This satellite image from the Copernicus Sentinel 2 mission takes us above Kiev - the capital and most populous city of Ukraine. (Please note that this picture was taken in 2019, so the flames and smoke of war are not visible). Kiev (Kyiv), also known as Kiev, is visible just below the center of the image, along the Dnieper River in north-central Ukraine. The city has a total area of approximately 840 square kilometers (324 square miles) and a population of approximately 3 million.
Kiev was originally founded only on the west bank, but now straddles both sides of the Dnieper River, which flows south through the city. The Dnieper River is the fourth longest river in Europe, after the Volga , Danube and the Ural River. It originates from the southern slopes of the Valdai Mountains in Russia and flows south through western Russia, Belarus and Ukraine to black sea .
Just above the city of Kiev is the Kiev Reservoir - a large reservoir with a length of 110 kilometers (68 miles) and a width of 12 kilometers (7 miles). The reservoir is used primarily for irrigation, hydroelectric power generation, and industrial and public consumption.
The neon green color in Kiev's reservoir indicates large amounts of algae. Algal blooms are dense layers of microscopic vegetation that appear on the surface of lakes or other bodies of water and occur when there is an excess of nutrients that algae rely on. These high levels of nutrients are often caused by human pollution, such as wastewater or fertilizer runoff from agriculture.
Due to Ukraine's suitable climate and abundant arable land, agriculture plays a huge role in the country's economy. Vast tracts of agricultural land dominate this week's images, with corn, wheat and barley the country's main crops. Ukraine has more than 40 million hectares of agricultural land, covering 70% of the country's land. Agriculture is Ukraine's largest export industry.
Copernicus Sentinel-2 is a dual-satellite mission. Each satellite carries a high-resolution camera that photographs the Earth's surface in 13 spectral bands. This mission is primarily used to track changes in land use patterns and monitor the health of our vegetation.
This image also appears in the "Earth from Space" video program, where it is embedded above.
