Background
The Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG) 2018 assessment found that knowing where surface water exists (lakes, reservoirs, rivers, and floods) multiple times a week would benefit U.S. land monitoring agencies, such as those engaged in water resource management and monitoring, as well as disaster monitoring and response agencies.
The near-global DSWx data product suite uses imagery from nine optical and radar satellites —Landsat-8/9, Sentinel-2 A/B/C, Sentinel-1A/C/D, and NASA/Indian Space Research Organization Synthetic Aperture Radar (NISAR) — to produce three products that map the spatial extent of surface water on land at 30-m resolution every few days. Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) imagery will aid in mapping surface water extent in cloudy conditions and beneath some vegetation.
The optical DSWx product was developed in partnership with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Further information about the Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis (OPERA) project and the DSWx product suite can be found below.
Status
Currently in development, but some data are available now
This solution has been in production since April 2023, and historical production (from 2016 to 2023) for the DSWx-HLS product has begun. Landsat-9 was also recently added to the set of sensors to be processed. The DSWx-HLS product and DSWx-S1 product are available from the Physical Oceanography Distributed Active Archive Center (PO.DAAC). The DSWX-NI product is not yet available.
Solution Characteristics
| Products | DSWx-HLS | DSWx-S1 | DSWx-NI |
|---|---|---|---|
| Platform | Harmonized Landsat 8/9 and Sentinel-2A/B/C (HLS) | Sentinel-1A/C/D | NISAR |
| Sensor Type | Optical | Radar | Radar |
| Processing Level | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| Temporal Coverage | April 2023 to present | September 2024 to present | Based on NISAR availability |
| Temporal Frequency | Approximately 3 days | 12 days; 6 days in certain areas; higher with Sentinel-1C | Approximately 6 days |
| Spatial Coverage | Near-global (all land masses except Antarctica) | Near-global (all land masses except Antarctica) | Near-global (all land masses except Antarctica) |
| Spatial Resolution | 30 m | 30 m | 30 m |
| Data Format | Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF | Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF | Cloud-Optimized GeoTIFF |
Societal Impact
The DSWx solution provides maps of surface water every few days, enabling flood and drought monitoring, habitat assessment, wetland preservation, and tracking of water use. These applications inform land and water resource management and hazard response and recovery. For example, Protecting Lives and Livelihoods Across Alaska With NASA Surface Water Data is a "Data in Action" story that demonstrates DSWx's benefit to end users.
Solution Resources
Need help using this solution? For more information about the DSWx product suite, visit the following resources:
- OPERA Overview
- OPERA DSWx website
- OPERA DSWx Applications Github
- OPERA DSWx Product Suite: SNWG Solution Fact Sheet
- OPERA DSWx on Earthdata SNWG Portal
- OPERA DSWx on Worldview
- OPERA DSWx Guide on PO.DAAC
- OPERA Stakeholder Engagement Program
Workshops and Open Meetings
| Title and Registration Link | Description | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Fifth OPERA Stakeholder Engagement Workshop | The fifth workshop provided updates on OPERA data products (including DSWx) and how to access and leverage them for common applications. It also introduced the upcoming Vertical Land Motion (VLM) product suite. | Sept. 11, 2025 |
| Fourth OPERA Stakeholder Engagement Workshop | The fourth workshop provided updates on OPERA data products in production, preliminary validation of data products that were near-production, and an overview of upcoming products. End users had an opportunity to present their use (or planned use) of OPERA products. | July 19, 2024 |
| The Beginning of a New Era of Multidisciplinary NASA Satellite Data Products Enabled by the Satellite Needs Working Group | The SNWG is a government inter-agency organizational body established in 2016 to identify Earth observational gaps and data needs across the U.S. federal civilian agencies. The SNWG effort is a two-year process in which NASA identifies and ultimately implements a range of innovative solutions that benefit the entire Earth science community. In this session, we invited representatives from NASA’s SNWG Implementation Team (NSITE) to describe new capabilities and where to access the data. The discussion included the Harmonized Landsat/Sentinel-2 (HLS), a cloud optimized dataset that standardizes common data bands from the two satellite constellations, effectively doubling the data available to the community. Another SNWG solution is the generation of a global surface water extent products that combine the data frequency of optical satellites and the cloud-penetrating capabilities of radar for a uniformed and frequent surface water product. Other solutions include new radiation and clouds products, global air quality, land surface disturbance, North America land deformation, vegetation indices suite with HLS, and planetary boundary layer products. | Dec. 13, 2023 |
| Third OPERA workshop: Introducing the OPERA Radiometric Terrain Corrected (RTC) Radar Backscatter and Coregistrated Single Look Complex (CSLC) Products | In this workshop, the OPERA team provided an update on the Dynamic Surface Water Extent and Surface Disturbance products. They also introduced provisional RTC and CSLC products. | June 27, 2023 |
| Second OPERA Workshop: Introducing OPERA Interim Products and Updates on Surface Water Extent and Disturbance Products | In this workshop, the OPERA team presented preliminary validation results for the surface water (DSWx) and surface disturbance (DIST) products, while also providing information on how to access them. | Sept. 2, 2022 |
| First OPERA Workshop: SNWG-2018 Surface Water Extent and Surface Disturbance Product | During this workshop, the OPERA team introduced the near-global surface water (DSWx) and DIST products to gather feedback from the user community. | Feb. 4, 2022 |