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<br /><ul><li>India is the new top polluter producing excess amount of <keyword id="142405" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nitrogen-dioxide">Nitrogen dioxide</keyword>.<br /></li><li>Images captured by Tropomi, a pollution tracking instrument on board the Copernicus Sentinel-5P Satellite, show that the next generation of pollution problems might from Africa.<br /></li><li>Within Europe, the Netherlands has the highest concentration of nitrogen dioxide.<br /></li></ul>India dethroned China to become the world’s biggest polluter. Africa is next in line to take the dubious spot. <br /><br />Images captured by the Dutch space instrument, <a href="http://www.tropomi.eu/">Tropomi</a>, show <a href="http://www.tropomi.nl/">high concentrations</a> of pollutants like Nitrogen dioxide, Ozone and other pollutants produced by car traffic, industry and power stations in India.<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />"We first saw a strong increase in China, but it has leveled out because the Chinese have also taken measures. India is the new big polluter. We also expect problems in Africa in the future," Pieternel Levelt, the head of satellite observation at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI), told a <a href="https://nltimes.nl/2019/09/30/dutch-space-tech-shows-india-top-polluter-funding-cut-black-hole-telescope">local newspaper</a> AD.<br /><br /><strong>Measuring the pollution<br /></strong><br />Tropomi, the Tropospheric Monitoring Instrument, circles the Earth on board the Copernicus Sentinel-5 Precursor satellite. <br /><br />Copernicus Sentinel-5P, launched by European Space Agency (ESA) in October 2017, is believed to be the most advanced pollution monitoring satellite in the world. <br /><br />It measures the chemical composition of the troposphere — the lowest layer of Earth’s atmosphere between 10 to 15 kilometers above the surface.<br /><br />Scientists believe this is where most air polluting substances are trapped.<br /><br />Insights from Tropomi show that most of the air pollution is created from human activity.<br /><br />India might top the list right now, other regions of the world are quite out of the red. <br /><br />The German Ruhr area, Netherlands, Paris, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and the shipping routes of the Mediterrarean Sea are a few regions with the highest concentrations of Nitrogen dioxide in Europe.<br /><br />

India is the world’s biggest polluter with Africa next in line to take its spot

<br /><br /><ul><li><keyword id="21340" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Satellite-images">Satellite images</keyword> show that pollution levels in major European cities like Rome, Paris, Milan and Madrid dropped during the <keyword id="8637077" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Coronavirus-lockdown">Coronavirus lockdown</keyword>. </li><li>The images were taken over ten days, between March 14 to March 25, and are compared to the same time last year.</li><li>Further analysis will determine how much of the change in nitrogen dioxide concentration levels can be attributed to the lockdown, and how much is just weather fluctuation.</li></ul>Factories aren’t pumping out smoke, cars are off the road and planes are grounded as all of Europe goes into a lockdown to keep Coronavirus from spreading. Being forced indoors isn’t ideal, but according to satellite images shared by the European Space Agency’s (<a href="http://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/Coronavirus_lockdown_leading_to_drop_in_pollution_across_Europe">ESA</a>) Copernicus Sentinel-5P — getting humans off the streets has done wonders for <keyword id="6361617" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="climate-change">climate change</keyword>.<br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="NO2_concentrations_over_France" msid="74882190" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, shows the average nitrogen dioxide concentrations from 14 to 25 March 2020, compared to the monthly average concentrations from 2019 over France&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br />The nitrogen dioxide concentration in most countries drastically reduced over the span of 10 days — between March 14 to March 25 — as compared to the same time last year. According to the data, major cities like Paris, Milan and Madrid had the most to gain.<br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="Nitrogen_dioxide_concentrations_over_Spain" msid="74882202" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, shows the average nitrogen dioxide concentrations from 14 to 25 March 2020, compared to the monthly average concentrations from 2019 over Spain&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br />It’s too soon to say if the change in concentration is a result of the lockdown since the level of nitrogen dioxide varies from day-to-day due to changes in the weather. <br /><br />
  <div type="image" title="italyinner" msid="74882221" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Data from the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite, shows the average nitrogen dioxide concentrations from 14 to 25 March 2020, compared to the monthly average concentrations from 2019 over Italy.&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>



