10 methods Sentinel-1 knowledge lets us ‘see’ our world

On 6 February 2023, a sequence of earthquakes killed over 55,000 individuals in Türkiye and Syria, within the worst earthquakes the area has seen in 20 years.

This interferogram exhibits the coseismic floor displacement within the space close to Gaziantep, generated from a number of Sentinel-1 scans – earlier than and after the earthquakes.

By combining knowledge from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, acquired earlier than and after the earthquake, adjustments on the bottom that occurred between the 2 acquisition dates result in the colorful interference patterns within the pictures, referred to as an ‘interferogram’, enabling scientists to quantify the bottom motion.

These interferograms permits scientists to know extra concerning the nature of the earthquakes and the chance of additional hazards sooner or later.

Sea ice is among the most necessary bodily parts of the Bering Sea continental shelf. Unprecedentedly low sea ice cowl within the northern Bering seas throughout winter in 2019 brought about a cascade of impacts that abruptly reworked the regional marine ecosystem, compounding challenges confronted by the communities that depend on it. This Sentinel-1 picture exhibits the Bering Strait in March 2019, nearly ice-free. Few patches of sea ice are proven in light-blue colors.

Earlier than-and-after satellite tv for pc pictures from Sentinel-1 present the extent of the oil spill off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago in February 2024. The incident occurred when the vessel The Gulfstream ran aground and capsized off the southern shores of Tobago Island, releasing oil into the encompassing waters.

Sentinel-1’s radar is very efficient for monitoring oil spills, as it could possibly detect refined adjustments within the ocean floor attributable to oil slicks. These slicks dampen wave movement, leaving distinct radar signatures that seem as darkish smears on a lighter background. Since radar expertise measures floor texture, oil spills are simply identifiable within the pictures.

Sentinel-1 is a cornerstone for maritime surveillance, offering high-resolution radar imagery to not solely monitor oil spills, but in addition ship site visitors and monitor unlawful fishing actions. Sentinel-1 is especially very important to the European Maritime Security Company’s (EMSA) CleanSeaNet, supplying 80% of the information used to detect and assess oil spills – supporting fast response and maritime safety throughout European waters.

In October 2024, Spain suffered one of many worst floods in a long time after torrential rains struck the japanese province of Valencia. The storms concentrated over the Magro, Turia and the Poyo river basins, releasing torrents of muddy water that turned village streets into rivers, destroyed houses and swept away bridges and automobiles.

The radar picture above makes use of knowledge from two picture acquisitions (from 19 and 31 October 2024) as an instance the extreme flooding (in blue) of the Albufera Nationwide Park.

Sentinel-1 is good for flood monitoring as a result of its Artificial Aperture Radar (SAR) expertise can penetrate clouds and function in darkness, offering dependable imaging throughout excessive climate situations when optical sensors may fail.

Hurricane Helene was a devastating tropical cyclone that produced a large swath of harm and lack of life that prolonged from northwest Florida, US, the place the storm made landfall on 26 September 2024, to Tennessee, Georgia and North Carolina.

Hurricane Helene was carefully monitored utilizing Sentinel-1 radar knowledge to evaluate its wind subject over the ocean floor. This expertise performs a vital position in understanding storm dynamics and predicting their impacts.

Satellite tv for pc-based sensors, significantly these working in microwave frequencies, can seize knowledge on ocean floor wind pace and route underneath numerous climate situations. The Ocean Wind Subject (OWI), derived from Sentinel-1, offered detailed estimates of wind vectors at 10 m above the ocean floor. This info is important for meteorologists to analyse the storm’s depth and trajectory.

In 2021, Sentinel-1 witnessed Iceberg A-74, calve from Antarctica’s Brunt Ice Shelf. Radar pictures then confirmed the iceberg months later travelling spinning across the western tip of Brunt, brushing barely towards the ice shelf earlier than persevering with southwards.

Sentinel-1 is ideal for monitoring areas like Antarctica as a result of its Artificial Aperture Radar (SAR) expertise can see by clouds, rain and darkness, guaranteeing steady knowledge assortment within the continent’s excessive situations.

This functionality permits Sentinel-1 to trace glacial motion, measure ice loss and monitor adjustments within the ice sheet with outstanding precision, whatever the persistent cloud cowl or darkness within the polar night time.

This picture of the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso has been created by combining three separate radar acquisitions from Sentinel-1 taken years aside to point out change in crops and land cowl over time.

Not like pictures from satellites carrying optical or ‘camera-like’ devices, pictures acquired with radar are interpreted by learning the depth of the backscatter radar sign, which is said to the properties of the bottom, akin to its roughness.

Whereas colors in gray right here depict no adjustments between acquisitions, patches of blue, inexperienced and pink point out important adjustments over time (from 2015-2019). As these colored rectangular shapes painting, a lot of the tropical forest has been minimize down and given over to farming.

Sentinel-1 is a useful software for monitoring deforestation, due to its Artificial Aperture Radar (SAR) expertise, because it permits for the detection of adjustments in forest cowl, even in areas with dense cloud cowl or throughout nighttime. By analysing radar knowledge over time, Sentinel-1 can monitor forest loss and land-use adjustments, providing essential info for environmental monitoring.

This Sentinel-1 picture exhibits a part of the Mekong Delta – a serious rice-producing area in southwest Vietnam. This picture combines three radar acquisitions from Sentinel-1 taken round one month aside to point out adjustments in crop and land situations over time. The brilliant colors within the picture come from adjustments on the bottom which have occurred between acquisitions.

The mix of radar pictures from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission will help monitor and map the evolution of rice cultivation. Radar sensors are significantly helpful owing to their capability to detect waterlogged floor and penetrate the humid cloud protection typical of Asian rice-cultivating areas.

Our bodies of water replicate the radar sign away from the satellite tv for pc, making water seem darkish. Ships within the river might be seen as brilliant, multi-coloured dots.

Sentinel-1 is very efficient for agricultural monitoring because it offers detailed info on soil moisture, crop construction and development patterns, that are important for assessing agricultural well being and productiveness.

The Indonesian capital of Jakarta is dwelling to 10 million individuals and can also be one of many fastest-sinking cities on this planet. Researchers recommend that components of the megacity may very well be solely submerged by 2050.

By utilizing a lot of radar satellite tv for pc pictures over a two-year interval, it’s doable to precisely calculate floor subsidence. This picture exhibits the imply floor displacement charges based mostly on Sentinel-1 radar knowledge from 2017-2018. Areas in pink present main displacement over time with some areas exhibiting native sinking patterns attain round 12 cm per yr.

By evaluating radar pictures over time, knowledge from Sentinel-1 can be utilized to generate detailed displacement maps, important for monitoring subsidence, landslides, volcanic exercise and infrastructure stability.

In March 2021, a site visitors jam within the Suez Canal captured international consideration when the Ever Given, one of many world’s largest container ships, grew to become lodged sideways throughout the waterway. The vessel blocked all site visitors in each instructions for six days, inflicting a major disruption to international commerce.

The Sentinel-1 pictures right here spotlight the affect of the blockage, exhibiting routine maritime site visitors within the left picture earlier than the jam, and the huge 400-meter vessel obstructing the canal within the picture on the best.

Sentinel-1 is a precious software for monitoring ship site visitors; its radar detects the ocean floor, which displays the sign away from the satellite tv for pc, making the water seem darkish. In distinction, metallic objects like ships seem as brilliant dots towards the darkish ocean, permitting for straightforward identification and monitoring.