Earth from space: image of the week

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: American Samoa
01/12/2023

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission shows us an amazing view of the tropical island of Tutuila, the largest in the American Samoa archipelago in the South Pacific Ocean.

American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the US and is part of the Samoan Islands chain, situated some 4000 km southwest of Hawaii and about 3000 km northwest of New Zealand. The eastern part of the chain of islands forms the American Samoa, while the western part forms the independent state of Samoa.

American Samoa comprises five volcanic islands, Tutuila, Aunu'u, Tau, Ofu and Olosega, and two coral atolls, Rose and Swains.

Tutuila is a small, narrow island and home to many volcanic mountains. At 653 m, Mount Matafao, which lies in the centre of the island, is the highest. The mountain range, which cuts across the island, is rugged with steep cliffs dominating the northern part of the island. The south is flatter.  Coral reefs create barriers to the open sea, resulting in lagoons, visible in turquoise, prominent off the southern coast.

Tutuila is home to the capital of American Samoa, Pago Pago, which lies on the deepest inlet that divides the island nearly in two. Served by a busy harbour, the Pago Pago urban area encompasses several villages and popular beaches. It also features part of the National Park of American Samoa, where thick tropical rainforest and pristine coral reefs are protected. The park is the only US national park in the South Pacific. About 10 km southwest of the city, the runways of the Pago Pago International Airport, partly built on a fringing reef, can be easily spotted in the image.

The small volcanic island off the southeast coast of Tutuila is Aunu’u. It covers about 1.5 sq km and features the Faimulivai Marsh, a freshwater marsh visible as a dark area on the eastern part of the island. A protected National Natural Landmark, the Faimulivai Marsh was formed from drainage of the low-lying Aunu’u Crater and is the largest such wetland in American Samoa.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Hurricane Otis
08/12/2023

The powerful Hurricane Otis has been captured in this Copernicus Sentinel-3 image when it was approaching Mexico’s southern Pacific coast in October 2023.


Originally classified as a tropical storm, Otis was upgraded in just 12 hours to a category five hurricane – the most dangerous rating for a hurricane – shocking forecasters and local authorities alike. With sustained winds reaching around 265 km per hour, Hurricane Otis became the strongest on record to hit Mexico's Pacific coast. After making landfall near Acapulco, the hurricane began to weaken as it moved inland, leaving a trail of devastation.

This image, acquired on 24 October 2023 by Copernicus Sentinel-3’s Ocean and Land Colour Instrument, shows Hurricane Otis near Acapulco, where it made landfall the following day. The eye of the storm, which is very clear to see, had a diameter of approximately 25 km.

Acapulco, which is home to almost one million people is covered by storm clouds in the image. It was one of the worst places hit. Mexico City, the country’s huge, densely populated capital, can be seen as a brown area in the cloud-free part of the image north of the hurricane. The Popocatépetl active volcano can also be spotted about 70 km southeast of Mexico City.

To help emergency response efforts, both the International Charter Space and Major Disasters and the Copernicus Emergency Mapping Service were triggered to supply maps, based on satellite data, of the affected areas. 

Hurricanes are one of the forces of nature that can be tracked by satellites. Timely imagery from space can help authorities take precautionary measures. Earth observation satellites are the best means of providing important information about storms, including size, wind speed and path, as well about features that contribute to the intensification of hurricanes, such as cloud thickness, temperature, and water and ice content.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Icy landscape
15/12/2023

As the holiday season swiftly approaches, frosty landscapes tend to be associated with the magical idea of a white Christmas. But this Copernicus Sentinel-3 image over the Antarctica Peninsula sheds light on a different perspective.

The Antarctic Peninsula is the northernmost and warmest region of the Antarctic continent. It resembles a 1000-km-long arm covered with ice, stretching towards the southern tip of South America.

The peninsula’s west coast features over 100 large glaciers and numerous islands, including the big Adelaide Island, visible at the bottom of the image. Moving north, we see the Biscoe Islands, Anvers and Brabant islands, and the South Shetland Islands, separated from the northwestern tip of the peninsula by the Bransfield Strait.

