting Tool Improvements: New aggregate grid settings (customizable grid size and subset extent) plus feature point filtering.

  • Location Pin: Add location pins in the view or Cursor Value tool, save as JSON, and reuse across different images.

  • Grid Line Overlay Enhancements: Specify spatial subset extents, preserve settings when loading new data, and support ROI-limited display.

  • Data Manager Improvements: New automatic grouping (multiple rasters auto-organized by folder) and hierarchical folder structure support.

  • New Data Format Support: AVIRIS-5 HDF products and Sentinel-5P atmospheric data products.

  • New Vector Export Format: Support for exporting to Esri FileGDB.

  • New Spectral Index: NDRE (Normalized Difference Red Edge).

Important Patch Notice

The initial ENVI 6.3 installer contained a defect affecting image reads larger than 4 GB. NV5 released fixed Windows and Linux installers on September 1, 2026. Users who installed with the pre-fix installer should download the patch; Mac users must apply the patch regardless of when they installed.