Desert Irrigation Makes for Spectacular Imagery

by | Oct 24, 2016

This Proba-V image shows agricultural fields fed underground water by circular-pivot irrigation systems, amid Saudi Arabia's yellowish desert sands and surrounding low hills and rocks. (Credit: ESA/Belspo “ produced by VITO)

This Proba-V image shows agricultural fields fed underground water by circular-pivot irrigation systems, amid Saudi Arabia's yellowish desert sands and surrounding low hills and rocks. (Credit: ESA/Belspo “ produced by VITO)

Although it may be difficult to irrigate fields in the middle of the the Wadi As Sirhan basin of Saudi Arabia, the practice does lead to stunning and beautifully contrasting imagery, as evidenced in this European Space Agency (ESA) false-color image from the Proba-V minisatellite.

Launched on May 7, 2013, Proba-V is tasked to map land cover and vegetation growth across the entire planet every two days. Its main camera's continent-spanning 2,250-kilometer swath width collects light in blue, red, near-infrared and mid-infrared wavebands at 300-meter resolution and down to 100-meter resolution in its central field of view.

VITO Remote Sensing in Belgium processes and then distributes Proba-V data to users worldwide. An online image gallery highlights some of the mission's most-striking images, including views of storms, fires and deforestation.

 

NEWEST V1 MEDIA PUBLICATION

October Issue 2023