Morocco’s mysterious red patch visible from space reveals thriving desert agriculture

The Copernicus Sentinel-2 orbital fleet of the European Space Agency immortalized this chromatic curiosity. Scientists used the near-infrared channel, a technological tool measuring vegetation density. Since healthy plants absorb red light and strongly reflect green and infrared radiation, crops appear as brilliant scarlet on spatial data.

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This vivid red blanket unfolds along the watercourses of the Anti-Atlas, an area nonetheless subjected to the extreme aridity of the Sahara. The satellite’s passage coincided with the humid winter season. Thanks to this water supply, secondary streams and surrounding small orchards experienced a biological awakening captured at a fine resolution of 10 meters by optical sensors.

Just north of this oasis lies Ouarzazate, a city world-famous for its desert vines that served as a backdrop for films like Gladiator, Lawrence of Arabia, The Mummy, and the series Game of Thrones. Spatial imagery also reveals the El Mansour Eddahbi dam, recognizable by its opaque black hue. This artificial lake with an average depth of 30 meters stores the waters of the Draa, the longest watercourse in the country, to irrigate the region.

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Approximately 10 kilometers further north, the satellite spotted the gigantic Noor concentrated solar power plant. Extending over more than 3,000 hectares, this energy complex stands as the largest concentrated solar energy installation on the planet. Its thousands of curved mirrors direct radiation toward thermal receivers to efficiently accumulate heat.