Located in the Russian Far East, this peninsula has a landscape covered with volcanoes due to its location along the highly active Pacific ‘Ring of Fire’. There are about 160 volcanoes on the peninsula, 29 of which are still active.
Press of ESA on March 10 that "We can see part of the central mountain range running down the spine of the peninsula, while the eastern range is mostly covered by clouds. Between them lies the central valley, appearing somewhat brown from the lack of snow cover."
It is no surprise that the area is often referred to as the ‘land of fire and ice’. Owing to minimal development, the peninsula is known for its abundance of large brown bears. Other common animals include foxes, wolves, reindeer and wolverines. Sentinel-3 is a two-satellite mission for Europe’s Copernicus programme. While Sentinel-3A has been in orbit since February 2016, the second is set for launch later this year.
Sentinel-2B liftoff
Liftoff of Sentinel-2B on a Vega launcher from Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana at 01:49 GMT (02:49 CET) on 7 March 2017.
Sentinel-2B is the second satellite in the Sentinel-2 mission for Europe’s Copernicus environment monitoring programme.
Designed as a two-satellite constellation – Sentinel-2A and -2B – the Sentinel-2 mission carries an innovative wide swath high-resolution multispectral imager with 13 spectral bands for a new perspective of our land and vegetation. This information is used for agricultural and forestry practices and for helping manage food security. It also provides information on pollution in lakes and coastal waters. Images of floods, volcanic eruptions and landslides contribute to disaster mapping and help humanitarian relief efforts.
Sentinel2Go SocialSpace
Scenes from the Sentinel2Go Social Space event at ESOC, ESA's mission control centre in Darmstadt, Germany, on 6-7 March 2017 for the launch of Sentinel-2B. One hundred invited participants travelled to the centre from over 20 countries.