For Valentine’s Day, the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission picks out a coronary heart within the panorama north of Mount St Helens within the US state of Washington.
Zoom in to discover this picture at its full 10 m decision.
Mount St Helens is an energetic volcano, recognized for its eruption on 18 Could 1980, some of the damaging volcanic explosions ever recorded in North America. The occasion killed 57 folks and 1000’s of animals, felling timber over an space of some 500 sq km.
The eruption was brought on by an earthquake that led to an enormous landslide of the volcano’s north face. The volcano then exploded, depositing widespread ash and melting the mountain’s snow, ice and glaciers that shaped quite a lot of volcanic mudslides – or lahars. A few of these lahars are seen in mild brown, notably northwest of the crater.
This false-colour picture from January 2025 has been processed utilizing a mix of spectral bands to spotlight vegetation in pink, whereas areas with little or no vegetation seem brown, with water our bodies darkish or black.
The center-shaped function surrounded by snow on the centre of the picture is Spirit Lake, a preferred vacationer vacation spot for a few years till the eruption.
Earlier than the catastrophic occasion, Spirit Lake was a typical alpine lake, surrounded by dense forests. The landslide and the eruption displaced the lake, elevating its floor stage by about 60 m and reshaping its basin. 1000’s of timber have been blasted into the lake, forming a dense floating log mat, which continues to be seen within the picture as a lighter, brown space.
The lake’s drainage system was compromised, so a brand new tunnel needed to be constructed to stop uncontrolled flooding. As soon as the brand new water stage stabilised, it created the present heart-like define.
Within the lower-central a part of the picture, the oblong areas present land division, probably for timber processing, with the brown areas exhibiting the place timber have been cleared. We will see how the white snow cowl ends in these areas, because the elevation drops.
Satellite tv for pc missions akin to Copernicus Sentinel-2 not solely ship wonderful views of Earth, however are additionally very important for monitoring distant and distinctive environments. From their vantage level in area, satellites systematically picture and measure modifications going down, each pure modifications and people linked to human exercise, in order that data is obtainable to guard our planet and its inhabitants.
