This Envisat ASAR multitemporal image shows an area of about 100 kilometers wide, centered over Tokyo. Tokyo's centre lies mainly under south of the Ara-Kawa river; other visible rivers on this image are the Edo-gawa river north to Ara-Kawa and Tama-gawa just south to Ara-Kawa, all three streaming into Tokyo-wan (Tokyo Bay).

A clearly visible example of modern infrastructure is the Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line, the trans-Tokyo Bay highway, with an overall length of approximately 15km, composed of a 5km bridge and a 10km tunnel. The Tokyo Wan Aqua-Line opened in December 1997 and provides easy access from the south part of the Bay to the Tokyo area.

Spot the difference between the area north-west of the Tokyo bay, colours are predominantly grey and white, sign of dense construction and the south-eastern part of the Bay, overall brownish colours, hosting the Minami Boso Quasi National Park known for its beautiful beaches and wild flowers.

Technical Information:

Instrument: Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar (ASAR)

Dates of Acquisition: Red : 12 April 2004, Green : 17 June
2004, Blue : 2 February 2004

Instrument features: Image Mode Precision (geometric sampling: 1 pixel=12.5 m.)

Orbit Direction: Descending

Orbit numbers: 11064, 11565, 10062

ASAR Polarization: V/V

Coordinates:

NE Lat/Long: N 36.09 / E 140.35

NW Lat/Long: N 36.09 / E 139.10

SW Lat/Long: N 35.05 / E 139.11

SE Lat/Long: N 35.06 / E 140.35