Images
June 16, 2026 - Yos Sudarso Island
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The beautiful, leaf-shaped Yos Sudarso Island sits on the western edge of Papua Province, Indonesia. It is separated by a narrow channel, the Muli Strait, from New Guinea. The island’s marshy habitat is ideal for mangrove trees, which are short, tenacious trees that grows along coastal edges where conditions can be quite harsh. Mangrove forests protect coastlines, help protect people from storms, help slow climate warming by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, and provide a unique and critical habitat for several species of birds and animals.
Over the last many decades, the mangrove forests in most locations—including those at Yos Sudarso—have been in decline as people cleared them to access beautiful coastal edges. Recently, however, mangrove forests on Sudarso Island have been staging a welcome regrowth, thanks to recognition of their extreme importance to the health and welfare of humans and habitat that has led to cessation of deforestation.
This true-color image of green Yos Sudarso Island was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on June 12, 2026.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/12/2026
Resolutions:
1km (141.9 KB), 500m (428.3 KB), 250m (592.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The beautiful, leaf-shaped Yos Sudarso Island sits on the western edge of Papua Province, Indonesia. It is separated by a narrow channel, the Muli Strait, from New Guinea. The island’s marshy habitat is ideal for mangrove trees, which are short, tenacious trees that grows along coastal edges where conditions can be quite harsh. Mangrove forests protect coastlines, help protect people from storms, help slow climate warming by absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, and provide a unique and critical habitat for several species of birds and animals.
Over the last many decades, the mangrove forests in most locations—including those at Yos Sudarso—have been in decline as people cleared them to access beautiful coastal edges. Recently, however, mangrove forests on Sudarso Island have been staging a welcome regrowth, thanks to recognition of their extreme importance to the health and welfare of humans and habitat that has led to cessation of deforestation.
This true-color image of green Yos Sudarso Island was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite on June 12, 2026.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 6/12/2026
Resolutions:
1km (141.9 KB), 500m (428.3 KB), 250m (592.9 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
