An astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photograph while orbiting over Puglia, the southeastern region of Italy that includes the “heel of the boot.” Settlements appear as lighter-toned, irregularly shaped zones that contrast with the numerous, angular, dark-green plots associated with agricultural land.
The township of Bitonto lies in the center of the image. Toward the north, intensive urban development along the coast of the Adriatic Sea serves the tourist industry centered on Giovinazzo, Santo Spirito, and Palese. Bari, which is Puglia’s capital and a major port, is just east of this scene.
Road and railroad networks connect the region’s settlements. One of the most prominent transportation features in this image is the straight corridor connecting Bitonto to Palese and Bari. The corridor appears as a light-toned linear feature in the image that includes highway SP91 and the immediately adjacent railroad.
A ring-shaped road circles the northern half of Bitonto. The southern half of this ring road runs through agricultural areas and is less visible in the image. This detailed photo—taken with a long (1,200 millimeter) focal length lens—shows a major highway interchange connecting SP231 to the ring road on the west side of Bitonto. The Palese Airport, just east of the SP91 transportation corridor, serves the entire region. The Autostrada Adriatica is a regional highway that passes near Bitonto’s ring road.
Local agriculture primarily comprises permanent crops, such as grape vines and olive trees. A waterway winds along the southern margin of Bitonto and is visible as a dark meandering line. The associated floodplain runs northeastward to the coast and into the Adriatic Sea. The waterway and its banks are part of the Lama Balice Regional Natural Park.
Astronaut photograph ISS070-E-105442 was acquired on December 19, 2023, with a Nikon D5 digital camera using a focal length of 1,200 millimeters. It is provided by the ISS Crew Earth Observations Facility and the Earth Science and Remote Sensing Unit at NASA Johnson Space Center. The image was taken by a member of the Expedition 70 crew. The image has been cropped and enhanced to improve contrast, and lens artifacts have been removed. The International Space Station Program supports the laboratory as part of the ISS National Lab to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. Caption by Justin Wilkinson, Texas State University, Amentum-JETS II Contract at NASA-JSC.
