Turin, 25 June (LaPresse) – An image released by the European Space Agency (ESA), captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on Wednesday 23 June, confirms the exceptional heatwave currently affecting several countries in Western Europe, with towns and regions in France, Spain and southern Italy recording temperatures that are unusual for this time of year. The data were acquired in the late morning, local time. The colours shown in the image range from purple and deep red (indicating surface temperatures of up to 55°C, found in some areas of central Spain, western France and North Africa) to light blue, which indicates lower surface temperatures in mountainous regions. Some areas were covered by clouds, shown in white. The satellite detected ground temperatures of 48ºC in Madrid, 44ºC in Rome and 46ºC in both Poitiers, France, and Zaragoza, Spain. Ground temperatures in North Africa are visibly higher, peaking at 49ºC in Tunis. As surfaces such as rock, sand and tarmac retain heat, ground temperatures are considerably higher than air temperatures, the ESA points out.
ESA: ‘Ground temperatures in Europe close to 50 degrees’
Turin, 25 June (LaPresse) – An image released by the European Space Agency (ESA), captured by the Copernicus Sentinel-3 mission on Wednesday 23 June, confirms the exceptional heatwave currently affecting several countries in Western Europe, with towns and regions in France, Spain and southern Italy recording temperatures that are unusual for this time of year. The data were acquired in the late morning, local time. The colours shown in the image range from purple and deep red (indicating surface temperatures of up to 55°C, found in some areas of central Spain, western France and North Africa) to light blue, which indicates lower surface temperatures in mountainous regions. Some areas were covered by clouds, shown in white. The satellite detected ground temperatures of 48ºC in Madrid, 44ºC in Rome and 46ºC in both Poitiers, France, and Zaragoza, Spain. Ground temperatures in North Africa are visibly higher, peaking at 49ºC in Tunis. As surfaces such as rock, sand and tarmac retain heat, ground temperatures are considerably higher than air temperatures, the ESA points out.
