In March, we looked at historic Rikers Island in New York. This month for the Pléiades 1 – Pléiades Neo Point of Interest, we travel to other side of the world to check out Tofo Beach in Mozambique.
About the Point of Interest: Tofo is a small town in southeastern Mozambique. The town lies on the Indian Ocean coast, on the Barra Beach peninsula in the Inhambane Province. It’s best known for its long, sandy beach with clear, turquois-colored water. The town is surrounded by lush vegetation, including palm trees and mangroves, and boasts natural beauty and wildlife, including dolphins, whales, and sea turtles. The region also features several coral reefs and is popular among divers and snorkelers. Tofo is a popular tourist destination, attracting visitors from around the world to experience its unique geography and marine life.
These two satellite images show Tofo Beach from above. In the November 11, 2023, Pléiades 1A 50-cm color photo we gaze down at Tofo Beach with its dazzling tan, sandy beach buffered by a dazzling emerald green body of water that stretches out to a rich, dark blue. We can see waves rippling across the water, the white caps, and a boat zooming across. The second photo captured September 15, 2023, a Pléiades Neo 3 30-cm color photo, also shows an aerial view of the beach in a deeper, richer saturation that also makes the rooves of the buildings pop with color. These images have custom processing and color balancing applied by Apollo Mapping. PLEIADES © CNES 2025, Distribution Airbus DS.Fun Factoids: (1) There are 25 restaurants within 3 miles of the beach. (2) Summer months are from October to March, with average daily temperatures of 30°C and a relative humidity of 80%. Rains are expected from late December through to February, but these are mostly tropical showers that last only part of the day. (3) Winter months are from April to September, with daily temperatures between 20 and 25°C, and low humidity. In June and July there can be occasional rainfall. (4) Humpback whales usually arrive around mid-June and stay until mid-October. Whale sharks and manta rays are at Tofo all year round. (5) Protected from the elements, the sheltered area inside the bay has gentle waves safe for intermediate surfers and for those who have never surfed before. More advanced surfers who are up for a challenge can tackle the larger swells and the reef break that is a short walk along the beach from Tofo.
The 50-cm Pléiades 1 High-Resolution Satellite Constellation
The Pléiades 1 constellation (or at least part of it!) has been in orbit since December 2011 and if you have not had a chance to check out any sample imagery, take a few moments and have a look at the gallery on our website. If you work with high-resolution imagery, you should consider Pléiades 1 and Pléiades Neo for your next geospatial projects.
A variety of Pléiades 1 products are available from both a well-established archive and as a new collection, including 50-centimeter (cm) pansharpened imagery and 50-cm panchromatic – 2-meter (m) 4-band multispectral bundles. We are happy to discuss the technical specifications, pricing and tasking options available with both of these satellite constellations.
The 30-cm Pléiades Neo High-Resolution Satellite Constellation
Pléiades Neo is our newest high-resolution satellite constellation. The first Neo satellite went up in April 2021 and the second in August of the same year. This 30-centimeter resolution constellation will add two more satellites in the next few months and upgrade from daily to intraday revisits. Pléiades Neo has six multispectral bands with 1.2-meter resolution, including a deep blue and two infrared bands, along with a 30-centimeter resolution panchromatic band.
The archive is growing every day, and the satellites are available for new collections, making Pléiades Neo the perfect solution for site monitoring. Check out our beautiful sample images in the Pléiades Neo gallery.
More sample images and technical information about Pléiades 1 can be found on our website here; while the same can be found here for the Pléiades Neo constellation.
The Apollo Mapping sales team can answer any questions you might have about Pléiades 1 and/or Pléiades Neo. We can be reached at (303) 993-3863 or sales@apollomapping.com.
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