Narrow Cook Strait, between both large islands of New Zealand

Sentinel-2 MSI acquired on 10 September 2021 at 22:25:41 UTC
Sentinel-1 CSAR IW acquired on 13 May 2022 from 17:30:41 to 17:31:06 UTC
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Sentinel-1 CSAR IW acquired on 06 June 2022 from 17:30:43 to 17:31:08 UTC
Author(s): Sentinel Vision team, VisioTerra, France - svp@visioterra.fr
Keyword(s): Island, hydrology, marine traffic, security, tide, green energy, New Zealand
Fig. 1 - S1 (13.05.2022->06.06.2022) - Cook Strait separates the North & South Islands, it connects the Tasman Sea (N-W) with the South Pacific Ocean (S-E).
2D view
22 km wide at its narrowest point, Cook Strait is considered one of the most dangerous and unpredictable waters in the world. Its tidal elevation at the ends of the strait are almost exactly out of phase with one another, so on one side is high tide and on the other is low tide.
Fig. 2 - S2 (10.09.2021) - The difference in sea level can drive tidal currents up to 2.5 m/s across the strait. Despite the strong currents, there is almost zero tidal height change in the centre of the strait.
2D 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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