Visible further north, Elephant and Clarence Islands are the outermost of the South Shetland archipelago. To the east is the A23a iceberg, currently the largest berg in the world. It calved from the Filchner-Ronne ice shelf in West Antarctica in 1986, but only recently, driven by winds and currents, started drifting quickly away from Antarctic waters. Like most icebergs from the Weddell Sea, A23a is likely to end up in the South Atlantic on a path called iceberg alley.

Thick ice shelves lie along the eastern side of the Peninsula, including the renowned Larsen Ice Shelf, a series of three shelves – A (the smallest), B, and C (the largest) – extending into the Weddel Sea.

Like many places on Earth, the Antarctic Peninsula has experienced warming over recent decades. This warming is believed to have triggered the retreat and break-up of the Larsen-B Ice Shelf, and the Larsen-A Ice Shelf, which disintegrated almost completely in January 1995.

Antarctica is surrounded by ice shelves, but there are increasing reports about them thinning and even collapsing. Studying ice shelves is important because they are indicators of climate change. In fact, Antarctica’s shrinking ice sheets are considered a climate tipping point. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), tipping points are ‘critical thresholds in a system that, when exceeded, can lead to a significant change in the state of the system, often with an understanding that the change is irreversible.’

Using satellites to monitor Antarctica over decades is essential, because the data they return provides authoritative evidence of trends and allows scientists to make predictions about the continent’s future.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Columbia Glacier, Alaska
19/01/2024

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Alaska’s Columbia Glacier, one of the fastest changing glaciers in the world.

The Columbia Glacier, visible just above the middle of the image, is a tidewater glacier that flows down the snow-covered slopes of the Chugach Mountains, which dominate the upper part of the image. The mountains hold Alaska’s largest concentration of glacial ice.

Since the early 1980s, the Columbia Glacier has retreated more than 20 km and lost about half of its total volume. This one glacier accounts for nearly half of the ice lost in the Chugach Mountains.

The changing climate is thought to have caused its retreat. Until 1980, when its rapid and constant retreat began, the glacier’s terminus was observed at the northern edge of Heather Island, which lies near the end of Columbia Bay, the inlet into which the glacier currently flows before draining into Prince William Sound. This satellite image, acquired in September 2023, shows instead the deep mostly ice-free Columbia Bay dotted with numerous icebergs and fragmented sea-ice.

Depending on the amount of sediment coming from the Chugach Mountains, water bodies throughout the image can be seen in an array of colours: clear waters of the Pacific Ocean appear dark blue, while turbid waters in inlets and glacial lakes appear in light blue or cyan.

Columbia is just one of the many glaciers suffering from the effects of climate change. Most of the glaciers around the world are losing mass. However, before the advent of satellites, measuring their retreat and studying their vulnerability to climate change was difficult considering their size, remoteness and rugged terrain they occupy.

Different satellite instruments now can gather information systematically and over large areas, providing an effective means to monitor change, keep track of all calving stages and quantify the melting rate and their contribution to sea-level rise.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Snow-bound eastern US
26/01/2024

Record-breaking Arctic cold weather has swept through much of the United States in the last few weeks. The eastern part of the country was particularly affected with thick snow blanketing most of the region, as this Copernicus Sentinel-3 image shows.

The harsh winter weather led to travel warnings, road closures and schools having to be shut. More than 100 million people were on windchill alert. Heavy snowfall officially ended the almost two-year-long absence of snow in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington D.C, all of which are under a white mantle in this image, which was acquired on 17 January 2024.

The image spans South Carolina in the south, Maine in the north and Ohio in the west, with most of this vast area under snow.

In the top left corner, the land around Lake Erie and Lake Ontario is blanketed with snow, while thick cloud blocks most of our view over the lakes. The snow-clad Appalachian Mountains are clearly visible stretching across the image from southwest to northeast, almost drawing a separation line between the white landscape and the snow-free area in the bottom of the image.

