A Copernicus Sentinel-2 image acquired on 5 April 2026 shows Etosha National Park in northern Namibia, according to the European Space Agency. The reserve contains a large salt flat, the Etosha Pan, along with numerous smaller salt pans. In this false-colour image, vegetation appears red.

The Etosha Pan spans roughly 130 km from east to west and covers 4760 sq km, appearing bright white to the human eye. In the image, colours range from white salt to light blue where water carries cloudy sediment and dark blue where water is clearer. Water also remains in smaller pans northwest of the Etosha Pan, the largest being the Natukanaoka Pan, shown in shades of green and blue.

The image was acquired at the start of the dry season, when average daily temperatures typically range from 14°C to 30°C. Vegetation around the pan consists mainly of grassland, savannas and mopane woodland, the agency said. Sentinel-2's multispectral imager detects light in 13 spectral bands, allowing near-infrared and short-wave infrared light to be captured and dense vegetation to be highlighted.