The Faroe Islands is an archipelago and autonomous country within the Kingdom of Denmark, comprising 18 major islands. Located 320 km north of Scotland, the islands were first settled in about the 5th century. The population of about 50,000 is almost completely economically dependent on fishing. The islands are entirely volcanic in origin, and were more recently (geologically speaking) sculpted by numerous glaciers, leaving aretes, cirques, and tarns. The image of the northern part of the Islands was acquired June 6, 2007, covers an area of 37 by 38.5 km, and is located at 62.2 degrees north, 6.7 degrees west.
Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
This image from the Sentinel-1A radar satellite on 6 June shows part of the Philippine island of Luzon with Mount Pinatubo.
This active volcano experienced a major eruption on 15 June 1991 that injected more particulate matter into the atmosphere than any eruption since Krakatoa in 1883. In the months following, aerosols formed a layer of sulphuric acid haze around the globe, ozone depletion increased and global temperatures dropped by about 0.5°C.
In the upper-central part of the image, the dark area is Lake Pinatubo, which formed in the summit crater after the 1991 eruption. The water level has been rapidly increasing since its formation, putting pressure on the crater walls, which threaten to collapse and cause flash floods. The Philippine government has taken measures to alleviate the pressure with controlled draining.
South of Lake Pinatubo near the center of the image is Mapanuepe Lake, which also formed as a result of the 1991 eruption. When mud mixed with water and volcanic rock fragments flowed down from Pinatubo, it blocked the drainage of the river. The valley – including the settlements – was inundated. These mud and volcanic debris flows are still visible reaching west towards the South China Sea.
Other features visible in this image include the bright radar reflections from a shipyard on the Subic Bay to the south, and the vast expanse of aquaculture on the edge of Manila Bay in the lower-right corner.
Sentinel-1A was launched on 3 April, and is the first in a fleet of Sentinel satellites developed for Europe’s Copernicus environment monitoring program. Although the satellite is still being commissioned, images like this early example illustrate the kind of data the mission will provide.
This image is featured on the Earth from Space video program.
Image credit: ESA
This colorful radar composite image shows changes in large-scale agricultural plots in southwest Iran.
The individual images were acquired by the radar on Japan’s ALOS satellite on 16 November, 16 May and 1 October 2010. Combined, the different colors show changes in the fields – such as harvesting at different points on time.
The most prominent fields in this image each measure about 1 km across. To the lower right, the smaller structures are ponds for aquaculture. Important fish for inland fisheries include carp, roach and mullet.
Running through the center of the image is the Karun River. It is the country’s only navigable river, originating in the Zagros mountains and running its 720 km course southwest and into the Shatt al-Arab river, which then flows into the Persian Gulf.
Clusters of bright white radar reflections indicate the presence of buildings and other human-made structures, such as those seen in the middle of the blocks of fields and along the river.
On the center-right side of the image, we can also see dots of white, evenly dispersed in a single row east-to-west. These are reflections from towers holding power lines. While these structures are difficult to spot in optical imagery – like the satellite images on Google Earth – their reflectivity makes them more visible to radar.
This image is featured on the Earth from Space video program.
Image credit: JAXA/ESA
This image from Envisat’s radar shows the Zambezi River’s floodplain in western Zambia.
The city of Mongu appears as a cluster of white radar reflections on the right side of the image. It is about 15 km from the river’s main channel – which appears light green, snaking down the left side of the image – but during the wet season, the waters rise right up to the edge of the town.
This image is a compilation of three acquisitions from Envisat’s radar. Each acquisition is assigned a color, and when combined show changes between the acquisitions.
The individual images were acquired on 1 March, during the wet season, 27 September and 26 December, when water levels were low, all during 2011. Combined, the psychedelic array of colors reveal how drastically the floodplain changes between seasons.
As the second largest wetland in Zambia, the Zambezi floodplain is a major spawning ground for fish. With about 80 different fish species, it serves as a source of livelihood to the local people, along with harvesting of other wetland resources like reeds and sedges for handicraft, and rice cultivation.
But this area is threatened by unsustainable fishing, animal poaching and the dredging of canals.
The Zambezi floodplains is just one of the over 2000 sites worldwide considered to be wetlands of international importance by the Ramsar Convention – an intergovernmental treaty for the sustainable use of wetlands. World Wetlands Day is observed on 2 February, the anniversary of the signing of the Convention.
ESA assists the Ramsar Convention through the GlobWetland project and the TIGER initiative ‘Looking After Water in Africa’, which provide satellite data to be used to monitor these precious resources.
This image is featured in the Earth from Space video program.
Image credit: ESA
Cities and street lights are not the only things visible from the International Space Station at night. This picture taken with the automated camera aid Nightpod shows Chinese fishing boats using bright lights on the South-China Sea to attract fish to their nets.
The village at the center is unidentified. The image was taken by an astronaut on Expedition 30 and the frame number is 172306.
Photo credit: ESA/NASA
The Arcachon Bay in France’s southwest Aquitaine region is pictured in this image acquired on on 8 September 2009 by Japan’s ALOS observation satellite. At the center of the image, we can see the large Dune of Pyla as an elongated light-brown rectangle. This large, sandy dune is about 2.7 km long, 500 m wide and about 110 m tall. In the upper right portion of the image is Arcachon Bay, home to oyster beds and farms.
ALOS was supported as a Third Party Mission, which means that ESA used its multi-mission ground systems to acquire, process, distribute and archive data from the satellite to its user community. In April 2011 the satellite abruptly lost power while mapping Japan’s tsunami-hit coastline.
This image is featured on the Earth from Space video program.
Photo credit: JAXA, ESA
The eastern end of the Gulf of Fonseca, in Honduras, was originally the site of extensive wetlands ecosystem, dominated by six species of mangroves. In 1986 (right image), the Landsat Thematic Mapper shows an environment minimally impacted by human activities. By 2009, when the ASTER image was acquired (left), hundreds of square kilometers of coastal swamps had been converted to shrimp ponds, appearing as blue rectangles near the water line. The images cover an area of 30 x 36 km, and are located at 13 degrees north latitude, 87.2 degrees west longitude.
Photo credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team
