Inundated areas from ASAR

This image, derived from the Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar on Envisat, shows eastern Queensland, Australia on 5 January 2011. The inundated areas are shown as orange and red, characterised by very low backscatter values owing to the specular reflection of the radar signal on the flooded surface. The dark blue colours, which are a result of the high backscatter values, show inundated vegetation that reflects the signal back to the sensor (double bounce effect).