EnMAP – one image, a wealth of information

EnMAP – one image, a wealth of information
EnMAP – one image, a wealth of information
In 2022, the German EnMAP (Environmental Mapping and Analysis Program) environmental satellite captured its first hyperspectral image of a strip approximately 30 kilometres wide and 180 kilometres long over Istanbul, Türkiye. The left-hand image shows a true-colour representation, which roughly corresponds to human colour perception, with this area scanned by the VNIR camera using nearly 50 individual fine channels. The centre image is a false-colour image from the VNIR camera, in which differences in vegetation – related to plant species and their condition, such as biomass and chlorophyll content – become visible in the near-infrared range. The right-hand image was captured by the SWIR camera in the short-wave infrared, revealing distinctive features in the soil and rock and allowing conclusions to be drawn about soil fertility. In March 2026, the satellite mission celebrated its fourth anniversary.