Along the coast, different colours tint the ocean water. The colour variation is down to different concentrations of sediment and algae: light blue to green denotes a higher concentration and dark blue indicates deeper waters where suspended material is more dilute.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Dubai
02/02/2024

This false-colour image acquired by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission shows the city of Dubai and its surroundings in the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai is one of the seven emirates that make up the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Located southeast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula, Dubai lies within the Arabian Desert. Identified as one of the fastest growing cities, Dubai has grown from covering only 54 sq km in 1975 to 977 sq km in 2015. 

Dubai’s artificial islands along the coast are clear to see. The most iconic are the two massive palm-shaped islands, Palm Jebel Ali, which is the larger, and Palm Jumeirah, about 15 km east. Further north are the World Islands – a collection of 300 islets shaped into the continents of the world and surrounded by an oval-shaped breakwater.

The fork-shaped structure adjacent to Palm Jebel Ali is the busy commercial port of Jebel Ali, which is itself artificial and reputedly the largest human-made harbour in the world.

The network of artificial islands that has reshaped this segment of the Gulf coast is the world's largest land reclamation effort. The relatively shallow depth of the Gulf and the wide continental shelf off the Dubai coast made the construction of these wonders possible.

In this image, which was captured on 23 January 2024, information from Copernicus Sentinel-2’s near-infrared channel has been used to highlight vegetation in bright red and water bodies in different shades of blue.

Deeper water bodies, such as the Gulf and Dubai Creek – the natural saltwater inlet snaking through Downtown Dubai – are visible in dark blue, while lakes and lagoons appear in electric blue.

The red vegetated areas dotted throughout mainly denote golf courses, gardens, parks and agricultural fields. These fields use traditional and centre-pivot irrigation systems that are easy to spot from their circular shape.

Colour variations in the image represent different types of surface. Sand dunes in shades of yellow are prevalent in the centre while rugged terrain and mountainous rims spread out in brown across the right of the image.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Côte d'Ivoire
16/02/2024

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over Côte d'Ivoire in western Africa.

Côte d'Ivoire is located on the southern coast of west Africa on the Gulf of Guinea. Acquired in December 2023 during the dry season, this image shows the central part of the country, which is mainly forested but dotted with numerous villages and towns, visible in light brown.

The country’s capital Yamoussoukro can be seen at the bottom of the image. Zooming into the larger urban settlements in the image, buildings stand out in white.

Northwest of Yamoussoukro lies Lake Kossou, the largest water body in the country, covering about 1700 sq km. It is an important habitat for aquatic animals and an increasing number of bird species that have been recorded living here or visiting the area.

Lake Koussou is an artificial basin created from the construction of the Kossou Dam across the Bandama River. Strategic for the country’s economy in terms of both agricultural and energy production, the dam is the largest in the country. It is visible on the southern shore of the lake, where the Bandama River resumes its course southward.

Bandama is the longest and, commercially, the most important river in Côte d’Ivoire. It drains half of the surface area of the country before entering the Gulf of Guinea.

The reddish areas throughout the image denote high iron concentrations in the soil.

Like many countries in west Africa, Cote d’Ivoire is experiencing the effects of the climate crisis, such as drought. Earth observing satellites, such as Copernicus Sentinel-2, can help monitor fluctuations in water levels over time and support the sustainable management of water resources.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: A veil of haze and smoke
23/02/2024

This Copernicus Sentinel-3 image from October 2023 captures the plains of northern India and Pakistan under a white veil of haze and smoke.

Most of the plains at the foothills of the Himalayas can be seen in the lower part of the image covered by thick haze and smoke.

The haze is due to plains being more humid than the mountainous areas, which dominate the upper part of the image. Smoke adds significantly to the white veil and is a result of paddy stubble burning. Particularly common in the Indian regions of Punjab and Haryana, this practice involves burning the remains of crops at the end of the season to prepare for the following growing season. This image was acquired in October and the smoke here is a result of burning off the rice stubble at the end of their growing season.

