The European Space Agency (ESA) released on September 18, 2026, a Sentinel-2 satellite image acquired on August 25, 2026, showing a region of the Andean Altiplano in southern Bolivia, near the Chilean border.
The false-color image, using the near-infrared channel, highlights vegetation in red, mainly found in river valleys and around urban areas such as the city of Calama in Chile and the Rio Pata region in Bolivia.
The Andes mountain range along the Bolivia-Chile border is also visible, as well as numerous lagoons, including Laguna Colorada, a shallow salt lake situated at 4,278 meters altitude. Fed by the Sulor River, this lake is highly saline with elevated levels of sodium chloride, sulfates, and microorganisms, giving it a red color visible to the naked eye.
In the Sentinel-2 image, Laguna Colorada appears in blue and brown due to the reflectance of near-infrared channels from the water and surrounding bare soils. The lake is recognized as a wetland of international importance under the Ramsar Convention.
