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Floods in India and Banglade
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| Title |
Floods in India and Bangladesh |
| Description |
Weeks of intense heat in India finally gave way to a late-onset monsoon season, and the people in the sate of Assam in the northeast part of the country traded one environmental insult for another: heat for flooding. A deluge of rain brought the Brahmaputra River and numerous tributaries out of their banks in severe flooding that has displaced almost half a million people. These images show the region on March 5 (top images, before the monsoon) and June 16 (bottom image, monsoon flooding). Both images were acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite. The top two images are from March 5, showing the wider area and a close up of the Brahmaputra River in Assam using a false-color image technique that highlights the presence of standing water, which appears dark blue or black. The river makes a thin squiggly line through the pale tan flood plain, which contrasts against the green vegetation. On June 16 (bottom image), the swollen river makes a broad blue line through the image, and flooded areas are obvious all along the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains, which run across the top of the images. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Floods in India and Banglade
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| Title |
Floods in India and Bangladesh |
| Description |
Heavy monsoon rains have filled the rivers of India and Bangladesh past capacity, affecting over ten million people in the densely populated countries. In the top image, taken by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on July 13, 2004, the massively swollen Brahmaputra River flows through India's Assam state and turns south into Bangladesh. Much of the flood damage is along this river. In Assam, an estimated 3,200 villages are under water, according to news reports, and one-third of Bangladesh has been affected. Officials are calling this year's floods the worst in a decade. So far, nearly 170 people have died in the floods. This false-color image pair provides a dramatic contrasting view of the flooded river on July 13, and the river during the dry season on May 8, 2004. In both images, water is dark blue, clouds are light blue, and vegetation is green. A bright white streak running across the flood image is caused by sunlight reflecting into MODIS'"eye." The high resolution images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Floods in India and Banglade
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| Title |
Floods in India and Bangladesh |
| Description |
Ongoing torrential rain continues to fuel floods in southern Asia. The Brahmaputra River in India and Bangladesh is flowing at dangerously high levels, and has claimed scores of villages and lives. As of July 20, the death toll stood at 93 in Bangladesh and 277 in India. Well over 30 million people have been affected by this year?s floods. For more information about the flood situation, visit Relief Web [ http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/vLND/F4C73B6A9D95BC4585256EBE0063FE60?OpenDocument&StartKey=India:+Floods+-+Jun+2004&ExpandView ], sponsored by the United Nations. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) flying onboard NASA?s Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this false-color image of the rising river waters on July 22, 2004. The dark blue waters aren?t the only sign of flooding: darker green areas along the river are probably saturated with water. The bright white streak along the left edge of the image was formed when MODIS captured the reflection of the sun off of water on the ground. In this image, vegetation is bright green, clouds are light blue, and water is dark blue. NASA image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Floods in India and Banglade
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| Title |
Floods in India and Bangladesh |
| Description |
Though flood waters have begun to recede in Bangladesh, much of the country remains water-logged. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) image, taken on August 2, 2004, by the MODIS sensor on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, shows dark blue and black flood water over much of the eastern half of the country. Light blue clouds partially obscure the false-color scene where vegetation is bright green. According to the Associated Press, 586 had died in Bangladesh as a result of the floods as of August 1, bringing the toll of this year's floods to 1,551 in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan. Up to 30 million are homeless. The above image shows the floods at 250 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2004215/FAS_Bangladesh.2004215.aqua.721 ]. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Floods in India and Banglade
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| Title |
Floods in India and Bangladesh |
| Description |