<br />“Atmospheric chemistry models, which account for daily changes in weather, in combination with inverse modelling techniques are needed to quantify the emission based on the satellite observations,” said <a href="http://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/Coronavirus_lockdown_leading_to_drop_in_pollution_across_Europe">Henk Eskes</a>, a scientist at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute (KNMI).<br /><br />
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<br />Aside from Europe, the Copernicus Sentinel-5P satellite also shared images of the drop in nitrogen level over China. According to the <a href="http://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/COVID-19_nitrogen_dioxide_over_China">ESA</a>, there was a reduction of 20% to 30% in surface particular matter over large parts of the country. Unlike the observations for Europe, scientists are confident that at least a part of the reason that pollution dissipated was the Coronavirus lockdown.<br /><br />“We can certainly attribute a part of the nitrogen dioxide concentration reduction to the impact of the Coronavirus,” said <a href="http://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-5P/COVID-19_nitrogen_dioxide_over_China">Claus Zehner</a>, the satellite’s mission manager.<br /><br /><strong>See also:<br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/environment/news/coronavirus-lockdown-in-india-see-animals-return-to-the-streets-but-the-malabar-civet-is-not-one-of-them/articleshow/74875643.cms">Coronavirus lockdown in India lets animals return to the streets — but the Malabar Civet is not one of them</a><br /><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/searchresult.cms?query=coronavirus&amp;sortorder=effectivedate"><strong>Follow the comprehensive coverage of the Coronavirus pandemic in India on Business Insider India.</strong></a><br />

Satellite images show how pollution levels across Europe are dropping during the Coronavirus lockdown

