The Mangrove Forest of Sundarban, The Ganga Delta, India and Bangladesh
11 December 2013

Note: The area of coverage in this SPOT-5 image is 42.00 km x 42.00 km.
The reduced resolution image on display has undergone compression and so does not represent the true resolution of the original satellite image.

The Bidyadari River separates the green Sundarban National Park from the cultivated land to the northwest. Almost the entire image is in the national park, with various types of mangrove and palms creating possibly the biggest wetland forest of the world, inhabited by monkeys, deer, tigers and birds. The forest is a protected area, drained by huge distributaries of the Ganga, including the Garai and the Bidyadari. The fascinating drainage network on the image displays the building of the biggest delta in the world. The upper parts of the smaller channels with steep banks are bare, but this is a wet landscape, a wonderful example of a large delta. The northwestern corner, in contrast, is intensively cultivated, with lowland vegetation surviving along the former river channels and newly formed islands. Several water-related features can be seen, along with faint lines of field boundaries.