Mount Kenya, second highest summit of Africa

Sentinel-1 CSAR IW acquired on 14 May 2017 at 15:48:11 UTC
Sentinel-1 CSAR IW acquired on 30 November 2017 at 03:10:53 UTC
Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 03 February 2019 at 07:41:29 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Mountain, volcano, ice cap, glacier, cryosphere, climate change, UNESCO World Heritage site, Great rift valley.
Fig. 1 - S2 (03.02.2019) - 4,3,2 natural colour over the CGMW geological map of Africa - Mount Kenya lies along the East African rift.
2D view 3D view
Mount Kenya is an effusive stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the Gregory rift.
Fig. 2 - S1 (30.11.2017) - vv,vh,ndi(vh,vv) composite - Mt Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya & the 2nd-highest in Africa with 5199m.
3D view
Fig. 3 - S2 - 11,8,2 colour composite - It was covered by an ice cap for thousands of years, 11 small rapidly shrinking glaciers remain.
3D view
Surrounded by crop areas, there are distinct vegetation rings around Mount Kenya which vary according to altitude & aspect, from bottom to top: montane forest, bamboo forest, timberline forest, heathland & chaparral, afro-alpine and finally the nival zone.
Fig. 4 - S1 (30.11.2017) - vv,vh,vv composite - A UNESCO World Heritage site since 1997, Mount Kenya National Park is 715 km² wide.
3D view
Fig. 5 - S1 (30.11.2017) - vv,vh,ndi(vh,vv) - This ice cap resulted in very eroded slopes & numerous valleys radiating from the centre.
3D view
The views expressed herein can in no way be taken to reflect the official opinion of the European Space Agency or the European Union.
Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2024, processed by VisioTerra.
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