The snow-covered peaks of the Hindu Kush are in the top left of the image and the Karakoram range is to the east.

North of the Himalayas, part of the Tibetan Plateau, can be seen dotted with a number of lakes – many of which freeze for many months of the year. With an average height of over 4500 m, the Tibetan Plateau is the highest plateau on Earth. It is also the largest plateau on Earth covering an area four times the size of France.

Owing to the variation in altitude and vegetation between the Tibetan Plateau and the plains of India and Pakistan, there is a distinct colour difference between the upper and lower part of the image.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Vienna, Austria
15/03/2024

The historic centre of Vienna, Austria’s capital city, is featured in this image captured on 23 June 2023.

Vienna lies in the northeastern corner of Austria and straddles the famous Danube River, visible running across the top of the image. On the left shore of the Danube, a stretch of the river can be seen forming the Danube Canal, which flows through the city parallel to the main river.

The resulting island hosts the city’s chief park, the Prater, visible as a large green area. The park comprises various leisure facilities, including a renowned amusement park. Its attractions, such as the famous Giant Ferris Wheel, are clear to see when zooming into the north of the park.

Left of the Danube Canal lies the Innere Stadt, home to most of the city’s famous structures. Their green rooftops can be easily spotted exploring this area at full resolution.

The iconic St. Stephen’s Cathedral, one of the chief Gothic buildings of Europe, stands out in the centre, with the baroque Church of St. Peter to its west. The vast complex of buildings and courtyards of the Imperial Palace, the Hofburg, lies immediately southwest. South of the Palace, the rooftop of the magnificent Vienna State Opera House shows up, while on the opposite side we can pinpoint the Burgtheater, facing the City Hall building.

This image was acquired by the Pléiades Neo mission, a very high-resolution optical constellation, that pictures Earth with a resolution of up to 30 cm. Very high-resolution images are used in several sectors, including urban mapping, disaster response, insurance, infrastructure monitoring and agriculture.

Illustrating the unique contribution that Earth observing satellites offer to understand our planet, a collection of satellite images is showcased in a new permanent exhibition, that opened this week at the Vienna Museum of Science and Technology. The exhibition, supported by ESA, focuses on climate and aims to present the causes and connections of the climate crisis.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: The Amazon plume
29/03/2024

The Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission takes us over northern Brazil, where the Amazon River meets the Atlantic Ocean.

Originating in the Andes, the Amazon River flows east, traversing six South American countries before reaching the northeast coast of Brazil, where it empties into the Atlantic. The sediment-laden river appears brown as it flows to the open ocean in the upper centre of the image.

The coast is surrounded by a muddy-brownish plume of suspended sediment, carried from upstream to the maze of channels constituting the 270-km-wide mouth of the Amazon. Discharge from the Amazon River, the Amazon plume, accounts for around 20% of the global input of freshwater into the ocean from Earth's land surfaces.

The Amazon has over 1000 tributaries, some of which are visible as thin, winding lines entering the river from the south, including the Tapajos River to the west and, further downstream, the Xingu River. The dark colour of these sediment-poor tributaries contrasts with the brownish sediment-rich Amazon waters.

The Tapajós-Xingu area is an important moist forest ecoregion. However, the Transamazon Highway, discernible as a brown line traversing this area, has spurred urbanisation.

The colour of the land varies, ranging from the deep green of dense, untouched vegetation to various tones of brown, highlighting the contrast between the rainforest and sprawling cultivation  ̶  the fishbone-like patterns particularly visible along the highway.

Light green hues across the image denote agricultural areas, which were once covered by rainforest. The somewhat geometric shapes, which appear dark green and brown, result from forest clear-cutting.

Rainforests worldwide are disappearing at an alarming rate, a matter of great concern owing to their pivotal role in the global climate, and their status as habitats for a wide range of plants, animals and insects.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: The Mekong Delta
19/04/2024

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captured a rare, almost cloud-free image over the Mekong Delta and the city of Can Tho in southwest Vietnam.

