A vibrant patchwork of agricultural fields is pictured on this radar picture captured by Copernicus Sentinel-1 over southeastern Romania.
Though satellites carrying optical, or ‘camera-like’, devices are sometimes used to map crop varieties from area, radar satellites additionally provide a invaluable supply of knowledge for crop classification and development patterns to assist assess well being and productiveness.
Sentinel-1’s radar is instrumental in monitoring modifications in land cowl, offering crucial insights for areas with intensive agriculture, as proven right here.
This picture combines three radar acquisitions taken at totally different instances to point out modifications in crop growth and land situations.
Radar photographs are naturally black and white, however right here every picture has been assigned a color: blue for the primary picture from 28 October 2024, inexperienced for the second from 9 November, and pink for the third from 21 November. When the pictures are overlapped to acquire a single composite, the ensuing colors spotlight the varied crop varieties and phases of development.
In radar photographs, built-up areas like cities and cities are seen in gray or white, whereas our bodies of water seem in black.
The Danube – the longest river within the EU – might be seen as a black, winding line in the best of the picture. Town 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 picture.
Flowing northward, the Danube splits right here into smaller channels that type two principal islands. The larger, Nice Brăila Island, is especially coated by agricultural fields, whose geometrical shapes are clear to see. The smaller island, Small Brăila Island, is seen in mild blue and hosts the Balta Mică a Brăilei Pure Park, a protected wetland space of worldwide significance.
Offering all-weather, day-and-night radar imagery for the worldwide monitoring of Earth’s land and oceans, the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission helps a numerous vary of purposes, akin to environmental administration, catastrophe response and local weather change analysis.
After Sentinel-1B’s working life ended in 2022, the upcoming launch of Sentinel-1C will restore the mission to its full energy as a two-satellite constellation. As soon as in orbit, Sentinel-1C is not going to solely proceed the mission’s legacy, however, notably, can even introduce enhanced capabilities for monitoring maritime site visitors, additional increasing the mission’s utility.
