The ESA-DLR Sentinel-1 Analysis Ready Data Backscatter Products

Kurzfassung

The current family of Copernicus Sentinel-1 (European Space Agency ESA / European Commission) products primarily contains Level-1 Single Look Complex (SLC) and Ground Range Detected (GRD) products [1], which inherit their definition from the European heritage Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) satellite missions ERS-1, -2 and ENVISAT. These products have over the years proven to be reliable, high-quality data sources since the start of Sentinel-1A in 2014. Users largely benefit from the open and free data policy of the Copernicus program. This has led to Sentinel-1 products being routinely used in a wide range of operational applications as well as enlarging the user base of SAR data in general. However, the rapid increase of data volume is presenting a challenge to many users who want to exploit this wealth of information, but lack the resources for the processing needed to convert these Level-1 products to interoperable geoinformation. Cloud exploitation offers opportunities for accelerated gain of knowledge but requires new strategies for data management and provision.