Okavango Delta, Botswana, April and September 2024
Views from April and September 2024 record the delta before and after the annual flood pulse from the Angolan highlands spread through its channels.
2024-04-19
2024-09-06
- Place
- Okavango Delta, Ngamiland, Botswana
- Coordinates
- -19.4500, 22.8500
- Acquired
- 2024-04-19 and 2024-09-06
- Region
- Botswana, Ngamiland
- Satellite
- Sentinel-2, true color
- Occasion
- World Water Day
- Source
- Sentinel-2 Level-2A true-color image, six tiles (34KFC to 34KGE), relative orbit 121
- Catalog
- Microsoft Planetary Computer STAC, collection sentinel-2-l2a
- Resolution
- 110 m ground sample distance
- Scenes
S2B_MSIL2A_20240419T081609_R121_T34KGE_20240419T122758,S2B_MSIL2A_20240419T081609_R121_T34KGD_20240419T122757,S2B_MSIL2A_20240419T081609_R121_T34KGC_20240419T122757,S2B_MSIL2A_20240419T081609_R121_T34KFE_20240419T123244,S2B_MSIL2A_20240419T081609_R121_T34KFD_20240419T122814,S2B_MSIL2A_20240419T081609_R121_T34KFC_20240419T122809,S2B_MSIL2A_20240906T081609_R121_T34KGE_20240906T142239,S2B_MSIL2A_20240906T081609_R121_T34KGD_20240906T142239,S2B_MSIL2A_20240906T081609_R121_T34KGC_20240906T142239,S2B_MSIL2A_20240906T081609_R121_T34KFE_20240906T142239,S2B_MSIL2A_20240906T081609_R121_T34KFD_20240906T142239,S2B_MSIL2A_20240906T081609_R121_T34KFC_20240906T142239- Rights
- Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024. Copernicus Sentinel data is free, full, and open. Rendering by Heimdall Research.
- Credit
- Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024.
- Published
Context
What this shows
The Okavango River rises in the highlands of Angola and, instead of reaching the sea, spreads into a fan of channels, lagoons and islands in the Kalahari. Rain that falls in Angola around January arrives in the delta months later, so the flood peaks in the dry season, between June and August, and reaches its greatest extent well after the last local rain. The 176 by 99 km window covers the fan from the panhandle at the top left to the distal channels at the bottom right.
The April frame shows the permanent swamp and the channels before the pulse; the September frame shows the same fan after the flood has spread and, in the far reaches, begun to recede. A month-by-month version of this sequence is the basis of the loop on the home page.
Method
How the image was made
Sentinel-2 Level-2A true-color images from the same relative orbit, mosaicked from the six tiles that cover the delta and warped to a common 110-meter grid. Both frames share one brightness and contrast adjustment. No water classification is applied; this is the picture, not a measurement.
Prints
Prints
Every print carries the place, the date, and the source credit on the mat, as shown. Sizes and paper are quoted with the rights and source resolution confirmed.
This observation
Prints and analysis
Prints are quoted once rights and source resolution are confirmed. Analysis requests get a direct answer about what the imagery can and cannot show.