The Mekong Delta is a vast flood plain formed by the longest river in southeast Asia, the Mekong, which can be seen in the top right corner of the image. Its exceptionally fertile soil has established the area as one of the world’s richest agricultural regions.

The extensive patchwork of rice paddy fields can be seen across the image, intersected by an intricate web of irrigation and drainage canals. Vietnam is one of the world’s top rice producers and this region is often labelled Vietnam’s ‘rice bowl’.

Different colours in the fields could signify either different stages in plant growth or different agriculture methods being used for the crops. The various colours could also be the result of a common agricultural practice in the area: post-harvest, many fields are burned to clear and prepare for the next planting cycle. Recently burned fields appear black, while those where some time has passed since burning appear in shades of brown. Notably, wisps of smoke can be spotted, particularly in the left of the image, over some plots that were being burned at the time the image was captured.

There are very few roads in this area – the network of canals and waterways are used to transport people and products. All villages and cities in the area are therefore built along waterways.

The large river in the image, south of the Mekong, is the Hau River, a major branch of the lower Mekong River. On its left bank lies Can Tho, the largest city of the delta region and visible as a large grey area.

A large inland port, Can Tho is renowned for floating markets and for picturesque rural canals. Zooming in northwest of the city reveals the clear outline of the Can Tho International Airport.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Seychelles
26/04/2024

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over part of the Seychelles, an island republic in the western Indian Ocean.

Positioned about 1600 km east of Kenya and about 1100 km northeast of Madagascar, the Seychelles archipelago comprises around 115 small islands – spread across 90 000 sq km of ocean – with only eight being inhabited by humans.

Some of these islands are visible in the image. The turquoise hues along the shores depict clear, shallow waters dotted by coral reefs, which contrast with the darker waters of the deep Indian Ocean.

One of the world’s smallest countries, the archipelago consists of two main island groups: the central, mountainous, granitic islands, and the outer, flat, coralline islands.

The two largest islands of the archipelago are featured in this image: Mahé (bottom left) and Praslin (top right). Both belong to the granitic island group.

Mahé is home to the capital Victoria, clear to see on the northeastern coast. Victoria serves as the only port in the Seychelles, capable of accommodating several ships at one time. The white dots in the water show vessels around the port. The Seychelles International Airport is visible to the west.

As evident from the image, lush vegetation covers much of the island, mainly protected by national parks. The Morne Seychellois National Park is the largest, extending approximately 3000 hectares, encompassing over 20% of Mahé’s land. The park features mangroves, tropical jungles and mountains, including the 900 m-high Morne Seychellois – the highest peak in the whole archipelago.

Many low-lying islands, especially the coralline islands, and most coastal areas are at risk of disappearing or becoming uninhabitable due to sea-level rise, driven by the climate crisis. Earth-observing satellites are used to monitor global and regional sea-level change and coastal erosion and to assess vulnerability. These observations support adaptation and resilience strategies to mitigate the growing threat posed by sea-level rise.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: New Zealand’s North Island
17/05/2024

Captured on 7 May 2024, this Copernicus Sentinel-2 image shows part of New Zealand’s North Island.

New Zealand lies in the South Pacific Ocean and comprises two major islands – North and South – and a number of smaller islands.

Much of North Island’s terrain in this image is dominated by lush vegetation, with darker green areas denoting dense forested zones.

Urban centres appear in grey. Towards the top of the image, the city of Auckland can be seen as a large, grey area adjacent to the Hauraki Gulf to the east and the Manukau Harbour to the west. Auckland is the country’s most populous city and its largest port. A focal point for transportation, the city is also served by New Zealand’s leading international airport, which can be spotted in the centre of Manukau Harbour.

Moving south, the largest grey area in the middle of the image is Hamilton, one of the country’s most important inland centres. It straddles the Waikato River, the longest river in New Zealand, which can be seen as a dark, winding line across the bottom right of the image, bisecting Hamilton into two nearly symmetrical parts.

As it winds its course, the Waikato meanders through a patchwork of agricultural fields that cover the plain between Auckland and Hamilton. The green and brown hues of the fields shift according to the crop type and their various stages of growth.

