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Full catalog/OPERA_L3_DISP-S1_V1
OPERA_L3_DISP-S1_V1·v1·dataset

How much the ground rose or sank (Sentinel-1 radar)

OPERA Surface Displacement from Sentinel-1 validated product (Version 1)
deformation NASA ASF Level 3 active netCDF-4XMLPNGZarr
In plain English

What it measures. How much the ground surface has risen or sunk over time, measured along the radar's line of sight at 30 m detail across North America.

How it's made. Derived from time-series radar interferometry of Sentinel-1 satellite data, comparing repeated passes to detect tiny shifts in the surface.

How & where you'd use it. Reveals land subsidence, tectonic movement, and landslides, useful for hazard monitoring and infrastructure and groundwater studies.

What's measured

SOLID EARTH › TECTONICSSOLID EARTH › GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSESLAND SURFACE › GEOMORPHIC LANDFORMS/PROCESSES

Coverage & cadence

  • Time span2016-07-01 → ongoing
  • Measured bySentinel-1A (C-SAR) · Sentinel-1B (C-SAR) · Sentinel-1C (C-SAR)
  • Processing levelLevel 3
  • FormatsnetCDF-4, XML, PNG, Zarr
  • StatusACTIVE

What you can do with it

  • Measure ground motion and subsidence (InSAR)
  • Track earthquakes, volcanoes and landslides
  • Map elevation and terrain change
Official description

The Level-3 OPERA Sentinel-1 Surface Displacement (DISP) product is generated through interferometric time-series analysis of Level-2 Coregistered Sentinel-1 Single Look Complex (CSLC) datasets. Using a hybrid Persistent Scatterer (PS) and Distributed Scatterer (DS) approach, this product quantifies Earth's surface displacement in the radar line-of-sight. The DISP products enable the detection of anthropogenic and natural surface changes, including subsidence, tectonic deformation, and landslides. The OPERA DISP suite comprises complementary datasets derived from Sentinel-1 and NISAR inputs, designated as DISP-S1 and DISP-NI, respectively. Each product, created per acquisition, adheres to a consistent structure, HDF5 file format, file-naming convention, and a 30 m spatial posting. This collection specifically includes DISP-S1 products, derived from Sentinel-1 data. DISP-S1 products provide spatial coverage across North America, encompassing the United States, U.S. territories within 200 km of the U.S. border, Canada, and mainland countries from the southern U.S. border to Panama. These products are generated from Sentinel-1 Interferometric Wide (IW) swath mode acquisitions starting in mid-2016. The OPERA DISP-S1 product contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2016-2025). The OPERA project is funded by NASA’s Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) which provides data products developed to meet the needs of stakeholders from US government agencies.

Get the data

opera_l3_disp-s1_v1_access.py
import earthaccess
earthaccess.login(strategy="netrc")          # free Earthdata Login

results = earthaccess.search_data(
    short_name="OPERA_L3_DISP-S1_V1",
    version="1",
    bounding_box=(-122.5, 37.2, -121.8, 37.9),  # your area (W,S,E,N)
    temporal=("2024-01-01", "2024-12-31"),       # your dates
)
files = earthaccess.open(results)   # stream straight from ASF
Browsing CMR needs no login. Downloading or streaming bytes needs a free Earthdata Login + the earthaccess package.