ALT This image shows the globe color coded to indicate its surface type. Most of the image is black to indicate calm water, the ocean, or dry sand. Rough water is depicted in shades of purple. The continents are shaded in green where there is vegetation, and white where there are urban areas or little vegetation.

ALT Three panel image: (Left) OPERA Radiometric Terrain SAR backscatter from Sentinel-1, shown here in false color, capturing the eye of Hurricane Helene as a large dark patch in the Gulf of Mexico on September 26, 2024. These data are used as input to create the OPERA Dynamic Surface Water eXtent, DSWx-S1 (center). This SAR-based water product has the key advantage of being able to ‘see’ the surface through cloud cover, which is particularly important during storms. (Right) Differencing OPERA DSWx images from September 14, 2024 (before the storm) and September 26, 2024 (storm) reveals an increase in water due to the storm surge (in light blue) over Cedar Key, Florida. All images were superimposed on a Google Earth satellite background shown in grayscale. 

ALT This image shows vegetation disturbance status data from the OPERA Land Surface Disturbance Annual from Harmonized Landsat Sentinel-2 product over Canada for the year beginning January 2023.

ALT The OPERA project uses data from satellite radar and optical instruments to produce surface water extent and surface disturbance data products. Surface displacement products soon will be added. Credit: NASA/JPL. Credits for inset images: Firth River Yukon and Water Data, USGS/John Jones; Eruption of the Kilauea Volcano and Volcano Data, ASI/NASA/JPL-Caltech; Fire-fighting helicopter with water bucket and fire data: Hansen, UMD/Google/ USGS/NASA

ALT This image shows the blog author John Jones who plants a marker alongside a submerged temperature/inundation sensor in a 356 square kilometre wetland in south-eastern Oregon, USA. Photo credit: Anteneh Sarbanes (USGS)