<p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>The <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-help-amazon-rainforest-what-charities-to-donate-to-2019">Amazon rainforest is burning</a> at a record rate: The Brazilian Amazon has experienced more than 74,000 fires this year, whereas last year's total was around 40,000.</li><li>About 10,000 of the 2019 fires have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rainforest-experiencing-record-number-of-wildfires-this-year-2019-8">started in the last couple of weeks</a>.</li><li>On Monday, the collective smoke plume from the fires darkened the sky more than 2,000 miles away.</li><li>Some of these fires were started by farmers and loggers who <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rainforest-experiencing-record-breaking-deforestation-2019-7">seek to use Amazonian</a> for industrial or agricultural purposes.</li><li>But once blazes start, hot temperatures and dry conditions due to climate change <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arctic-on-fire-satellite-images-from-space-2019-8?r=US&amp;IR=T">enable the flames to spread farther and faster</a>.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/?hprecirc-bullet">Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories</a>.</li></ul><p>The "lungs of the planet" are burning.</p><p>As thousands of fiery infernos rage across the Amazon rainforest, tropical vegetation, trees, and the fauna they house are being razed. <span>Since August 15, more than 9,500 new forest fires have started across Brazil, primarily in the Amazon basin.</span></p><p><span>This year so far, scientists have recorded more than&#xa0;</span><a href="http://queimadas.dgi.inpe.br/queimadas/portal/situacao-atual">74,000 fires</a> in Brazil. That's<span> nearly double 2018's total of about 40,000 fires. The current surge marks an 83% increase in wildfires over the same period of 2018, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rainforest-experiencing-record-number-of-wildfires-this-year-2019-8">Brazil's National Institute for Space Research reported</a>. The largest state in Brazil, Amazonas, declared a state of emergency on Monday.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span>Already, 2019 has the highest number of fires observed in a single year since researchers began keeping track in 2013 - and there are still four months to go.</span></p><h2>'The sky randomly turned dark'</h2><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p>As the world's largest rainforest, the Amazon plays a crucial role in keeping our planet's carbon-dioxide levels in check. Plants and trees take in carbon dioxide and release oxygen back into the air in their process of photosynthesis. This is why the Amazon, which covers 2.1 million square miles,<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20130226-amazon-lungs-of-the-planet">is often referred to as the "lungs of the planet"</a>: The forest produces<span> 20% of the oxygen in our planet's atmosphere.</span>&#xa0;</p><p><span>Typically, the Amazonian dry season runs from July to October, peaking in late September. Wetter weather during the rest of the year minimizes the risk of fires at other times. But during the dry season, blazes can spark from natural sources, like lightning strikes. Farmers and loggers also purposefully set fire to the rainforest</span> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rainforest-experiencing-record-breaking-deforestation-2019-7">to clear swaths of the Amazon</a> for industrial or agricultural use.</p><p><span>The fires raging in the Amazon now have widespread impacts on the rest of Brazil. The smoke plumes from the blazes spread from the state of Amazonas to the nearby states of Pará and Mato Grosso, and even </span><span>blotted out the sun in São Paolo - a city more than 2,000 miles away.</span></p><p>&#xa0;</p><p><span>On Monday, people in São Paolo reported on social media that the sky had gone dark between 3 and 4 p.m. local time.&#xa0;</span></p><p>&#xa0;</p><p><span>In total, the blazes</span><span>&#xa0;have created <a href="https://www.windy.com/pt/-Concentra%C3%A7%C3%A3o-de-CO-cosc?cosc,-15.982,-59.359,6">a layer of smoke</a> estimated to be </span><a href="https://www.newsweek.com/brazils-bolsonaro-dismisses-outcry-over-record-number-forest-fires-i-used-called-captain-1455415">1.2 million square miles</a><span> wide. </span>This image from the European Union's Copernicus Satellite shows the smoke slicing north to south through Brazil like a knife.</p><p>&#xa0;</p><h2><span>'Setting the Amazon aflame'</span></h2><p>This week of fires comes on the heels of another worrisome milestone for the world's largest rainforest. The month of July set a new record for the most deforestation ever in the Amazon in a single month,<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/25/amazonian-rainforest-near-unrecoverable-tipping-point">The Guardian reported</a>. The Amazon shrunk by 519 square miles (1,345 square kilometers). That's more than twice the area of Tokyo.</p><p>Data<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="http://terrabrasilis.dpi.inpe.br/app/dashboard/alerts/legal/amazon/aggregated/#">from Brazilian satellites</a> indicated that about three football fields' worth of Amazonian trees fell every minute last month. The total deforested area in July 2019 was<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/28/world/americas/brazil-deforestation-amazon-bolsonaro.html">up 39%</a> from July of last year.</p><p>The deforestation is directly linked to fires in the Amazon, since farmers sometimes set the forest ablaze to make room for livestock pastures and crop fields. These purposeful burns can then get out of control.&#xa0;</p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p><span><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rainforest-experiencing-record-breaking-deforestation-2019-7">Brazil controls a lion's share of the Amazon</a>. However, its president, Jair Bolsonaro, has indicated that protecting the rainforest is&#xa0;<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brazil-president-bolsonaro-destroy-the-amazon-2018-10">not one of his top priorities</a> - Bolsonaro supports development projects like a highway and hydroelectric dam in the Amazon.</span></p><p><span>His administration has also cut down on the seizing of illegally harvested timber. In 2018 (u</span><span>nder the previous administration), 883,000 cubic feet of illegal timber was seized. As of May 15, Bolsonaro's government agencies had only seized 1,410 cubic feet, <a href="https://psmag.com/environment/brazils-government-is-gutting-environmental-protections-from-the-inside">Pacific Standard reported</a>.</span></p><p>What's more, between January and May of this year, Bolsonaro's government lowered the number of fines it levied for<span>&#xa0;</span><a href="https://psmag.com/environment/brazils-government-is-gutting-environmental-protections-from-the-inside">illegal deforestation and mining</a><span>&#xa0;</span>(down 34% from the same period in 2018) and decreased its monitoring of illegal activity in the rainforest.</p><p>On Tuesday, when <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-brazil-politics/brazils-bolsonaro-says-ngos-may-be-setting-fires-in-amazon-rainforest-idUSKCN1VB1BY">Reuters reporters asked</a> Bolsonaro about the record rate of uncontrolled fires in Brazil, he pointed to the fact that it's a time of year when farmers purposefully use fire to clear land - a seasonal cycle called "queimada."&#xa0;</p><p><span>"I used to be called Captain Chainsaw. Now I am Nero, setting the Amazon aflame," Bolsonaro <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rainforest-experiencing-record-number-of-wildfires-this-year-2019-8">said</a>. "But it is the season of the queimada."</span></p><h2>Warmer, drier conditions make it easier for flames to spread</h2><p>Warmer conditions due to climate change can allow blazes that crop up during the dry season to grow bigger than they otherwise might have. Global warming also<span> increases the likelihood and frequency of wildfires around the world.</span></p><p></p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"></div><p></p></div></div><p><span>Overall, this year is on pace to be the third hottest on record globally,&#xa0;<a href="https://medialibrary.climatecentral.org/resources/half-year-checkup-global-heat-and-national-rain-2019">according to Climate Central</a>. Last year was the fourth warmest,&#xa0;<a href="https://www.noaa.gov/news/2018-was-4th-hottest-year-on-record-for-globe">behind 2016 (the warmest), 2015, and 2017</a>.&#xa0;</span></p><p><span><em><strong>Read More:</strong> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/arctic-on-fire-satellite-images-from-space-2019-8?r=US&amp;IR=T" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener" data-qa="message_attachment_title_link">The northernmost reaches of the Earth are on fire. Here's what this record-breaking hot summer looks like from space.</a></em></span></p><p>Hot and dry conditions in the Northern Hemisphere are a consequence of this unprecedented warming. That's because warming leads winter snow cover to melt earlier, and hotter air sucks away the moisture from trees and soil. Decreased rainfall also makes for parched forests that are prone to burning.</p><p>Combined, that has created ideal conditions for wildfires in Brazil and elsewhere around the world.</p><p><span>As of today, parts of&#xa0;</span><a href="https://cwfis.cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/report">British Columbia, Canada</a><span>&#xa0;and&#xa0;</span><a href="https://fire.ak.blm.gov/content/aicc/sitreport/AICC%20Situation%20Report.pdf">Alaska</a><span> are also burning, while more than </span><a href="https://www.rferl.org/a/siberian-wildfires-set-to-break-land-area-record/30106388.html">13.5 million acres of Siberia</a><span> are ablaze, too.</span></p><div></div><div></div><div></div>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/amazon-rainforest-mysterious-geoglyphs-2017-2">These designs in the Amazon rainforest were created 2,000 years ago - and archaeologists are still baffled by them</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

