First Sentinel-1C radar images released

Less than a week after its launch, the Copernicus Sentinel-1C satellite has delivered its inaugural radar images of Earth. Three stunning images captured by the satellite, showcasing diverse landscapes across the European continent, have been released by the European Space Agency (ESA). They highlight the satellite’s potential for advanced environmental monitoring.

Launched aboard a Vega-C rocket from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana on 5 December, Sentinel-1C is equipped with a state-of-the-art C-band synthetic aperture radar (SAR) instrument. This pioneering technology allows the satellite to deliver high-resolution imagery day and night, in all weather conditions, to support critical applications such as environmental management, disaster response and climate change research. The initial radar images of Europe were flawlessly processed by the Copernicus and showcase an exceptional level of data quality.

The first image – captured just 56 hours and 23 minutes after liftoff – features Svalbard, a remote Norwegian archipelago in the Arctic Ocean. It demonstrates Sentinel-1C’s ability to monitor ice coverage and environmental changes in harsh and isolated regions. These capabilities are essential for understanding the effects of climate change on polar ecosystems and to make serious progress in enabling safer navigation in Arctic waters.

Colourful patchwork quilt

The second image showcases part of the Netherlands, including Amsterdam and the province of Flevoland. The whole province of Flevoland is land reclaimed from the sea. Until the construction of the Afsluitdijk – a major dam and causeway – between 1927-1932, the area was covered by the Zuiderzee, a former inlet of the North Sea. Today, the region is renowned for its extensive farmland and advanced water management systems.

This Sentinel-1C image of the Netherlands echoes the very first SAR image acquired by the legacy European Remote-Sensing (ERS) mission in 1991, which captured the Flevoland polder and the IJsselmeer in what was the first European radar image ever taken from space. In the new image captured by Sentinel-1C’s advanced radar, this part of the Netherlands – with its agricultural landscape divided into precisely defined plots – looks like a colourful patchwork quilt. The intricate details captured from space provide invaluable data for monitoring soil moisture and assessing crop health. These insights are essential for enhancing agricultural productivity and ensuring sustainable resource management in one of Europe’s key farming areas.

Last but not least, the third image highlights the Belgian capital city of Brussels. Sentinel-1C’s radar technology vividly depicts the dense urban landscape in bright white and yellow tones, contrasting with the surrounding vegetation. Waterways and low-reflective areas, such as airport runways, appear in darker hues.