French astronaut Thomas Pesquet has captured some fantastic images of agriculture and nature around the world from the International Space Station.
Pesquet spent six months orbiting the earth and during his time there took some incredible photographs of both urban and rural landscapes, and weather systems.
Here are just some of the rural images he took during his space mission:
The fields of Picardy in northern France, an area which includes the vineyards of the Champagne region.
Fields of Picardy. The best way to appreciate their beauty is from above.. #France #SpringArt pic.twitter.com/V72kMsF9Qz
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) May 14, 2017
Pesquet photographed geometrical fields in Azerbaijan, where around 40% of the working population make some part of their living in agriculture.
Post-Soviet land reforms saw small land plots of 1ha to 3ha allocated to individual farmers. The varied climate allows cultivation of a wide variety of crops, ranging from peaches to almonds, and from rice to cotton.
Perfectly geometrical fields in Azerbaijan https://t.co/MgWkD6ZdAU pic.twitter.com/ot6cako1we
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) May 14, 2017
These fields in Arizona show the irrigation systems against the more natural landscape all around them. Arizona is the second biggest state in the United States for production of lettuce, cauliflower and broccoli, spinach and cantaloupe. There are more than 20,000 farms and ranches across the state, with cattle and calves being Arizona’s leading agricultural product, followed by dairy production.
This photo in #Arizona tells tales: nature likes curves and randomness, man likes order and geometry... who will win in the end? pic.twitter.com/XH7AHjDKLp
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) May 2, 2017
Agriculture in the Sudan is extremely challenging. Much of the land is too dry for crops but millions of cattle, sheep and goats are kept, often in nomadic grazing systems.
Pumps bring water from the river Nile to crops such as sorghum, millet and cereal grains, while vegetables and fruit like lemons, mangoes, grapefruit, paw paws and oranges are grown in fields all along the river.
Some tightly-packed agriculture in Sudan, one of the largest irrigation projects in the world https://t.co/sfhntdoL2A pic.twitter.com/LnXAmm2oPf
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) April 30, 2017
Farming activity packed tightly between the river and mountains in Morocco.
Fitting agriculture between the river and mountains #EarthArt https://t.co/eU2DoBBUOB pic.twitter.com/tZ2aCo9zQm
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) May 22, 2017
A lake in China viewed from space.
A colourful lake at high altitude in the remote eastern reaches of China https://t.co/G6ApbaTx1f #proxima pic.twitter.com/domUdlR2Yk
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) May 7, 2017
A colourful river on the island of Madagascar, off the southeast coast of Africa.
Betsimboka river, Madagascar, with its vivid colors: bright reds and purples mixed with blue and lush green. Nature is beautiful! #EarthArt pic.twitter.com/bKGulZYJ7v
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) May 13, 2017
The astronaut captured the ferocious clouds of a gathering storm over Africa.
A really nice, but somehow menacing cloud... Africa, home to the biggest thunderstorms I’ve seen as a pilot ?? pic.twitter.com/asCxDNJbvA
— Thomas Pesquet (@Thom_astro) May 14, 2017
Watch: The 2,000-mile American harvest
Listen: Boom time for farming in Ukraine
Watch: Vietnamese farmers struggle under communism and capitalism
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