The Amazon is burning at a rate not seen since we started keeping track. The smoke is reaching cities 2,000 miles away.

<ul><li> The Earth’s Arctic region and the <keyword id="18635" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazon">Amazon</keyword> rainforest are on fire all thanks to climate change.</li><li>The peripheries of the Northern Hemisphere are heating up twice as fast as the rest of the Earth while the Amazon has so many different wildfires brewing that the resulting smoke extends for 1.2 million square miles.</li><li>Wildfires in Alaska, Siberia, Russia and Greenland are releasing a record amount of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and the <keyword id="2699268" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Amazonia">Amazonia</keyword> wildfires are burning up the ‘lungs of the planet’ — making a bad problem even worse.</li></ul>If you think that climate change is making your summers hotter, be thankful that you <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/A-devastating-Arctic-temperature-rise-that-could-submerge-coastal-cities-and-trigger-species-extinction-is-now-locked-in/articleshow/68430694.cms">don’t live in the Arctic</a> or in the Amazon.<br /><br />Amazonia — the entirety of the Amazon rainforest — has 10,000 separate wildfires that started <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/the-amazon-is-burning-at-a-rate-not-seen-since-we-started-keeping-track-the-smoke-is-reaching-cities-2000-miles-away-/articleshow/70778666.cms">burning this very week.</a> The collective smoke from the wildfires created a layer of smoke that stretches for over 1.2 million square million darkening skies over the South American continent.<br /><br />
	
	
	
	
	
	<div type="twitter" handle="m_parrington" handlename="Mark Parrington" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1124438002955108352/5Lvi4KUY_normal.png" favoritecount="191" retweetcount="251" status="Latest #Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring Service aerosol forecast shows smoke from widespread fires in Amazonia rea… https://t.co/3vhSyl5rtk" createdat="1566314666000" id="1163834182860247040"></div>













<br />In the northern hemisphere, the entire region — stretching from Siberia all the way to Alaska — is heating up <a href="https://journals.ametsoc.org/doi/abs/10.1175/2013BAMSStateoftheClimate.1">twice as fast</a> as the rest of the Earth. It’s gotten so hot that it’s literally on fire. <br />
	
	
	
	
	
	
	<div type="twitter" handle="m_parrington" handlename="Mark Parrington" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1124438002955108352/5Lvi4KUY_normal.png" favoritecount="144" retweetcount="177" status="Impressive extent of heavy smoke across much of central Russia/Siberia, Alaska &amp; Canada from numerous intense borea… https://t.co/Tgk3x1l1iS" createdat="1563979813000" id="1154041097481363456"></div>















<br />It’s not that wildfires are uncommon in the Arctic region, in fact they happen every summer. But this time around, even the The World Meteorological Organisation (<a href="https://twitter.com/WMO/status/1149656340685447168">WMO</a>) called it ‘unprecedented’ noting that its monitoring service, CAMS, has tracked over 100 wildfires in the Arctic Circle.<br />
  
  
  
  
  
  
  <div type="image" title="fire1" msid="70391624" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Large wildfires continue to burn in Alaska seen from space on Thursday&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>












In both cases, the burning infernos have gotten so out of hand that you can see even see the wildfires from space.<br /><br />
	
