A vibrant patchwork of agricultural fields is pictured on this radar image captured by Copernicus Sentinel-1 over southeastern Romania.
Although satellites carrying optical, or ‘camera-like’, units are typically used to map crop varieties from space, radar satellites moreover present a useful provide of knowledge for crop classification and improvement patterns to help assess nicely being and productiveness.
Sentinel-1’s radar is instrumental in monitoring changes in land cowl, providing important insights for areas with intensive agriculture, as confirmed proper right here.
This image combines three radar acquisitions taken at completely totally different events to level out changes in crop enchancment and land circumstances.
Radar images are naturally black and white, nonetheless proper right here each image has been assigned a colour: blue for the first image from 28 October 2024, inexperienced for the second from 9 November, and crimson for the third from 21 November. When the images are overlapped to amass a single composite, the following colours highlight the numerous crop varieties and ranges of improvement.
In radar images, built-up areas like cities and cities are seen in grey or white, whereas our our bodies of water appear in black.
The Danube – the longest river inside the EU – could also be seen as a black, winding line within the appropriate of the image. City of Brăila, capital of the county and Romania’s second largest port, is seen in white subsequent to the river on the prime of the image.
Flowing northward, the Danube splits proper right here into smaller channels that sort two predominant islands. The bigger, Good Brăila Island, is principally coated by agricultural fields, whose geometrical shapes are clear to see. The smaller island, Small Brăila Island, is seen in light blue and hosts the Balta Mică a Brăilei Pure Park, a protected wetland house of worldwide significance.
Providing all-weather, day-and-night radar imagery for the worldwide monitoring of Earth’s land and oceans, the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission helps a varied fluctuate of functions, resembling environmental administration, disaster response and native climate change evaluation.
After Sentinel-1B’s working life ended in 2022, the upcoming launch of Sentinel-1C will restore the mission to its full vitality as a two-satellite constellation. As quickly as in orbit, Sentinel-1C will not be going to solely proceed the mission’s legacy, nonetheless, notably, will even introduce enhanced capabilities for monitoring maritime guests, further growing the mission’s utility.
