Ganges delta: False-color image

The Ganges Delta on the Indian Subcontinent is seen in this mosaic of false-color images acquired by the Sentinel-2 satellite between January 30th and February 1, 2019. (Source: Annamaria Luongo via Flickr)

I really like this map of the Sundarbans in the Bengal delta, also referred to as Ganges delta. This false- color image looks like an art illustration, but this, in reality, is due to the fundamental difference between creating a satellite image and a photograph. It is created by measuring and combining the intensity of certain wavelengths of light, both visible and invisible to human eyes. Satellites can collect information of light that are beyond our visibility, so the images created from those wavelengths appear strange to us. These are called false- color image.

This particular image is acquired by Sentinel-2 satellite, an Earth observation mission operated by the European Space Agency. It is a constellation of two twin satellites that orbits around the earth to acquire high spatial resolution optical images between 10m-60m over land and coastal waters. It covers the surfaces between 56° South to 84° North latitude.

References: 
https://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/features/FalseColor
https://earth.esa.int/web/guest/missions/esa-operational-eo-missions/sentinel-2