  
  
  
  
  <div type="image" title="20190812-amazon" msid="70784569" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Fires burning over Brazil as seen from space&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>













<br /><strong>The lungs of the planet</strong><br /><br />The Amazon rainforest has been dubbed the ‘lungs of the planet’ since its innate vastness — 5.4 million square kilometers — produces 20% of the world’s oxygen. <br /><br /><br />And, right now, since its burning instead of breathing — it’s producing carbon dioxide and other harmful gases instead.<br /><br />
  
  
  
  
  
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<br />The record breaking wildfires come in the footsteps of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/jul/25/amazonian-rainforest-near-unrecoverable-tipping-point">The Guardian</a> reporting that the Amazon shrunk by 1,345 square kilometers in the month of July — twice the area of a city like Tokyo.<br /><br />The area of around three football fields was disappearing every minute according to data from <a href="http://terrabrasilis.dpi.inpe.br/app/dashboard/alerts/legal/amazon/aggregated/#">Brazilian satellites</a>.<br /><br /><strong>Earth’s cushion against climate change on the brink of collapse<br /></strong><br />Aside endangering wildlife and their habitats, the fires released an <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/carbon-dioxide-levels-highest-in-human-history/articleshow/69318790.cms">exorbitant amount of carbon dioxide. </a><br /><br />In June alone, fires in the Arctic released over 50 megatonnes of carbon dioxide into the Earth’s atmosphere, according to the WMO — the same as Sweden’s emissions over a whole year.<br />
  
  
  
  
  
  
  <div type="image" title="peter2" msid="70391757" hostid="261" caption="&amp;lt;p&amp;gt;Wildfire in the Qeqqata Kommunia, Greenland on July 14&amp;lt;/p&amp;gt;"></div>















<a href="https://twitter.com/m_parrington/status/1153224477205028864">Mark Parrington</a>, a senior scientist with Europe’s Copernicus Atmosphere Monitoring service, notes that since then, carbon dioxide released from fires in the Arctic has reached 100 megatons — breaking previous records.<br /><br /><strong>It affects you even if you don’t live on the North Pole<br /></strong><br />The impact of these fires is crossing borders. <br /><br />Russia, for instance, is the victim of the smoke plumes degrading the air quality in some of its cities according to NASA’s <a href="https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/images/145355/wildfire-smoke-swirls-over-russia">Earth Observatory</a>. <br /><br />
  
  
  
  
  
  
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Permafrost, or peat, in the region stores a lot of the carbon dioxide that’s released on Earth. While the peat isn’t in the direct line of fire — no pun intended — it’s still left will less cover against direct sunlight. This increases the odds of it <a href="https://news.nau.edu/schuur-carbon-permafrost-study/#.XRz2_OhKjRY">thawing out</a> and releasing all of its stored carbon dioxide back into the atmosphere.<br /><br />
	
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<br />The situation in Brazil is as such that even though the country owns most of the Amazon rainforest, its President Jair Bolsonaro has stated that saving Amazonia is not on his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/brazil-president-bolsonaro-destroy-the-amazon-2018-10">list of priorities</a>.<br /><br />And, even though Brazil might not want to deal with the problem, the darkening skies and overwhelming smoke extends to Paraguay and Bolivia as well.<br /><br /><strong>See also:</strong><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/A-devastating-Arctic-temperature-rise-that-could-submerge-coastal-cities-and-trigger-species-extinction-is-now-locked-in/articleshow/68430694.cms">A devastating Arctic temperature rise that could submerge coastal cities and trigger species extinction is now locked in</a><br /><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/rapid-melting-sea-ice-in-the-arctic-may-hamper-indias-monsoon-pattern-study/articleshow/68778375.cms">Rapid melting sea-ice in the Arctic may hamper India’s monsoon pattern: Study</a><br />

Wildfires are burning from the the Amazon to the Arctic — Here's why you should be worried