Overwhelmed by monsoon rains and melting snow running down from the Himalaya, the Ganges River has spread over the Indo-Gangetic plains of Northern India's Bihar state. On August 1, 2004, the clouds cleared just enough to afford a peak at the dark blue flood waters. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this scene, which is shown in false color to highlight the presence of water. Clouds are light blue, vegetation is bright green, and water is dark blue and black. According to news reports, the floods stranded over 400,000 people in the final two weeks of July. Now, as the flood waters begin to recede, the concern is water-borne disease in the absence of fresh drinking water. NASA image created from data courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Floods in Myanmar
| Title |
Floods in Myanmar |
| Description |
With the onset of monsoon rains, the Ayeyarwady River of Myanmar (Burma) more than doubled in size during June. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on June 21, 2006, nearly one month after the lower image was taken on May 22. By June 21, the winding shape of the river is concealed by the monsoon floods. In the large image, similar flooding is visible farther north. To the left of the river, flood water drenches the ground. The region around this stretch of the river is wetland, and the image may be showing normal rainy-season conditions for the wetland. These images are shown in MODIS' shortwave and near-infrared bands to highlight the presence of water. Clear water is dark blue or black, while sediment-laden water is lighter blue. Clouds are pale blue and white, plant-covered land is green, and bare earth is tan. The large images provided above have a resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2006172 ] of the region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Floods in Myanmar
| Title |
Floods in Myanmar |
| Description |
With the onset of monsoon rains, the Ayeyarwady River of Myanmar (Burma) more than doubled in size during June. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on June 21, 2006, nearly one month after the lower image was taken on May 22. By June 21, the winding shape of the river is concealed by the monsoon floods. In the large image, similar flooding is visible farther north. To the left of the river, flood water drenches the ground. The region around this stretch of the river is wetland, and the image may be showing normal rainy-season conditions for the wetland. These images are shown in MODIS' shortwave and near-infrared bands to highlight the presence of water. Clear water is dark blue or black, while sediment-laden water is lighter blue. Clouds are pale blue and white, plant-covered land is green, and bare earth is tan. The large images provided above have a resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2006172 ] of the region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Haze along the Himalaya Fron
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| Title |
Haze along the Himalaya Front Range |
| Description |
A river of haze follows the course of the Ganges River in northern India, flowing eastward along the base of the towering, snow-capped Himalaya Mountains (upper right) before turning south over Bangladesh and then spreading out in gray streamers over the Bay of Bengal in the Indian Ocean (lower right). Although the pollution comes from human activities,?agricultural fires, home heating sources that rely on wood, kerosene, or dung, and industrial and vehicle emissions?it lingers because of topography and atmospheric circulation patterns. In the winter phase of the Indian Ocean Monsoon, winds typically blow seaward, which carries the large, thick "brown cloud" of pollution far out over the ocean. Recently, NASA scientists announced that the visible particles of soot that give the polluted air its name aren't the only component of the brown cloud that the atmosphere transports over long distances. The plume also contains ozone, which is beneficial to humans when it is located way above the Earth in the stratosphere, but harmful when it is located closer to the Earth in the troposphere. Ozone spreads even farther away from the original source than the soot particles. Convection over the ocean sucks the ozone high into the air where it enters wider-scale atmospheric circulation patterns. These patterns spread the ozone westward across the Indian Ocean, Africa, and onward to the Atlantic Ocean. Along the way, the ozone from the Asian brown cloud gets mixed together with ozone from agricultural fires in Africa, as well as with ozone from the stratosphere which occasionally gets mixed down to lower altitudes. The long-range transport of ozone from these sources explains why such high levels of tropospheric ozone are observed in the air over the South Atlantic Ocean, far from the source of the emissions. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the MODIS Rapid Response team. |
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Haze and Sediment in Banglad
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| Title |
Haze and Sediment in Bangladesh and India |
| Description |
