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 topicThank you for liking
You have already liked this page, you can only like it once!
On the left in this full-resolution MERIS image is Peru, bordered by the Pacific Ocean on one side and Lake Titicaca, in the centre of the image, on the other. Observing the colours of the Lake Titicaca, which occupies more than 8300 square kilometres, several large plumes created by rivers discharging matter resulting from the erosion of the terrain can be seen. At the southeastern end of the lake is La Paz, Bolivia’s largest city.
At the bottom is the northern tip of Chile, with Bolivia on the right-hand side of the image.
Lake Poopo, highlighted in green and located 300 km southeast of La Paz, is one of many saline lakes on the Altiplano. This lake was dramatically polluted in February 2000 by an accidental 39 000-barrel oil spill. Its green colour in the image is due to its shallow waters.
Technical Information:
Instrument: Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS)
Date of Acquisition: 26 April 2002
Orbit number: 00365
Instrument features: Full resolution image (300-meter resolution)