Proba-V images Prague

Proba-V, among ESA’s smallest Earth-observing satellites, views Prague in the Czech Republic. From 9 May to 13 May ESA and its partners are hosting the flagship Living Planet Symposium 2016, gathering Earth observation scientists and users to discuss current and future ESA and related European missions.

As an ESA Earth Watch mission, Proba-V is being discussed at several sessions and a model satellite is also being exhibited.

Prague, the largest city of the Czech Republic, is famous for its impressive historical architecture. The ‘Golden City’ lies just south of the confluence of the Vltava (Moldau) and Elbe rivers. This 100 m-resolution image was acquired by Proba-V on 4 July 2015.

Launched on 7 May 2013, Proba-V is a miniaturised ESA satellite – less than a cubic metre – tasked with a full-scale mission: to map land cover and vegetation growth across the entire planet every two days.

Its main camera’s continent-spanning 2250 km swath width collects light in the blue, red, near-infrared and mid-infrared wavebands at 300 m resolution and down to 100 m resolution in its central field of view.

VITO Remote Sensing in Belgium processes and then distributes Proba-V data to users worldwide. An online image gallery highlights some of the mission’s most striking images so far, including views of storms, fires and deforestation.