Sentinel-1 radiometrically terrain-corrected backscatter#

sentinel-1-rtc · theme sar · live

Sentinel-1 C-band gamma0 backscatter (VV, VH) terrain-corrected with the Copernicus GLO-30 DEM: 10 m scene-based from Planetary Computer (2014-10 onward) or 30 m burst-based OPERA RTC-S1 from ASF (2016-04 onward, with layover/shadow masks and static incidence-angle layers).

import easysnowdata as esd

aoi = (-121.94, 46.72, -121.54, 46.99)   # Mount Rainier
data = esd.sar.sentinel1.load(aoi, time="2024-03")

No account needed for the default route

source="planetary-computer" is open. source="opera-rtc-s1" needs earthdata; source="gee" needs earthengine — see the credentials page.

Sources#

3 routes serve this product; the first is the default and source= picks another. The return contract is the same either way.

source

provider

credentials

resolution

extent

temporal

latency

notes

planetary-computer (default)

stac

none

10 m

global

2014-10/present

~2 days

scene based, Catalyst processing; no incidence-angle layer

opera-rtc-s1

stac

earthdata

30 m

global

2016-04/present

~1-2 days

burst based, JPL OPERA; single-band COGs per polarization plus a layover/shadow mask. CMR-STAC cloudstac/ASF, not stac.asf.alaska.edu

gee

gee

earthengine

30 m

global

2016-04/present

—

the OPERA product re-served by Earth Engine; no static layers

Where each route points#

planetary-computer — Planetary Computer live

sentinel-1-rtc

opera-rtc-s1 — OPERA RTC-S1 (ASF) live

OPERA_L2_RTC-S1_V1_1

gee — Earth Engine (OPERA) live

OPERA/RTC/L2_V1/S1

Variables#

variable

units

dtype

nodata

categorical

vv

linear power

float32

-32768

no

vh

linear power

float32

-32768

no

Provenance#

Licence · Copernicus Sentinel data licence

Cite the data as

European Space Agency. Copernicus Sentinel-1 GRD. RTC processing by Catalyst for Microsoft Planetary Computer; OPERA RTC-S1 by NASA/JPL, distributed by ASF DAAC.

Documentation

Loader · easysnowdata.sar.sentinel1.load