SAV: Satellite Images Show Vegetation Has Dried Out When Compared to Last Year

Bratislava, 19 August (TASR) - Satellite images from mid-August have revealed a marked difference in vegetation cover in Slovakia between 2025 and 2026, indicating that land has been drying out, the Geography Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAV) reported on its website on Wednesday. The Geography Institute compared images from the Sentinel-3 satellite taken on 15 August 2025 and on 15 August 2026. Both images were processed in the same way, i.e. using the same radiometric parameters, colour scale and visualisation settings. The colour differences between them are therefore not the result of different processing methods. "In the image for August 2026, brown and light shades are more pronounced across a large part of Slovakia. They are most pronounced in the lowlands and in intensively farmed agricultural land, where the drying out of vegetation and a lack of moisture are evident," stated the institute, adding that the images show just how significantly the condition of the landscape can differ even when comparing the same date in two consecutive years. "Satellite observations make it possible to monitor the condition of vegetation across large areas and compare its development over time. They are therefore an important source of information for monitoring drought and its spatial extent, as well as for assessing landscape changes linked to weather extremes and climate change," added the Geography Institute. am/df