Bolivian highland heart

For Valentine’s Day, we carry you this Copernicus Sentinel-2 picture capturing a fantastic heart-shaped geographical formation within the dramatic panorama of the southern highlands of Bolivia.

The highlands are a part of the Altiplano, that means Excessive Plateau, a area that stretches virtually 1000 km from Peru to Bolivia. The panorama consists of a collection of basins mendacity about 3500 m above sea stage and is probably the most in depth space of excessive plateau on Earth, outdoors Tibet.

This explicit space featured here’s a transition between the desert within the west and the tropical forest within the east. The guts-shaped formation has been moulded by many layers of various geological formations over time. The various streams and rivers seen on this picture have additionally contributed to the shaping of the panorama as we see it at this time. 

This false-colour composite picture was processed by choosing spectral bands that can be utilized for classifying geological options – however right here the picture processing additionally highlights this pretty coronary heart  for at this time’s picture.

Sucre, the capital of the Chuquisaca Division, is seen on the high of the picture in gray. Designated a UNESCO World Heritage Website, the town lies at an elevation of round 2800 metres above sea stage. To the left of Sucre, the Maragua crater may be seen – a well-liked mountaineering vacation spot. 

Satellites, resembling Copernicus Sentinel-2, permit us to seize stunning photos resembling these from area, but in addition  to observe altering locations on Earth. Flying 800 km above, satellites take the heart beat of our planet by systematically imaging and measuring modifications going down, which is especially vital in areas which can be in any other case troublesome to entry. This permits for knowledgeable choices to be made to assist shield our world for future generations and for all residents that inhabit our beloved Earth.

We ship all our love for Valentine’s Day from the excessive plateaus of Bolivia – and hope we proceed our celebration of affection for Earth daily of the yr.

This picture, which was captured on 26 January 2020, can be featured on the Earth from Space video programme.