On January 27, 2007, haze sprawled from the southern edge of the Himalaya Mountains southward over the Bay of Bengal. In between, it clouded the skies over northern India and Bangladesh. In the south, thick sediment colored the Mouth of the Ganges shades of pale brown and blue-green. Such sediment is a natural occurrence, although land-use changes such as deforestation and agriculture can increase the sediment volume. The haze, mostly a mixture of urban and industrial pollution, often collects at the base of the mountains in the wintertime. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite captured this image on January 27, 2007. In this image, the haze appears thickest in the northwest. It thins toward the south, but haze is still clearly visible over the ocean. The haze appears to follow a distinct path toward the ocean, concentrating over the border between India and western Bangladesh. Farther west in India, and on the east side of Bangladesh, skies appear clear. Along the coastline of India and Bangladesh, the dark green Sundarbans [ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sundarbans ] mangrove forests stand out from the otherwise brown landscape. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Deadly Floods Sweep Across N
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| Title |
Deadly Floods Sweep Across Northeastern India |
| Description |
A tropical depression moved in from the Bay of Bengal during the first week of October 2004, pounding Bangladesh and Northeastern India with heavy rain for several days. Starting on October 9, flash floods ran through the foothills of the Himalaya, killing over 150, according to the most recent media reports. The majority of the deaths occurred in the Goalpara Region of the Assam state in northeastern India, shown in the above images. The twisted braids of the Brahmaputra River, the top river, were greatly swollen on October 12 when compared to the river's size on October 2. More astonishing is the flooding observed along the Jamuna River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra. The river has expanded from a thin line, barely visible on October 2 to a massive lake that is more than 125 kilometers in width in places. In both images, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]), water is dark blue and black, clouds are light blue, and vegetation is green. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Both the October 12 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2004286 ] and October 2 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2004276 ] images are available in additional resolutions and formats, including a true-color view. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Deadly Floods Sweep Across N
…
| Title |
Deadly Floods Sweep Across Northeastern India |
| Description |
A tropical depression moved in from the Bay of Bengal during the first week of October 2004, pounding Bangladesh and Northeastern India with heavy rain for several days. Starting on October 9, flash floods ran through the foothills of the Himalaya, killing over 150, according to the most recent media reports. The majority of the deaths occurred in the Goalpara Region of the Assam state in northeastern India, shown in the above images. The twisted braids of the Brahmaputra River, the top river, were greatly swollen on October 12 when compared to the river's size on October 2. More astonishing is the flooding observed along the Jamuna River, a tributary of the Brahmaputra. The river has expanded from a thin line, barely visible on October 2 to a massive lake that is more than 125 kilometers in width in places. In both images, acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]), water is dark blue and black, clouds are light blue, and vegetation is green. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Both the October 12 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2004286 ] and October 2 [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2004276 ] images are available in additional resolutions and formats, including a true-color view. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Monsoon Floods in India
| Title |
Monsoon Floods in India |
| Description |
June normally marks the beginning of the monsoon season in India, but early rains triggered floods in northeastern India earlier than normal. According to news reports, 25,000 people were displaced in India's Assam state when the Brahmaputra River burst its banks in early June. When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on June 3, 2006, the river was already swollen with a week's worth of monsoon rains. To the south of the river, water puddles in low-lying regions and runs in streaks down the Khasi Hills near the border with Bangladesh. Additional flooding may be occurring in Bangladesh, but the Sun's reflection masks the surface in a silvery mirror called sunglint. Clouds, light blue and white in these images, also hide some of the floods from view. The lower image shows Assam, India, and eastern Bangladesh a little over a week earlier, before the monsoon rains set in. The river is dry-season thin as it snakes through its bed, which is tan from being scoured of most or all plants during the seasonal floods. Red dots along the river show where MODIS detected several fires. The large images provided above have a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2006154 ] of eastern India and Bangladesh are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions, including MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Monsoon Floods in India
| Title |
Monsoon Floods in India |
| Description |