Before entering the Tasman Sea, south of Auckland, the Waikato River forms an estuary, which feeds a network of marshes and creates numerous small islands.

On the coast, bright, turquoise colours in the Tasman Sea suggest the presence of sediment being carried into the ocean by river discharge. The swirls in the sea show how the currents transport sediment.

A number of lakes and wetlands can be spotted near the centre of the image, including the Whangamarino Wetland, an extensive mosaic of swamps and bogs, visible as a dark brown area east of the Waikato River. The Kopuatai Peat Dome, the largest, unaltered peat bog in New Zealand, is clear to see as the brown, elongated feature just south of the Hauraki Gulf.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Heel of Italy
14/06/2024

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over a section of Italy’s heel in the southern part of the boot-shaped peninsula.

The area featured comprises part of the Puglia region at the top, and part of Basilicata in the bottom left and is bound by the Adriatic Sea (top) and Ionian Sea (bottom). The light blue of the water, especially along the Adriatic, is caused by sediment being carried into the sea by rivers and then spread along the coast by currents.

Various nature reserves can be seen as dark green strips along the western Ionian coast, with the largest being the Aleppo pine forest of the Stornara Nature Reserve. It takes its name from the many starlings that migrate there during winter.

Many patches of agricultural fields can be seen throughout the image. Thanks to the Mediterranean climate, the region’s food sector is one of the strongest aspects of the economy.

Grey dots of different sizes across the image denote urban areas. Major cities visible on the Adriatic coast include Puglia’s main city, Bari, in the top left, and the port city of Brindisi in the bottom right.

Known as the ‘Florence of the South’, the largest urban sprawl on the bottom right of the image is Lecce, renowned for its fascinating, historical Baroque-style buildings. Another important coastal city is Taranto on the Ionian coast.

Within Basilicata, the city of Matera can be seen north of the San Giuliano Lake, its elongated aqua-green water is visible in the left of the image. Famous for its cave-like houses cut into the rock, Matera also hosts an important space hub, including one of the ground stations for the reception and processing of Copernicus Sentinel data for ESA.

On the Adriatic coast, halfway between Brindisi and Bari, lies Borgo Egnazia, currently hosting the G7 Summit. The informal forum brings together Italy, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, UK and US, as well as the Presidents of the European Council and Commission representing the European Union, to discuss about selected economic, financial and environmental topics.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Adam’s Bridge
21/06/2024

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image shows Adam’s Bridge, a chain of shoals linking India and Sri Lanka.

Adam’s Bridge stretches 48 km between Rameswaram Island, off the southeast coast of India, and Mannar Island, off the northwest coast of Sri Lanka. The bridge separates the Gulf of Mannar (south), an inlet of the Indian Ocean, from the Palk Strait (north), an inlet of the Bay of Bengal.

There are numerous theories about how the bridge was formed. However, geologic evidence suggests that these limestone shoals are the remnants of land that once connected India and Sri Lanka. According to records, this natural bridge was traversable until the15th century, after which it was gradually eroded by storms over the years.

Some of the sandbanks are dry and, as the light colour of the water indicates, the sea here is very shallow, only 1–10 m deep.

Mannar Island covers about 130 sq km and is connected to mainland Sri Lanka by a road bridge and a railway bridge, both visible at the southern end of the island.

On the opposite side of Adam’s bridge, Rameswaram Island, also known as Pamban Island, can be accessed from the Indian mainland by the 2-km-long Pamban Bridge. The two main towns on the island are Pamban, on the western edge, and Rameswaram, around 10 km east of Pamban.

Both sections of Adam’s Bridge are part of protected national parks in their respective countries. The sand dunes serve as breeding grounds for birds such as the brown noddy, while numerous species of fish and sea grasses thrive in the shallow waters. Sea life around Adam's Bridge include dolphins, dugongs and turtles.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Meteor Crater
28/06/2024

Ahead of Asteroid Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Meteor Crater, also known as the Barringer Meteorite Crater.

