This image was captured on 8 January during a period of unusual cold and snowfall across parts of southern Europe. As a consequence, the mountains of Sicily are visible in white across the northern part of the island.
While Italy’s northern regions experienced little snowfall this winter, the central and southern areas have seen abnormally cold conditions and snowfall in mountainous areas.
Mount Etna, an active volcano, is visible at upper right. Positioned over the zone where the African plate collides with and slips under the Eurasian plate, Etna’s frequent eruptions are often accompanied by large lava flows, smoke and ash.
Sentinel-2 provides optical data for land and vegetation monitoring. Its main instrument has 13 spectral bands, and this false-colour image was processed including the near-infrared channel – which explains why vegetation appears red.
The varying shades of red and other colours across the entire image indicate how sensitive the instrument is to differences in chlorophyll content. This is used to provide key information on plant health; brighter reds indicate healthier vegetation.
Originally published by Cosmos as Sicilian snow
Cosmos
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