This Copernicus Sentinel-1 radar image shows Tokyo and its metropolitan area, the largest urban agglomeration in the world.
Japan’s capital lies on the eastern shore of Honshu, the largest of Japan’s four main islands. Tokyo city has more than 14 million inhabitants, while the Greater Tokyo Area, which includes Tokyo and parts of the neighboring prefectures, is home to more than 40 million people.
The bright grey and white tones of this urban conurbation dominate the center of the image and are in sharp contrast to the colors in the ocean and water bodies.
Three main rivers can be seen winding through the urban area, then flowing into Tokyo Bay. The central river is the Arakawa, with the Edo river to the north and the Tama to the south. Tokyo’s center lies mainly south of the Arakawa river, while at the mouth of the Tama, the runways of Haneda Airport are also visible.
Radar data are particularly useful for detecting surface features and are therefore used to map the topography. For example, in the left side of the image we can see the mountain reliefs of the Chichibu-Tama-Kai National Park in the upper part and Mount Fuji to its south near the coast.
CREDIT
Image Credit: contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2024), processed by ESA
