![](\"http:\/\/www.esa.int\/var\/esa\/storage\/images\/esa_multimedia\/images\/2013\/12\/boca_do_acre_brazil\/13440774-1-eng-GB\/Boca_do_Acre_Brazil_small.jpg\")
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\nThis Envisat radar image was acquired over the city of Boca do Acre in western Brazil.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe city lies within Amazonas state, the largest Brazilian state by area, and almost completely covered by the Amazon Rainforest.\n<\/p>\n
\nThe name Boca do Acre \u2013 or \u2018mouth of the Acre\u2019 \u2013 comes from its location on the banks where the Acre and Purus rivers meet.\n<\/p>\n
\nAlong the river\u2019s main course are free-standing \u2018oxbow lakes\u2019, formed when a river changes course.\n<\/p>\n
\nThis scene is a compilation of three images from Envisat\u2019s radar, acquired on 28 October 2005, 12 September 2008 and 17 September 2010. The individual images are each assigned a colour \u2013 red, green and blue \u2013 and when combined, reveal changes in the surface between Envisat\u2019s passes.\n<\/p>\n
\nIn this image, the colours reveal large areas of deforestation \u2013 evident by the large, geometrically shaped plots cut out along linear roads.\n<\/p>\n
\nGiven its size and frequent cloud cover, remote sensing using radar images is the best way to study the Amazon Basin on a large scale, especially for assessing the extent and damage due to deforestation. Radars can observe during both day and night and through any weather conditions.\n<\/p>\n
\nSatellite observations also support the United Nations\u2019 Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in developing countries, or REDD, initiative.\n<\/p>\n
\nTrees absorb carbon dioxide and convert it into oxygen, while trees that rot, are cut down or burnt actually emit carbon dioxide. So preserving forests not only keeps them from releasing the gas, it ensures the absorption of carbon dioxide from other sources.\n<\/p>\n
\nREDD gives a financial incentive for developing countries to maintain forested areas. Reducing or preventing deforestation is the mitigation option with the largest and most immediate carbon stock impact in the short term, as the release of carbon as emissions into the atmosphere is prevented. \n<\/p>\n
\nUpcoming missions such as Sentinel-1 and -2, being developed for Europe\u2019s Copernicus programme, as well as ESA\u2019s Biomass satellite, will support REDD in forest mapping and monitoring. \n<\/p>\n