File:Wallis on the radar (Copernicus 2024-07-02).png

English: Wallis is an island and coral atoll in the South Pacific with a population of about 11,000 people under the jurisdiction of France. Most of the residents sustain their livelihoods mainly through agriculture and fishing. Still, the unique location of the island also enables it to play a crucial role in the EU Space Programme. Wallis hosts a Galileo Sensor Station (GSS). The GSSs are a network of antennas deployed around the world. Their role is to check the accuracy and signal quality of Galileo satellites in real time and to pinpoint current satellite orbits. This image is a rare stripmap mode Sentinel-1 image from December 2021. Sentinel-1 is an active sensor, collecting data through cloud cover and without sunlight, so it is often used for disaster response management. In strip map mode, the resolution of the sensor is enhanced from 10 m to 3.5 m at the expense of area coverage. This acquisition mode is used exclusively for situation awareness over small islands in case of disasters. In this image, you can see how the coral atoll shields the lagoon from large ocean waves, and you can also recognize features such as the dark airport runway in the north or brightly reflecting buildings in the south and the dark circle of Lake Lalolalo in the east.