Chinese Satellite Shows Stunning Views of Country From Above

China's Gaofen-1 satellite has been in operation for several months now, and the government just released some of its most impressive shots. The images, provided by the China National Space Administration, show a variety of high-resolution views of China from above. Don't worry, the country's not actually mint green and red — that's just the false color scheme given to help pick out different types of vegetation and landmarks. The picture above shows an area near the Shengli oilfields along Bohai Bay, southeast of Beijing.

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The 2-meter (6.5-foot) resolution of the Gaofen-1 satellite isn't as good as the 1-foot resolution of U.S.-based DigitalGlobe's WorldView-3 satellite, launched earlier this month, but it's enough to do serious surveys of the countryside — or the ocean. Gaofen-1 was one of the satellites involved in the search for MH370, and will be put to use both for emergencies like landslides and forest fires, and for law enforcement — such as locating enormous marijuana plantations. China launched the second-generation Gaofen-2 satellite last week.

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—Devin Coldewey