Earth From Space: Florida
Part of the US state of Florida is pictured in this image from the Sentinel-1A satellite. The peninsula sits between the Gulf of Mexico to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. The large body of water at the top of the image is the freshwater Lake Okeechobee. Covering about 1900 sq km, the lake is very shallow with a maximum depth of about 4 m.
Across the land area we can see geometric patterns of agriculture and infrastructure, while the very lower section of the image shows part of the Everglades National Park.
The Everglades are the United States’ largest subtropical wilderness, originally covering some 10 000 sq km. This area features shallow, slow-moving water and is abundant in a plant called sawgrass that becomes so thick it makes the water barely visible, earning the Everglades the nickname ‘River of Grass’.
Home to diverse plant and animal life, including alligator, crocodile, Florida panther and manatees, the Everglades have been designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve by the UN.
Other notable locations visible in this image include the cities Miami, in the lower right, and Fort Myers on the left.
Home to diverse plant and animal life, including alligator, crocodile, Florida panther and manatees, the Everglades have been designated a Wetland of International Importance by the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, a World Heritage Site and an International Biosphere Reserve by the UN.
Other notable locations visible in this image include the cities Miami, in the lower right, and Fort Myers on the left.
This image, also featured on the Earth from Space video programme, was captured on 13 November 2014 by Sentinel-1A’s radar in Interferometric Wide swath mode. This is the default mode over land, and has a swath width of 250 km and a ground resolution of 5 x 20 m. The image was also acquired in ‘dual polarisation’ horizontal and vertical radar pulses, from which the artificial colour composite was generated.
