ESA shares Venetian Lagoon image ahead of planned IRIDE expansion

The European Space Agency (ESA) published a true-colour satellite view of the Venetian Lagoon on 25 September 2026, showing Venice’s waterways and surrounding wetlands ahead of a planned expansion of Italy’s IRIDE Earth-observation constellation. The image was acquired on 17 May by IRIDE’s Hawk for Earth Observation (HEO) satellites. [1]

Venice’s Grand Canal curves through the historic centre, with islands scattered across the surrounding blue waters. ESA identifies white trails left by boats south of the city, near Murano to the north and near Vignole to the east. These visible trails are not accompanied by measurements of boat traffic or evidence of changes in activity. [1]

Beyond the city, the image takes in mud flats, salt marshes and shallow tidal waters. ESA attributes the brighter-blue areas to sediment suspended in the water, while describing darker-blue areas as clearer water. In the upper-right part of the image, brown and dark-green areas mark salt marshes known locally as ‘barene’, which the agency describes as important habitat for migrating birds. [1]

IRIDE is a national Earth-observation mission initiated by the Italian government and developed by ESA for the Italian Space Agency (ASI). It is funded through Italy’s National Recovery and Resilience Plan. [1]