The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
Find out more about space activities in our 23 Member States, and understand how ESA works together with their national agencies, institutions and organisations.
Exploring our Solar System and unlocking the secrets of the Universe
Go to topicProtecting life and infrastructure on Earth and in orbit
Go to topicUsing space to benefit citizens and meet future challenges on Earth
Go to topicMaking space accessible and developing the technologies for the future
Go to topicSection of the Strait of Malacca where shallow sandbanks are located. At the bottom of the image the coast of Sumatra is visible and at the top the coast of Malaysia. The irregular features in the lower part of the image are sea surface manifestations of sandbanks. The tidal flow, which at the time of the SAR data acquisition was directed eastwards, is modified by the sandbanks. This leads to a change in sea surface roughness over the sandbanks which is detectable by SAR. The sandbanks in this region are only a few meters deep, and some of them even fall dry at low tides. The shipping lane is located north of this area.