June normally marks the beginning of the monsoon season in India, but early rains triggered floods in northeastern India earlier than normal. According to news reports, 25,000 people were displaced in India's Assam state when the Brahmaputra River burst its banks in early June. When the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on June 3, 2006, the river was already swollen with a week's worth of monsoon rains. To the south of the river, water puddles in low-lying regions and runs in streaks down the Khasi Hills near the border with Bangladesh. Additional flooding may be occurring in Bangladesh, but the Sun's reflection masks the surface in a silvery mirror called sunglint. Clouds, light blue and white in these images, also hide some of the floods from view. The lower image shows Assam, India, and eastern Bangladesh a little over a week earlier, before the monsoon rains set in. The river is dry-season thin as it snakes through its bed, which is tan from being scoured of most or all plants during the seasonal floods. Red dots along the river show where MODIS detected several fires. The large images provided above have a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2006154 ] of eastern India and Bangladesh are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team in a variety of resolutions, including MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Monsoon Floods in Northern I
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| Title |
Monsoon Floods in Northern India |
| Description |
The combined impact of a tropical cyclone and monsoon rains drove the many branches of the Ganges River in the Sundarbans delta of eastern India over their banks in late September 2006. The most notably flooded river in the top Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) image, collected by NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on September 26, is the Hugli River, which has spread several kilometers over its flood plain compared to conditions nine days earlier (lower image). The Hugli River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17410 ] (also Hooghly) branches off the Ganges about 200 kilometers north of Kolkata (Calcutta) and flows south past the city through the state of West Bengal to drain into the Bay of Bengal. Though the city of Kolkata is obscured by clouds in the flood scene (it's the tan region near the bottom of the lower image), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that floods in the city forced more than 2,000 people from their homes. The cloud-free region around the city reveals extensive flooding, with water forming black or dark blue streaks and pools on the bright green, vegetated land. Additional flooding is visible along the Hugli and other branches of the Ganges in the large image. These images were created using both visible and infrared light to allow water to stand out from the land. In these images, clouds are pale blue and white, water is dark blue or black, plant-covered land is green, and bare or sparsely vegetated land (like the city) is tan. Additional infrared images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2006269 ] and photo-like images of India are available from the |
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Monsoon Floods in Northern I
…
| Title |
Monsoon Floods in Northern India |
| Description |
The combined impact of a tropical cyclone and monsoon rains drove the many branches of the Ganges River in the Sundarbans delta of eastern India over their banks in late September 2006. The most notably flooded river in the top Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) image, collected by NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on September 26, is the Hugli River, which has spread several kilometers over its flood plain compared to conditions nine days earlier (lower image). The Hugli River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=17410 ] (also Hooghly) branches off the Ganges about 200 kilometers north of Kolkata (Calcutta) and flows south past the city through the state of West Bengal to drain into the Bay of Bengal. Though the city of Kolkata is obscured by clouds in the flood scene (it's the tan region near the bottom of the lower image), the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported that floods in the city forced more than 2,000 people from their homes. The cloud-free region around the city reveals extensive flooding, with water forming black or dark blue streaks and pools on the bright green, vegetated land. Additional flooding is visible along the Hugli and other branches of the Ganges in the large image. These images were created using both visible and infrared light to allow water to stand out from the land. In these images, clouds are pale blue and white, water is dark blue or black, plant-covered land is green, and bare or sparsely vegetated land (like the city) is tan. Additional infrared images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2006269 ] and photo-like images of India are available from the |
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Fires in Eastern India
| Title |
Fires in Eastern India |
| Description |
On March 5, 2003, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite detected fires (marked in red) in eastern India (bottom left), northeast India (top right), and western Myanmar (bottom right). A few scattered fires were detected in Bangladesh (center). In this false-color image of this scene, dark reddish burn scars stand out against bright green vegetation. A true-color image is also available. In Bangladesh, the Ganges River flows in from the west and meets up with the Brahmaputra River flowing in from the east. The two rivers join and flow out to the Bay of Bengal through the Mouths of the Ganges. At top are the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in Eastern India