<p>This past month brought <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-of-flooding-in-serbia-and-bosnia-2014-5">disastrous floods to the Balkans</a> leaving hundreds dead and thousands displaced.</p>
<p>If not for a new European satellite, one particularly hard hit town, Balatun, wouldn't have gotten the emergency relief needed.</p>
<p>Flood photos taken from the satellite, Sentinel 1A, showed that current flood mapping had not incorporated Balatun, which lies near the convergence of two rivers.</p>
<p>"I had a first look and discovered that we were missing an important flooded area visible in the middle of the image," said Jan Kucera of the European Commission's Joint Research Center.</p>
<p>Kucera is supervising the technical aspects of Emergency Management Services for Copernicus, a global monitoring and security program for which Sentinel 1A was built.</p>
<p>You can see the extent of flooding in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia from May 22nd to the 24th in red picked up by NASA's MODIS system (purple are urban areas):<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://oas.gsfc.nasa.gov/Products/010E050N/MFM_2014144_010E050N_3D3OT.png">NASA</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>But here's what it looked like to Sentinel 1A on May 24th. Black areas represent water:</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>ESA</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>The area in the red box above was used to make the map below, showing the flooded areas of the village of Balatun in northeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Serbia is just north of the river:<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table full"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>ESA/European Commission </span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<h2>Just the beginning</h2>
<p>Sentinel 1 has only been up about two months. It is not yet technically operational and is still undergoing calibration. However, it has already been hard at work <a href="http://emergency.copernicus.eu/mapping/copernicus-emergency-management-service#zoom=3&amp;lat=34.16916&amp;lon=43.26132&amp;layers=0B00000T">monitoring natural disasters worldwide</a>.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>ESA</span></p><p class="caption">Just over a week after Sentinel 1A was launched, it took one of its first images - that of the Zambezi flood. The flood plain is to the left.  To the right, is Victoria falls.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>The Balkans was not the first instance in which the satellite has provided assistance. Previously, it helped determine the extent of flooding in Namibia.</p>
<p>"Currently, it's practically impossible to monitor the situation from the ground because accessibility is difficult and virtually impossible during the rainy season," <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1/Sentinel-1_aids_response_to_Namibia_flood">said Pauline Mufeti</a>, Head of Namibia's National Hydrological services.</p>
<p>Photo-equipped aircraft are of little use in rainy conditions, because clouds can obscure their view of the ground. When the clouds clear, these planes can still only image small areas at a time. This is why the radar-equipped Sentinel is important: It can detect through clouds and rain and can even image in darkness.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>ESA/Tiger Net/Dept. of Water Affairs/GeoVille/DHI/TU Vienna/GEO</span></p><p class="caption">The Namibia map created with the help of the satellite image.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>This means it can provide near real-time views of disaster areas helping decision makers identify those in peril and strategically plan their response.</p>
<p>In the case of April's Zambezi flood, which flooded parts of Namibia, Zambia, and Botswana, the Sentinel's satellite data was acquired and processed within several hours.</p>
<p>The graphic below gives you a rough idea of how Sentinel images and what those images can be used for:</p>
<p></p>
<h2>"A new era in Earth observation"</h2>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>ESA</span></p><p class="caption">Just 10 days after launch, Sentinel 1A took this radar image of the Antarctic Peninsula.  The differing colors show how water, land, and ice differentially reflect the radar.</p></div><p></p></div></div>The ESA has called the Sentinels a "new era in Earth observation." The satellite responsible for the flooding images was Sentinel 1A, just the first of about a dozen to be launched as part of the European Space Agency's Copernicus environmental monitoring program.</p>
<p>When they are all launched, they will change <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1/A_new_era_in_Earth_observation">"the way we manage our environment, understand and tackle the effects of climate change, and safeguard everyday lives,"</a> said the ESA in a press release.</p>
<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image"><p class="source"><span>ESA</span></p><p class="caption">Another of the first images: Brussels with Antwerp harbour on the top left. "The green colours correspond to vegetation, red-blue to urban areas, white to high-density urban areas and black to waterways and low-reflective areas such as airport runways," said a press release.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p>
<p>Each Sentinel mission consists of two satellites (A and B) outfitted to achieve specific monitoring goals. Sentinel 1 A and B satellites orbit 180 degrees apart imaging the entire Earth via radar every six days. The satellites' versatility is expected to aid<a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Sentinel-1/A_new_era_in_Earth_observation"> in a wide variety of projects </a>including ice mapping, oil spill monitoring, maritime security, forest mapping, and emergency imaging.</p>
<p>Sentinel 2 will take high resolution optical images, rather than radar like Sentinel 1. 2A is expected to launch April 2015 and B a year later. In addition to emergency use, these satellites are expected to provide land imaging services to aid in forestry, industry, and agriculture.</p>
<p>Future Sentinel missions (3, 4, 5, 5P, and 6) will <a href="http://www.esa.int/Our_Activities/Observing_the_Earth/Copernicus/Overview4">focus on ocean, climate, and atmospheric monitoring</a>.</p>

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