France - MERIS, 18 February 2003

It's a perfectly clear February day over France in this Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) image mosaic.

The enhanced true colour image clearly shows the varied landscapes of the country from the large urban expanse of the Paris conurbation, the snow capped regions of the Ardennes, Massif Central, Alps and the Pyrenees, the heavily vegetated lowland hills stretching down the east of the country, and the distinctive darker triangle of the Landes Region south of Bordeaux caused by extensive Pine forests.

Along the coasts of France, Belgium and the UK we see a change in the sea surface colour from a blue to a lighter green shade, this is caused by increased sedimentation particularly observed in the English Channel. We can also see sediment being pumped into the North Sea from the Thames estuary flowing out of London.

Technical Information:
Instrument: MEdium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS)

Date of Acquisition: 18 February 2003
Orbit number: 05072
Instrument features: Full Resolution image (300 - metre resolution)