The English Channel from space

The English Channel from space oday’s Video of the Day from the European Space Agency features the English Channel from space, as it appears from the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission.

Hundreds of radar images captured between 2016 and 2018 have been compressed into a single image to show the extent of busy maritime traffic passing through.

The English Channel connects the Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, which makes it very busy with traffic moving from east to west.

In fact, there is so much traffic across the region that a two-lane design has been implemented to avoid crashes. There are several major islands in the Channel, the most notable being the Isle of Wight off the English coast, and the Channel Islands, British Crown dependencies off the coast of France. The coastline, particularly on the French shore, is deeply indented; several small islands close to the coastline, including Chausey and Mont Saint-Michel, are within French jurisdiction. The Cotentin Peninsula in France juts out into the Channel, whilst on the English side there is a small parallel strait known as the Solent between the Isle of Wight and the mainland.

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By Chrissy Sexton, Earth.com Staff Writer

Video Credit: European Space Agency