Towing the Costa Concordia

This Sentinel-1A image was acquired on 26 July 2014 over the coast of northwestern Italy while the Costa Concordia cruise ship (enlarged) was being towed towards the city of Genoa.

The ship capsized near the island of Giglio in January 2012. Following more than two years of salvage operations, the ship began its final journey under tow on 23 July 2014, arriving at the port of Genoa four days later.

During and after the towing, satellite radar images – such as the one here – were analyzed, with the technical support of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. This was done for scientific research purposes to assess the Sentinel-1A and other satellite radar images for pollution and ship traffic.

Sentinel-1A is the first satellite launched for Europe’s Copernicus environment monitoring program. Surveillance of the marine environment, including oil-spill monitoring and ship detection, is one of the mission’s main tasks. Although Sentinel-1A is still being commissioned to prepare for routine operations, early images like this demonstrate the value of its radar vision.

The Copernicus program also supported recovery operations of the Costa Concordia. Learn more.

Image credit: ESA

Cal Madow Mountain Range, Somalia

Northern Somalia’s Cal Madow mountain range is pictured in this image from Japan’s ALOS satellite.

In contrast to the sparsely-vegetated majority of the country – typical of its semi-arid to arid climate – the mountain range is densely forested. In this image, the vegetated areas appear much darker.

The ecologically diverse region is home to a number of endemic plants species, as well as many rare animals. Unfortunately, the area lacks proper conservation and is threatened by deforestation and intensive livestock grazing.

The uplifted plateau to the south has the distinct pattern of water erosion from rivers and streams making their way towards the edges of the cliffs, before cascading down. There are numerous perennial and persistent waterfalls in this region.

In some areas, we can see where water continues to flow north across the coastal plain towards the Gulf of Aden (not pictured).

The Japanese Advanced Land Observation Satellite captured this image on 2 January 2011. 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.

Image credit: JAXA/ESA

Flooding in Ningming, China by Typhoon Rammasun

Floodwaters caused by Typhoon Rammasun started to recede in northern Vietnam and southern China, but not before causing widespread flooding in cities and villages, triggering landslides and collapsed buildings in addition to the flooding. This ASTER image of Ningming, China shows sediment-laden river water and the flooded areas of the city in brown. The image was acquired July 24, 2014, covers an area of 9.4 by 13.8 kilometers, and is located at 22.1 degrees north, 107.1 degrees east.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Note: For more information, see PIA18628: NASA Spacecraft Eyes China Flooding.

Drought in the Sierra Nevadas

The effects of California's severe multiyear drought can be clearly seen in this pair of images acquired by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. The images show an area northeast of Madera, in the Sierra Nevada Mountains foothills between Yosemite National Park and the San Joaquin Valley. The right image was acquired April 5, 2011, when winter rainfall was at a normal level. H.V. Eastman and Hensley Lakes, and numerous stock tanks, are full, and green vegetation carpets the landscape. Three years later, when the left image was acquired on May 15, 2014, the drying up of the reservoirs is apparent, as is the browning of the grass- and shrub-lands. The images cover an area of 12.1 by 14 miles (19.5 by 22.5 kilometers), and are located at 37.2 degrees north, 119.9 degrees west.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Mexico City

This week’s satellite image was acquired over the eastern part of Mexico City.

The area pictured lies within central Mexico’s highlands plateau called the Valley of Mexico. This valley was originally covered by the waters of Lake Texcoco but over the centuries the water has been drained. The area that has not been built up is today used for hydraulic management and is made up of reservoirs and ponds such as the large, dark Nabor Carrillo lake pictured here.

The area receives more than 100,000 migratory birds each year that travel through the Central Migratory Flyway, and is a key resting, feeding and breeding ground for several species of shorebirds.

In contrast to the open space of the former Lake Texcoco, Mexico City is a densely populated metropolitan area (left and bottom).

We can see the runways of the international airport on the far left. South of the airport is the Alameda Oriente recreational park with its somewhat spiral artificial lake. North of the airport, El Bosque de San Juan de Aragón is another park and important green area.

City parks play a large role in the city’s effort to alleviate air pollution. In the early 1990s, pollution was believed to cause hundreds of deaths each year. Air quality has improved in recent decades through a series of government efforts to cut emissions.

This image, acquired by Korea’s Kompsat-2 satellite on 21 December 2012, is also featured on the Earth from Space video program.

Image credit: KARI/ESA

Baektu Mountain, China-North Korea

Baektu Mountain is an active volcano on the border between North Korea and China. Rising to 2744 m, its summit caldera is filled with a crater lake, Heaven Lake. The crater was created by a colossal eruption in 970, spreading volcanic ash as far as northern Japan. Its last eruption was in 1903. The image was acquired August 19, 2003, and is located at 42 degrees north, 128 degrees east.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Rio de Janeiro and Guanabara Bay

Guanabara Bay in southeast Brazil is pictured in this image from the Sentinel-1A satellite.

