OPERA: Coregistered SAR Backscatter and Displacement from Sentinel-1

OPERA validated products provide coregistered, radiometrically corrected Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) backscatter and surface displacement measurements derived from Copernicus Sentinel-1 data. The suite includes Single Look Complex (CSLC) images with amplitude and phase for interferometry, Radiometric Terrain Corrected (RTC) backscatter normalized to topography, and Level-3 displacement products from time-series analysis. These datasets are processed to a consistent 30-meter grid and are available for North America and near-global land masses from 2016 onward.

Use Cases

• Monitoring surface displacement from subsidence, tectonics, or landslides using the Level-3 DISP-S1 time-series product.
• Analyzing terrain-corrected radar backscatter for changes in surface roughness or soil moisture with the RTC-S1 product.
• Performing interferometric analysis (InSAR) for precise topographic or deformation mapping using the coregistered CSLC-S1 complex data.
• Mapping coastal processes and glacial changes using geocoded, multi-temporal SAR backscatter imagery.

Strengths

• Products are validated and follow consistent CF-1.8/HDF5 or GeoTIFF formats, ensuring interoperability.
• Includes both dynamic data layers and static radar-geometry layers (e.g., incidence angle) produced separately for stability.
• Temporal coverage spans nearly a decade, incorporating data from Sentinel-1A, -1B, and -1C missions from 2016 to 2025.

Limitations

• Spatial coverage is not fully global; CSLC and DISP products are limited to North America, while RTC products exclude Antarctica.
• Specific technical details like row counts, file sizes, and precise column schemas are not provided in the available metadata.
• Relies on the Copernicus GLO-30 Digital Elevation Model for terrain correction, which may introduce errors in regions with poor DEM quality.

Provenance

Source

National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), derived from Copernicus Sentinel-1 data.

Collection Method

Processed from Sentinel-1 Interferometric Wide (IW) Single Look Complex (SLC) data through the OPERA pipeline, which includes coregistration, radiometric terrain correction, and time-series interferometric analysis.

Time Range

2016-2025

Freshness

2026-04-10

Geography

North America (USA, Canada within 200km of U.S. border, mainland countries to Panama) for CSLC/DISP; near-global land masses (excluding Antarctica) for RTC products.