Around 50 000 years ago, an iron-nickel meteorite, estimated to be 30-50 m wide, smashed into North America and left a massive hole in what is today known as Arizona. The violent impact created a bowl-shaped hole of over 1200 m across and 180 m deep in what was once a flat, rocky plain.

During its formation, millions of tonnes of limestone and sandstone were blasted out of the crater, covering the ground for over a kilometre in every direction with a blanket of debris. Large blocks of limestone, the size of small houses, were thrown onto the rim.

One of the crater’s main features is its squared-off shape, which is believed to be caused by flaws in the rock which caused it to peel back in four directions upon impact.

The wide perspective of this image shows the crater in context with the surrounding area. The impact occurred during the last ice age, when the plain around it was covered with a forest where mammoths and giant sloths grazed.

Over time, the climate changed and dried. The desert that we see today has helped preserve the crater by limiting its erosion, which makes it an excellent place to learn about the process of impact cratering.

Impact craters are inevitably part of being a rocky planet. They occur on every planetary body in our solar system – no matter the size. By studying impact craters and the meteorites that cause them, we can learn more about the processes and geology that shape our entire solar system.

Over the past two decades, ESA has tracked and analysed asteroids that travel close to Earth. ESA’s upcoming Flyeye telescopes will survey the sky for these near-Earth objects, using a unique compound eye design to capture wide-field images, which will enhance the detection of potentially hazardous asteroids.

ESA’s Hera spacecraft, launching later this year, will closely explore asteroids and improve our understanding of these celestial bodies and help us better prepare for potential future asteroid deflection efforts.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Madeira

July 5, 2024

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission captured a rare, cloud-free image over the Portuguese archipelago of Madeira in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Lying off the northwest coast of Africa, the archipelago is an autonomous region of Portugal and comprises two inhabited islands, Madeira, the largest, and Porto Santo (top right), and two uninhabited groups, the Desertas (partially visible at the bottom) and the Selvagens (not pictured).

The islands of Madeira are volcanic in origin: they are the tops of mountains that rise from the ocean floor deep below. The Portuguese explorers named them Madeira, which is Portuguese for wood, inspired by the dense forests that covered the islands when they arrived.

The lush main island of Madeira is famous for its rugged, green landscape and is home to unique endemic flora and fauna. To protect this natural environment, two thirds of the island are designated as national park. The Madeira Natural Park includes the Laurisilva of Madeira, a Unesco World Heritage site and the largest surviving area of primary laurel forest. This type of vegetation is now confined to the Macaronesian Islands ̶ the islands of Madeira, the Azores, the Canary Islands and Cabo Verde.

Funchal, Madeira’s capital, can be seen as a large, light-brown area on the island’s southeast coast, on the lower slopes of mountains that reach 1200 m. The runway of Madeira’s airport is visible on the east coast.

The narrow Desertas Islands at the bottom are also designated as a natural reserve. Uninhabited by humans due to scarce and poor-quality water, Desertas are home to numerous species of birds, as well as the protected Mediterranean monk seal. The islands are relatively barren with their reddish and brown ground, a reminder of their volcanic origin.

Porto Santo, at the top, features white, sandy beaches along its south coast. Here, the island’s main town, Vila de Porto Santo, can also be spotted, with its airport visible just to the north. At each end of the island are hills. At 515 m, Facho Peak, on the west, is the highest.

 

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Hainan Strait
12/07/2024

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission takes us over the Hainan Strait in southern China.

The Hainan Strait, or Qiongzhou Strait, separates Guangdong's Leizhou Peninsula on China’s mainland to the north and the island province of Hainan to the south. It also connects the Gulf of Tonkin on the west to the South China Sea on the east.

Although narrow and shallow, the strait is a crucial maritime passage. Zooming in, a lot of boats can be spotted as white dots in the water, especially along the route connecting Hai'an Port, at the southern tip of the peninsula, to Haikou on Hainan Island. The water along the coasts is light brown owing to sediment.

