In this false-color image from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellite, the heart of Nova Viscaya Province on Luzon, the Philippines' largest and most populous island, stands out. The colors in the image are a composite of three images collected over 10 months using the near-infrared channel by Copernicus Sentinel-2. The images collected each time are given a different color: the images collected in the dry and hot season in May 2022 are red, the images collected in the rainy season in September 2022 are green, and the images collected in the dry and cold season in March 2023 are blue.

This Copernicus Sentinel-2 image shows the Philippines' Nueva Viscaya province, with a false-color composite highlighting the province's agricultural landscapes and urban areas. In the image, different seasons are represented by different colors, revealing intricate details of crop growth stages, waterlogged fields for rice production and urbanization. Image source: Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data (2022-23), processed by ESA, CCBY-SA3.0IGO

This combination highlights different characteristics, such as crop type, and the changes that occur between collections, showing different growth stages.

From the center to the lower left of the image, patches of colorful farmland stand out. Red and green areas indicate plants growing in May and September respectively. The predominantly blue tones of farmland in the image indicate that plant growth occurs primarily during the cool, dry season of March.

Most of the fields accumulate water all year round, probably to concentrate on rice production, and there are canals between the fields. The bright white area in the middle of the field indicates an area of ​​dense vegetation.

Straight lines and gray areas represent roads and urban areas. These include Solano, the largest town in Novaviskaya province, visible at lower left, surrounded by blue fields, and Bayombong, the province's capital, further south.

The meandering dark lines depict rivers, the largest of which, the Magat River, flows across the entire painting from the northeast. If you look closely, you can see different colors along the river. This is most likely due to changes in water volume and river paths at different times of the year.

Copernicus Sentinel-2 has 13 spectral channels and is designed to provide data that can be used to map and monitor farmland, and its frequent revisits of the same area and high spatial resolution enable it to closely monitor changes in inland water bodies.

In January 2023, ESA and the European Commission signed an agreement to establish a Copernicus mirror site in the Philippines, the first of its kind in Southeast Asia. This new initiative will improve the Philippines’ response and resilience to natural and man-made disasters through the strategic use of spatial data.

Compiled source: ScitechDaily