OPERA Workshops

OPERA workshops will be held for OPERA stakeholders on a regular basis. These workshops will provide external partners with updates on the status of both the overall project and its specific products.

In general the OPERA workshops will cover the following topics:

• OPERA programmatic updates (all workshops)
• Interaction with users to identify any changes in the needs and associated applications
• Detailed updates on algorithm development and briefings on calibration and validation approaches
• Data access information through the NASA DAACs
• Interactive whitepaper demonstration, explanation of metadata, strengths and limitations, etc.
• Invited talks by OPERA stakeholders on their applications, cal/val findings
• Conference-style oral and poster science presentations

The OPERA workshops are hybrid (remote and in person) participation. For in person workshops, travel grants will be offered to select participants within the federal statute and regulations in order to improve participation from diverse communities. The workshop activities will be recorded and made available online to reach a larger audience.

September 11, 2025, at 8:30am-1pm Pacific (11:30am-4pm Eastern), virtual workshop.

Provided updates on OPERA products currently in production, including near-global Dynamic Surface Water eXtent (DSWx), near-global Surface Disturbance (DIST), North America Surface Displacement (DISP), near-global Radiometric Terrain Corrected (RTC) SAR Backscatter, and North America Coregistered Single-Look Complex (CSLC) products. Introduced upcoming products planned for 2026, such as the NISAR-based Dynamic Surface Water eXtent (DSWx-NI), NISAR-based Surface Displacement (DISP-NI), and Sentinel-1-based Surface Disturbance (DIST-S1), along with the new North America Vertical Land Motion (VLM) products. Demonstrated how to access and apply OPERA products for common use cases, and highlighted stakeholder applications and feedback.

July 19, 2024, at 9am-3pm Pacific (11am-4pm Eastern), Hybrid workshop at Liberty Station Conference Center, San Diego, CA.

Introduced upcoming OPERA Products including the NISAR-based Dynamic Surface Water eXtent (DSWx-NISAR) and NISAR-based Surface Displacement (DISP-NISAR). Presented preliminary validation results for the Sentinel-1-based Dynamic Surface Water eXtent (DSWx-S1) and Sentinel-1-based Surface Displacement (DISP-S1) products. Provided updates on the following OPERA products that are in production: Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2-based Surface Disturbance (DIST-HLS), Sentinel-1-based Radiometric Terrain Corrected (RTC-S1) SAR Backscatter, and Sentinel-1-based Coregistrated Single Look Complex (CSLC-S1) products.

June 27, 2023, at 9am-3pm Pacific (12-6pm Eastern), Hybrid workshop at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.

Introduced upcoming OPERA Products including the Sentinel-1-based Dynamic Surface Water eXtent (DSWx-S1) and Sentinel-1-based Surface Displacement (DISP-S1) and provided validation updates on Sentinel-1-based Radiometric Terrain Corrected (RTC-S1) SAR Backscatter and Sentinel-1-based Coregistrated Single Look Complex (CSLC-S1) products.

September 2, 2022, at 9am-1pm Pacific (12-4pm Eastern), Hybrid workshop at California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA.

Introduced OPERA Sentinel-1-based Radiometric Terrain Corrected (RTC-S1) SAR Backscatter and Sentinel-1-based Coregistrated Single Look Complex (CSLC-S1) products and provided updates on Surface Water Extent and Disturbance products.

February 4, 2022, at 10am-12pm Pacific (1-3pm Eastern), virtual workshop.

Introduced the OPERA project and provided both an overview and updates for the Surface Water Extent & Surface Disturbance Product.