The curved Leizhou Peninsula juts southward into the South China Sea. The largest island on the east coast, Donghai, forms two bays: Leizhou Bay to its south and Zhanjiang Bay to its north. Facing both bays are cities with the same names: Zhanjiang, the largest city on the peninsula, and Leizhou, which gave the peninsula its name.

Leizhou is surrounded by numerous greenhouses, visible as grey rectangles, while rice fields appear in shades of light brown, depending on the vegetation growth stage at the time of the image acquisition. The green area running along the city coast is a mixture of ponds, mangroves and mudflats.

Hainan Island dominates the bottom part of the image. The name Hainan means ‘south of the sea’, reflecting the island's position south of the strait. The capital Haikou can be seen in grey on the northern coast. Haikou is the island’s main port, situated to the west of the mouth of the Nandu River. Flowing northeast for over 300 km before draining into Haikou Bay, Nandu is the island’s longest river.

Two artificial islands, still under construction, can be seen off the Haikou coast: the circular-shaped Nanhai Pearl Island and Ruyi Island, off the northeast coast. Both islands will be holiday hubs connected by a bridge to the mainland, one of which is already visible south of Nanhai.

[jacqmans]

Earth from Space: Paris in focus
26/07/2024

This striking high-resolution image offers an in-depth view of central Paris, allowing you to explore and zoom into the city’s most captivating areas in exceptional detail.

Paris lies in the north-central part of France, spanning both banks of the Seine River, which is clearly visible winding through the image. From 26 July to 11 August 2024, the world’s attention will be focused on Paris as the city hosts the Olympic Games. The Paralympic Games will follow shortly after, from 28 August to 8 September.

The 30-cm resolution of this image is detailed enough to identify some of Paris’ world-famous landmarks and several Olympic venues, situated within a few kilometres of the Olympic Village at Saint-Denis, in the north of the city. 

The oval shape of the Stade de France stands out at the top of the image, with the Aquatics Centre to its left, one of the two permanent venues constructed for the Games.

The Arc de Triomphe can be spotted easily near the centre-left of the image, standing at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, where 12 grand avenues converge to form a star.

South of the Arc de Triomphe, across the river, lies the rectangular Champ du Mars Park. At its northern end, the iconic Eiffel Tower is visible, casting its shadow to the northwest. Two temporary arenas have been built here to host a number of Olympic disciplines.

To the northeast lies the impressive Hôtel des Invalides, a complex that is home to museums and monuments related to French military history, as well as a hospital and a retirement home for veterans. On its north side is the Esplanade des Invalides, a vast open-air green space that will serve, among other activities, as the marathon finish line during the Olympics.

Towards the eastern end of the Avenue des Champs-Élysées, which stretches in a straight line from the Arc de Triomphe, are the Grand Palais and Place de la Concorde, both transformed into Olympic venues. The famous Jardin des Tuileries and the grounds of the sprawling Musée du Louvre are visible immediately to the left.

This image was acquired by the Pléiades Neo mission. This constellation is part of ESA’s Third Party Missions programme, which means ESA uses its multimission ground systems and expertise to acquire, process, distribute and archive data from a wide range of satellite missions developed and operated by other agencies.

[jacqmans]

Wildfires rage across Athens
13/08/2024

Firefighters in Greece are battling a rapidly spreading wildfire that has swept across several neighbourhoods in Athens, Greece, on Monday. Thousands of residents have been evacuated as the massive fire reached the suburbs of Athens, with some flames reaching heights of 25 m.

This image shows the fires surrounding Athens on 12 August 2024, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission. This image has been processed in a way that highlights vegetation in red, while the burned areas can be seen in black. The estimated affected area exceeds 100 sq km.

In response to the fires, the Copernicus Emergency Management Service was activated to cover the fire event affecting the Attica Region. Copernicus EMS Rapid Mapping was requested to provide an initial rough estimate, as well as emergency mapping of the fire’s extent and damage assessment.

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission is based on a constellation of two identical satellites, each carrying an innovative wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands for monitoring changes in Earth’s land and vegetation.