This picture, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission, provides us a glimpse of Ecuador’s capital, Quito, sprawling for 40 km alongside this high-altitude valley within the Andes.
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At an elevation of 2850 m above sea degree, Quito is the one capital metropolis on the planet constructed so near an lively volcano. It’s dominated by Pichincha to the west however there are a number of different volcanoes close to town. Cotopaxi, Antisana and Cayambe, with their snow-covered peaks, are clearly seen on this picture. Cotopaxi is the second highest summit within the nation at about 5900 m, and one among Ecuador’s most lively volcanoes.
Quito itself, which has developed throughout the Guayllabamba river basin, is seen on the centre of the picture. Town’s southern districts are divided by the Machángara River, a tributary of the Guayllabamba. The Machángara flows by Quito, from south to north, meandering previous one of many metropolis’s well-known landmarks, the Panecillo park. This hill offers a few of the greatest views over Quito’s historic centre to its north.
The outdated city, distinguishable within the picture because of the rosier color of its roofs, is a UNESCO World Heritage Web site in recognition of its well-preserved structure.
Quito is surrounded by wealthy biodiversity, from cloud forests to ecological reserves, such because the Pululahua Geobotanical Reserve, seen within the picture as a darker inexperienced space simply north of town. To the east of Quito and the Guayllabamba valley, there are three nationwide parks, lined by patches of white cloud on this picture. And to the west, white clouds cowl a lot of the view of town of Santo Domingo within the western foothills of the Andes mountains.
A number of areas round Quito have been badly affected by drought-driven wildfire throughout late 2025, when this picture was captured. A big plume of smoke could be seen to the east of Quito and there’s a smaller plume to the north, close to the Sincholagua volcano.
A burnt space could be seen within the hills east of town, the place almost 200 hectares (about 300 soccer pitches) of high-altitude grassland have been burned close to the distant Andean neighborhood of Oyacachi, throughout the Cayambe Coca Nationwide Park.