The city of Rio de Janeiro lies on the western banks of the bay and along the Atlantic coast to the south. Rio is connected to the city of Niterói on the east side of the bay by a large bridge which appears as a dotted straight line. To the north, we can see radar reflections from large ships.

Governador is the largest island in Guanabara Bay, and the site of Rio de Janeiro’s main airport. The runways appear as dark lines.

Part of Rio de Janeiro was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2012 under the category of ‘cultural landscapes’. The Tijuca National Park – the mountainous area in the lower-left – is a hand-planted rainforest covering more than 30 sq km. The iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer stands at the eastern end of the forest, overlooking the city from the peak of the 700 m-high Corcovado mountain.

Zooming in above the mountains, the two circular structures are large stadiums. The one to the right is Estádio do Maracanã, where the final match of this year’s World Cup will take place on Sunday.

At the bottom-center part of the image, the curved coast of the famous Copacabana is visible, while Sugarloaf mountain sits at the mouth of the bay.

This image, also featured on the Earth from Space video program, was acquired on 13 May by Sentinel-1A’s radar working in 'dual polarization'. The radar gathers information in either horizontal or vertical radar pulses, and colors were assigned to the different types.

Image credit: ESA

Mount Pinatubo, Philippines

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

Hurricane Arthur

Hurricane Arthur skirting the east coast of the United States. Photographed from the International Space Station and shared by ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst on Twitter.

Alexander Gerst is currently a member of the resident International Space Station Expedition 40 crew. He is spending five and a half months living and working on the ISS for his Blue Dot mission.

Photo credit: ESA/NASA

Tierra del Fuego

From 400 km above Earth ESA astronaut Alexander Gerst took this picture of South America as the International Space Station flew by at 28 800 km/h.

The orbital outpost flies over the planet between latitudes 52ºN/S, reaching from the tip of South America to the UK.

Image credit: ESA/NASA

Rud-e-Gaz and Rud-e-Hara Wetlands

This image over a remote area in southern Iran was acquired by Japan’s ALOS satellite on 10 December 2009.

To the west we can see the waters of the Strait of Hormuz, which lies between the Gulf of Oman to the south and Persian Gulf to the north. The brown areas along the coast are sediments carried from rivers that flow only after erratic rainfall in the interior, usually in the winter months.

On the whole, the area pictured is extremely arid, as evident by the lack of vegetation. But in the upper left and slightly inland, we can see a green area that appears to be standing water from a human-made dam on the river.

The dark zones along the coast are wetlands at the deltas of the Rud-e-Gaz and Rud-e-Hara rivers. This extensive complex of tidal mudflats, creeks, salt marshes, mangroves, sandbanks and offshore islands is an important site for wintering waterbirds.

This 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.

Dedicated ESA programs assist the convention by providing satellite data to be used to monitor these important areas. With their repeating global coverage, satellites are ideal for imaging remote areas that require monitoring – like the wetland pictured here.

This picture is featured on the Earth from Space video program.

Image credit: JAXA/ESA

Palouse, Washington

Located south of Spokane, Washington, the Palouse is a rich farming area of some 7,000 square kilometers, reminiscent of Tuscany. But instead of vineyards, the main crops are wheat and rapeseed. The rolling hills of windblown silt (loess) cover up part of the Columbia Plateau basalt province. The image near Waitsburg was acquired July 24, 2008, covers an area of 27 by 30 km, and is located at 46.3 degrees north, 118.2 degrees west.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Paraná River Flooding

Map of flood extent on the Paraná River in northern Argentina near the border with Paraguay. Water bodies and surrounding wetland areas observed by the German TerraSAR-X satellite on 11 June 2008 are colored blue, while recently flooded areas imaged by Sentinel-1A on 15 June 2014 appear in red.

This map was produced following an activation of the International Charter Space and Major Disasters. More information.

The radar on Sentinel-1 is able to ‘see’ through clouds, rain and in darkness, making it particularly useful for monitoring floods. Images acquired before and after a flood offer immediate information on the extent of inundation and support assessments of property and environmental damage.

Image credit: ESA/DLR/CAEARTE/CONAE ML

Brazil

As football fans worldwide keep their eyes trained on Brazil, ESA’s Proba-V minisatellite captures the entire country in a single image.

The Andean Plateau, or Altiplano, of neighboring Bolivia, including Lake Titicaca and the giant Salar Uyuni salt flat, are visible towards the scene’s western edge.

Proba is smaller than a cubic meter but its view spans a mighty 2250 km. It reveals details 300 m across but the central part of the image is sharper – down to 100 m – as demonstrated in the right-hand image, which shows a detail of the River Negro joining the mighty River Amazon.

Proba-V is a miniaturized ESA satellite tasked with a full-scale mission: to map land cover and vegetation growth across the entire planet every two days.

The camera’s continent-spanning field of view collects light in the blue, red, near-infrared and mid-infrared wavebands, ideal for monitoring plant and forest growth as well as inland water bodies.

