Third OPERA Workshop

The JPL-OPERA project is sponsored by NASA to construct analysis-ready remote sensing products in response to the needs of several federal agencies identified by the Satellite Needs Working Group. Through its Stakeholder Engagement Program, OPERA hosted a 6-hour (9am-3pm Pacific) workshop on Tuesday, June 27, 2023, as a hybrid workshop hosted physically in the Beckman Institute Auditorium (400 S Wilson Avenue, Pasadena, CA 91106) on the Caltech campus. The objectives of the event were to:

• Introduce upcoming OPERA products (Sentinel-1-based Dynamic Surface Water eXtent DSWx-S1 and Sentinel-1-based Surface Displacement DISP-S1)
• Provide validation updates on Sentinel-1-based Radiometric Terrain Corrected (RTC) Radar Backscatter and Sentinel-1-based Coregistered Single-look Complex (CSLC) Products

In this third workshop, OPERA team members and product end-users presented updates of the project and on the two current operational products: (1) Dynamic Surface Water Extent (DSWx) and (2) Surface Disturbance (DIST). They also presented preliminary validation results and provided instructions on how to access provisional Radiometric Terrain Corrected (RTC) SAR backscatter and Coregistered Single-look Complex (CSLC) products, along with development updates on the upcoming Sentinel-1-based Dynamic Surface Water eXtent (DSWx-S1) and Surface Displacement (DISP-S1) products. OPERA solicited user feedback from the community on improving forthcoming products. All OPERA products are available free to the public through NASA’s Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs).

There were two opportunities for agency managers and data users to ask questions and explore applications of these products:

• Poster sessions for in-person attendees during the breaks and at the end of the workshop
• Dedicated hybrid discussions at the end of the workshop

Participation was open to US federal agencies, contractors, and academic researchers funded by these agencies.