| Title |
Fires in Eastern India |
| Description |
Smoke hangs over eastern India and the Indian Ocean in this true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) from the Aqua satellite on March 8, 2003. Dozens of fires were detected by MODIS and are marked with red dots. At upper right, sediments in the waters of the Mouths of the Ganges River color the Bay of Bengal light tan. At far upper right is Bangladesh. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in Eastern India
| Title |
Fires in Eastern India |
| Description |
On March 5, 2003, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite detected fires (marked in red) in eastern India (bottom left), northeast India (top right), and western Myanmar (bottom right). A few scattered fires were detected in Bangladesh (center). In the false-color image of this scene, dark reddish burn scars stand out against bright green vegetation. In Bangladesh, the Ganges River flows in from the west and meets up with the Brahmaputra River flowing in from the east. The two rivers join and flow out to the Bay of Bengal through the Mouths of the Ganges. At top are the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in Myanmar
| Title |
Fires in Myanmar |
| Description |
Scores, possibly hundreds, of fires were detected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite when it passed over Southeast Asia on April 4, 2007. Places where the sensor detected actively burning fires are marked with red dots. The dry season is drawing to a close across much of Southeast Asia, and agricultural burning is widespread. Intentional fires also get out of control and burn into nearby forests. Thick smoke often becomes a problem in the spring months in the region, creating health problems and interfering with transportation. This image is centered on Myanmar, but biomass burning is widespread across most of Southeast Asia [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14193 ] in the Northern Hemisphere spring. Though it is not necessarily immediately hazardous, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources. The large image provided above has a spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides twice-daily [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2007093 ] images of the region in additional resolutions and formats. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Severe Storms Trigger Floods
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| Title |
Severe Storms Trigger Floods in Bangladesh |
| Description |
On April 26, 2004, the clouds cleared to give the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite this stunning view of extensive flooding in northeastern Bangladesh and India. The floods followed on the heels of a series of intense thunderstorms that began on April 9 and lasted through April 19. Floods can be seen in three areas in this false-color image. The most obvious flooding spans the border between India and Bangladesh and was caused by water rushing out of the Khasi Hills to the north. These floods displaced about half a million people in Bangladesh. A few dark spots around the Brah maputra (Jamuna) River to the north of the hills in India may also be signs of flooding. Finally, a dark spot on the right edge of the image shows where floods have affected the Indian state of Manipur. According to news reports, the floods have damaged rice patties that were about to be harvested, and harmed fish farms in the state. Several villages are reported to be submerged. The high-resolution image provided above has a resolution of 250 meters per pixel, though the image is available in additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in South Asia
| Title |
Fires in South Asia |
| Description |
The skies were hazy over Bangladesh, northeastern India, and Myanmar on March 8, 2006, as the smoke from hundreds of fires rose into the air. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] detected fires (marked in red) in high concentrations in northeast India to the south of the Brahmaputra River (tan ribbon cutting across the upper left corner) as well as in the hilly terrain at the border of India and Myanmar. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Fires in South Asia
| Title |
Fires in South Asia |
| Description |
Widespread agricultural (slash-and-burn) fires across northeastern India and Myanmar on the afternoon of March 20, 2006, left a shroud of smoke hanging over the landscape the following morning. These images of the area were captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] (March 21) and Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] (March 20) satellites. Fires have been burning throughout the region since February, as people prepare for spring planting. While these fires are not necessarily immediately hazardous, such widespread burning can have a strong impact on air quality and human health, natural resources, and climate. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh ] of this area in a variety of resolutions and formats. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Smog over Northern India
| Title |
Smog over Northern India |
| Description |
