Earth from space: Blooming California

Captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission on 8 April 2023, this picture exhibits Los Angeles and a part of the hinterland in Southern California.

The sprawling metropolitan space of Los Angeles, the second most populated in america, may be seen in shades of grey within the decrease a part of the picture.

The town of San Bernardino lies round 100 km east of Los Angeles. A number of water bodies may be recognized in darkish blue to the south of San Bernardino, apart from Lake Elsinore which seems mild inexperienced within the backside proper of the picture, most certainly as a consequence of a excessive focus of algae within the water.

On the northern metropolis limits, the vegetated areas of the Angeles and San Bernardino Nationwide Forests are seen on the foothills of the San Gabriel and San Bernardino Mountains, which run throughout the middle of the picture. Mount San Antonio, the very best peak at 3068 m, in addition to the encompassing peaks are coated with snow.

The Mojave Desert dominates the higher a part of the picture. Heart-pivot irrigation fields stand out as round inexperienced shapes, which distinction with the encompassing panorama. Most of them are concentrated within the prime left of the picture, close to the cities of Lancaster and Palmdale.

After years of sustained drought, California has just lately skilled record-breaking winter precipitation that triggered a flower “superbloom” occasion within the space.

Blooming fields are so giant that they may also be noticed from space. The colourful orange and yellow colours of poppies and wildflowers in bloom may be seen all through the picture, with probably the most noticeable in Antelope Valley, west of Lancaster, and in Walker Canyon, north of Lake Elsinore.