ESA - Eduspace EN - Global Change - High sea near the Crozet Islands

Coastal change

Danube Delta change detection Oil spills

Deforestation

Bardia National Park Congo River Basin Kameng-Sonitpur Elephant Reserve Kilimanjaro Rondonia Shillong and Guwahati

Ice

Antarctica 2003 Climate change and glaciers Glacier analysis using radar imagery Glacial retreat in the Alps Glacier Ice Flow Monitoring of glaciers in the Himalayas Remote sensing of ice and snow

Urbanisation

Cairo City of Kathmandu Córdoba Himalayas Kathmandu Valley Lagos

Vegetation

Annapurna Conservation Area Lost in the Andes Ngorongoro Conservation Area Niger Inland Delta Vegetation in South America


Landscape on Crozet

High sea near the Crozet Islands

The first landfall after leaving South Africa on 5 November was at the Crozet Islands. These islands are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. There are three islands, each less than 20 km in diameter.


	Close encounter with the dwellers

Look them up in your atlas. You will find them at 46-25 South and 51-51 East. Study them as well with the help of photos taken during the cruise. Briefly describe the landforms, the vegetation type, and the fauna.

Now observe them from space. Use the ASAR radar and Landsat images. Landsat acquires data in the visible and infrared bands. Cloud coverage is very frequent, and cloud-free images are not available. Instead, we have radar images – always cloud-free!

Study the geomorphology of the three volcanic islands.


Radar image of the Crozet Islands

What are the differences with respect to their forms, and as a result, can you guess which is geologically the youngest island?

What about the wind? Waves can be seen west of the middle island. They break at the rocky west coast (bright coast line). What is the direction of the wind? Is this in agreement with the prevailing winds in the so-called Roaring Forties?


	Landsat image of the Crozet Islands

The waves must indeed be huge! You can measure the distance from crest-to-crest, that is between two bright lines, using the LEOWorks image processing software provided here. The size of a pixel in this radar image is 75 metres.

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