A pale band of haze hangs along the front of the Himalaya Mountains in Nepal, India, and Bangladesh in this photo-like image, taken on February 5, 2006, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. In this image, haze covers northern India, just south of the Himalaya. Haze also intrudes into the skies of southern Nepal and Bangladesh. The skies over the more mountainous northern Nepal and Bhutan appear clear. One source of the haze is the fires that burn throughout the region. These fires were probably deliberately set for agricultural purposes. Another source of the haze is India's cities. A megacity is an urban center with 10 million or more inhabitants. As of 2003, India held three of the world's megacities: Mumbai, Delhi, and Calcutta. Moreover, smaller cities dot the landscape, appearing in this image as beige splotches. One city, shown in the upper left, produces its own discernible plume of haze. It is common to see dense haze in northern India, Nepal, and Bangladesh during the winter. The haze lingers near the base of the mountains because of a temperature inversion. In normal conditions, the air near the ground is warmer than the air above it. Warm air rises and carries with it pollution from fires or cities. The pollution disperses when it is mixed with cooler air high above the ground. During the Himalayan winter, cold air rushes down the mountains onto the plain. This makes the air near the ground cooler than the air above it, essentially trapping a pocket of cold air over the plain. Smoke from fires and regular pollution from cities are also trapped in the pocket of cold air and don't disperse as they would under normal conditions. As a result, haze builds until the inversion lifts. The haze shown in this image had been accumulating for several days, and is visible in several other MODIS images, including one acquired on February 1, 2006 [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13341 ]. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in Southeast Asia
| Title |
Fires in Southeast Asia |
| Description |
On April 8, 2003, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite captured this image of intense biomass burning across Southeast Asia. At left, Bangladesh is free of fires, while to the east, eastern India is covered by red dots indicating active fires. Fires are widespread across Myanmar (center), and (top right to bottom) China, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. A grayish pall of smoke hangs over most of the area. In the center of the visible portion of Laos, smoke is especially thick. Compare this to a Terra image acquired earlier in the day. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Fires in Southeast Asia
| Title |
Fires in Southeast Asia |
| Description |
On April 8, 2003, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite captured this image of biomass burning across Southeast Asia. At left, Bangladesh is free of fires, while to the east, fires are visible (marked with red dots) in India, Myanmar (center), and (top right to bottom) China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Cambodia. Compare this image to the Aqua image of the same area taken later in the day. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Fires in Southeast Asia
| Title |
Fires in Southeast Asia |
| Description |
The MODIS instrument aboard NASA's Aqua satellite captured this true-color image of fires burning in Southeast Asia on April 3, 2003. The fires, outlined in red, are spread very heavily throughout eastern Myanmar (center) and are likely agricultural in origin. Fire is often used to clear fields and pasture to prepare for new plant growth, though the smoke from these fires adversely affects local air quality. In this image, winds blow the grayish-blue smoke to the east over neighboring countries and towards the Gulf of Tonking (right edge) and the South China Sea (not visible). Clockwise from top left, the countries shown are India, Myanmar, China, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, and Bangladesh (upper left edge). To the southwest of Myanmar is the Bay of Bengal, due south is the Andaman Sea. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
|
Fires in Southeast Asia
| Title |
Fires in Southeast Asia |
| Description |
West of where the myriad channels of the Ganges River flow into the Bay of Bengal, numerous fires were burning in Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar on April 4, 2005. This image of the area on that day was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA?s Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. Locations where MODIS detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. The image, which is centered farther west than previous images in this series, focuses closely on scores of fires burning in India, just across the southeastern border of Bangladesh. In the large version of the image, fires are scattered across a wide portion of all three countries. Many of the fires are emitting large plumes of smoke, which drifts eastward. MODIS cannot tell us specifically whether a fire is naturally occurring or caused by humans. However, the region's monsoonal climate is wrapping up its dry phase, which is typically a time for agricultural burning. In addition, Southeast Asia is experiencing one of its worst droughts in decades, which may be elevating the risk of both accidental and natural wildfires. The fires detected by MODIS, therefore, may be a mixture of both types of burning. The large image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapeidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] provides the image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2005094/FAS_Bangladesh.2005094.aqua ] Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] NASA-GSFC |
