Background
The Satellite Needs Working Group (SNWG)-2018 Assessment found that knowing where the land surface vegetation and urban areas are changing would help satisfy the satellite needs of all the United States (U.S.) land monitoring SNWG agencies. The near-global Surface Disturbance (DIST) data product uses imagery from 7 optical and radar satellites (Harmonized Landsat-8/9 and Sentinel-2 A/B, Sentinel-1 A/B/C) to identify where and when the land surface has undergone disturbance such as vegetation loss from processes such as fires, landslides, drought, urban growth, deforestation, and mining, at 30 m resolution every few days. An annual DIST product will be available after a full year of disturbance granules have been generated. This SNWG activity is being managed by the Jet Propulsion Laboratory's (JPL) Observational Products for End-Users from Remote Sensing Analysis (OPERA) project, who will oversee the development, implementations, and operations. The optical DIST product was developed in partnership with the University of Maryland Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) group. Further information about OPERA and the DIST product suite can be found below.