May 2, 2024

Exploring Earth From Space: City-Island-Nation of Singapore [Video]

Singapore is located just off the southern pointer of the Malayan Peninsula, in between Malaysia and Indonesia, around 84 miles (135 km) north of the equator. It consists of the 270 square mile (710 sq km) Singapore Island, visible in the top-center of the image, in addition to some 63 satellite islands and small islets.
Nearly two-thirds of Singapore Island is less than 50 feet (15 m) above water level. The highest top, Timah Hill, has an elevation of just 538 feet (165 m). Changi Airport, one of the biggest transport hubs in Asia, can be seen at the eastern end of the island.
Singapore Island is separated from Peninsular Malaysia to the north by the Johore Strait, a narrow channel crossed by a road and train causeway, while the southern end faces the Singapore Strait, where the Riau-Lingga Archipelago (part of Indonesia) extends.
Singapore is house to the largest port in Southeast Asia and one of the busiest on the planet. The port provides connection to more than 600 ports in 123 nations. It owes its growth and success to its position at the southern extremity of the Malay Peninsula, where it dominates the Strait of Malacca, which links the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea.
This weeks image contains satellite data stitched together from 3 different radar scans, in order to detect modifications occurring between acquisitions. The sea surface area reflects the radar signal away from the satellite, making the water appear dark in the image and contrasts with metal objects, in this case, ships and vessels, which appear as brilliant, sparkly dots in the dark water.
In this image, boats from December 28, 2021, appear in red, those from January 9, 2022, appear in green, and those from January 21, 2022, appear in blue. The various colors in the ocean are due to the altering surface area currents and sediments from river deltas, while significant cities and towns are visible in white owing to the strong reflection of the radar signal.
The advantage of radar as a remote sensing tool is that it can image Earths surface through rain and cloud, and regardless of whether it is day or night. This is especially useful for monitoring areas vulnerable to long periods of darkness– such as the Arctic– or offering imagery for emergency response during severe weather conditions.
In this episode of the Earth From Space program, the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission takes us over Singapore, the only city-island-nation and among the busiest ports on the planet. Credit: ESA– European Space Agency.
This image is likewise included on the Earth from Space video program embedded above.

This radar image, captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, reveals us the only city-island-nation– Singapore– and among the busiest ports in the world. Credit: Contains customized Copernicus Sentinel data (2021-22), processed by ESA, CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO
This radar image, caught from area by the Copernicus Sentinel-1 mission, shows us the only city-island-nation– Singapore– and one of the busiest ports worldwide.
Singapore, officially referred to as the Republic of Singapore, is the worlds only island city-state. Provided its little geographic size and population of about 5.6 million individuals, it is the 2nd most densely populated nation worldwide after Monaco. (Monaco has simply a small portion of the population, however an even smaller land location.).
Singapore has four official languages; English, Malay, Mandarin, and Tamil. According to their constitution, Malay is the nationwide language, however English is the lingua franca.

Singapore, formally understood as the Republic of Singapore, is the worlds only island city-state. Almost two-thirds of Singapore Island is less than 50 feet (15 m) above sea level. Singapore is house to the biggest port in Southeast Asia and one of the busiest in the world. The port offers connectivity to more than 600 ports in 123 nations.