Proba’s images are processed and distributed to hundreds of scientific end users by VITO, Belgium’s Flemish Institute for Technological Research, extending the coverage of previous generations of the Vegetation camera flown on the Spot-4 and Spot-5 satellites.

Image credit: ESA/BELSPO

Southwestern Coast of Greenland

On the southwestern coast of Greenland, multiple ice streams that drain the Greenland ice sheet are pictured in this satellite image.

Covering more than 2,000,000 sq km, Greenland is the world’s largest island and home to the second largest ice sheet after Antarctica.

Scientists used data from Earth-observing satellites have discovered that the rate of ice sheet melting is increasing. Between 1992 and 2012, Greenland was responsible for adding about 7 mm to the average global sea level. Many areas in Greenland – especially along the coast – are losing up to one meter of ice thickness per year.

Melting ice sheets caused by rising temperatures and the subsequent rising of sea levels is a devastating consequence of climate change, especially for low-lying coastal areas.

In addition, the increased influx of freshwater into oceans affects the salinity, which in turn impacts global ocean currents – a major player in the regulating of our climate.

In the lower part of the image, we can see icebergs speckling the waters of a fjord, with the mountainous Nuussuaq Peninsula visible along the bottom of the image.

This image was acquired by Landsat-8 satellite’s Operational Land Imager on 12 June 2013.

Image credit: USGS/ESA

Flooding in Serbia

In May 2014, historic floods inundated Serbia and neighboring countries, causing major population displacements and property destruction. Several weeks after massive flood waters have mostly receded west of Belgrade, Serbia, the ground remains saturated and uninhabitable. In this satellite image, acquired June 8, 2014 by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft, wet ground and rivers are highlighted in red. Identification was based on colder temperatures seen in the thermal infrared bands. The image covers an area of 35 by 21 miles (57 by 34.5 kilometers), and is located at 44.7 degrees north, 20.1 degrees east.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Sea-Level Detail from CryoSat

Detail of sea-surface topography: red represents higher sea levels while blue areas are lower. The ‘strips’ are the CryoSat satellite’s ground tracks.

Image credit: ESA/CNES/CLS

Note: For more information, see 2013 Sea-Surface Topography.

Landslide in Mesa County, Colorado

On May 26, 2014, an enormous landslide came roaring from above in a sparsely inhabited area of Mesa County, Colorado, near the town of Collbran. Measuring more than 3.1 miles (5 kilometers) long, 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) wide and as deep as 260 feet (80 meters), the slide claimed three lives. This 3-D perspective view was created from an image acquired on June 6, 2014, by the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) instrument on NASA's Terra spacecraft. The vertical relief has been exaggerated two times. The slide is located at 39.1 degrees north, 107.9 degrees west.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Note: The original article mentioned that the landslide occurred in Arizona; however, this is incorrect as Mesa County is located in Colorado. I've corrected the article.

Lake Afrera, Ethiopia

Lake Afrera is a hypersaline lake located in the Danakil Depression in northern Ethiopia. Rock salt has been mined at the lake for centuries. More recently, some companies used to produce salt by pumping brine into artificial ponds for evaporation and subsequent precipitation. Following the 2011 eruption of nearby Nabro volcano, the lake is contaminated with sulfuric acid, making the salt inedible. The single island in the lake, Franchetti Island, is considered the lowest-lying island in the world. The image covers an area of 20 by 33 km, was acquired April 25, 2014, and is located at 13.3 degrees north, 40.9 degrees east.

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/METI/ERSDAC/JAROS, and U.S./Japan ASTER Science Team

Mount Kenya

Mount Kenya, the second-highest mountain in Africa, is pictured in this image from Japan’s ALOS satellite from 25 February 2011.

Standing just above 5000 m, this stratovolcano is one of many volcanoes in the East African Rift, an area where two tectonic plates are moving apart.

The mountain has 11 small glaciers but, like all glaciers on the high mountains of tropical Africa, they are rapidly retreating. Less snow accumulates during the winter than melts in the summer, and there is little to no formation of new ice. According to some predictions, there will no longer be any ice on the mountain in the next three decades.

The area around Mount Kenya is a national park protecting the biodiversity and forming an attractive destination for tourists, making it a key economic resource for the region. The area is home to monkeys, antelopes, elephants and leopards.

The Mount Kenya National Park and its natural forest has been an UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997.

North of the mountain peak we can see a brown patchwork of fields, and a distinct line where the protected area ends and agriculture begins. In fact, a small portion of the park’s borders have fences and other barriers to keep animals within the reserve and off of the farmland.

In the upper right, there are large patches of light green, which are probably areas of failed agricultural development that now belong to the protected area.

Past threats from commercial tree plantations and other habitat destruction have been alleviated through long-term efforts, including the government’s policy of not converting any more natural forest for plantation development. But some areas that had been cleared but never planted are now colonized by grasses, and are being maintained as open grazing lands, rather than being allowed to revert to natural forest.

This image is featured on the Earth from Space video program.

Image credit: JAXA/ESA