Every analysis begins with an observation record. Before asking what a satellite measurement means, establish which instrument produced it, when and how it was acquired, what product level is available and which transformations have already been applied.
A source inventory that travels with the result
For each dataset, record mission, product identifier, acquisition date and orbit, sensor mode, wavelength, polarisation, calibration and processing baseline, geometry, spatial support, coordinate reference, quality flags, licence and access conditions. For derived data, preserve the input identifiers, software, parameters, version and processing order.
Sentinel-1 Single Look Complex products preserve complex samples containing amplitude and phase; Ground Range Detected products are detected, multilooked and projected to ground range. Product choice changes what analyses are possible. A rendered or compressed image should never be mistaken for the original measurement package.
Open archives and scientific lineage
Copernicus Data Space provides Sentinel data access and mission documentation; NASA publishes mission-specific data information and open Earth-science archives. Availability does not alone establish suitability: revisit gaps, acquisition mode, rights, quality and validation references still matter. ViewPiece's current page demonstrations are synthetic and do not ingest these archives.