You'd be forgiven for thinking that this was a beatuifully textured piece of modern art—but you'd be wrong. It is in fact a view of the rolling hills of farmland in the northwest United States, pictured by the Korea Aerospace Research Institute's Kompsat-2 satellite.


Snapped over Washington state, the image above shows Columbia County in all its glory. The full image—which you can see by clicking on the image below—also includes Walla Walla county to the south and west. If you look at the image closely, you can make out the swirling patterns in vegetation, created by the ploughs that tend the earth of this lush, crop-producing part of the world. [ESA]

Image by ESA