Starting in December 2022, the German Space Agency at DLR will publish a highlight image from the Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program (EnMAP) mission once a month. DLR's environmental satellite was launched in April 2022 and is now in routine scientific operation, following the successful completion of its test phase. With its two spectrometers, it analyses the solar radiation reflected from Earth's surface at wavelengths ranging from visible light to short-wave infrared at a spectral resolution that was previously unavailable. From these data, precise statements can be made about the condition of and changes to Earth's surface.
This image shows two views of Lake Benmore and the surrounding mountainous landscape. Lake Benmore (Maori: Te Ao Marama) is a reservoir in the Canterbury region on the South Island of New Zealand. With an area of 74 square kilometres, it is the largest artificial lake in New Zealand. The EnMAP images of the lake were acquired on 9 August 2022.
The image on the left is a true colour representation, which roughly corresponds to the perception of the human eye. The reservoir appears in various shades of green to dark blue. The mountain peaks, most of which are over 1000 metres high, are covered in snow. The false-colour image on the right shows the same area in wavelengths from different infrared ranges. Vegetation appears yellowish, open ground appears red and the snow stands out in white-blue. The false-colour image is chosen to represent wavelength ranges that are not visible to the human eye – in this case infrared.