|
Fires in Southeast Asia
| Title |
Fires in Southeast Asia |
| Description |
A dramatic increase in fire activity occurs over the course of the day during the biomass burning season in Southeast Asia. Like other large-scale burning activity linked to human activities, the fire patterns in Southeast Asia have a diurnal cycle, being lowest in the morning and increasing throughout the course of the day as human agricultural activities increase. In many parts of the world, fire is a precursor to farming and grazing. This true-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from the Aqua satellite on March 7, 2003, shows scores of fires marked with red dots. Countries shown are (west to east) Bangladesh, India, and Myanmar, and (top right to bottom) China, Laos, and Thailand. Compare this image to a morning image of the same region and notice the decreased fire activity. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS? maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
Fires in Southeast Asia
| Title |
Fires in Southeast Asia |
| Description |
This image from March 9, 2003, shows widespread biomass burning (red dots) across Myanmar (center) and surrounding countries in Southeast Asia. Smoke is pooling between ridges and in low-lying areas. Countries shown are Bangladesh (left), India (top left), China (top right), and Thailand (bottom right). The large river running north-south through Myanmar is the Irrawaddy River. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
|
Tropical Cyclone Sidr
| Title |
Tropical Cyclone Sidr |
| Description |
Tropical Cyclone Sidr was moving north toward the Mouths of the Ganges at a speed of 17 kilometers per hour (10 miles per hour) on November 15, 2007. Winds in the storm's center were raging at 240 km/hr (150 mph), making it a very strong Category 4 [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] tropical cyclone, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. [ https://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php ] The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired this photo-like image at 1:25 p.m. local time (6:55 UTC) on November 15, 2007. With its densely wound clouds and distinct eye, Tropical Cyclone Sidr has the appearance of a well-developed system. The northernmost fringes of the storm already cloud the skies over Bangladesh and India. Western Bangladesh, where the storm appeared to be headed as of November 15, is the most heavily populated low-lying area in the world, with a history of severe causalities from previous storms due to both direct flooding and storm surge. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center [ https://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php ] predicted that the storm would weaken as it made landfall, but would maintain hurricane-force winds well after it moves inland. In 1970, a Category 3 storm that made landfall in the same vicinity caused 300,000 deaths and was one of the most deadly natural disasters in modern history. Another 138,000 people perished in 1991 from a similar cyclone. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
|
Flooding in Eastern India
| Title |
Flooding in Eastern India |
| Description |
Abutting the southern front of the snow-clad Himalaya Mountains, the broad, flat Ganges Plain is laced with rivers that transport glacial melt to the Bay of Bengal or the Arabian Sea. Not surprisingly, these rivers lead something of a Dr. Jekyll–Mr. Hyde existence: during the dry winter, the rivers are small and sedate, their headwaters largely locked in ice. In the summer, temperatures in the mountains climb, melting mountain-top snow and fueling the Asian monsoon, and the rivers swell into roaring giants. Not every year is the same however—the monsoon may be wetter in a particular year or winter snows might be greater, leading to more snowmelt—and 2007 numbered among the more extreme flood years. Heavy rain throughout July pushed the Ganges and its many tributaries over their banks, submerging large tracts of land in northeastern India. As of August 3, nearly 20 million people had been displaced in India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, and 125 had died in India, reported BBC News. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6927389.stm ] Among the most severely hit states was India's northeastern Bihar state. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) flying on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image of flooding on the Ganges and its tributaries on August 3, 2007. The lower image, captured by Aqua MODIS on June 4, 2007, shows the plain before the summer monsoon and snowmelt swelled the rivers. In these images (made with a combination of infrared and visible light), water is black or dark blue. Water takes on a brighter shade of blue when tinged with sediment. Clouds, pale blue and white, are scattered over the flooded region, which is bright green with vegetation. Sparsely vegetated areas or bare earth in the lower image are rose-tinted tan. On August 3, the Ganges, Gandak, and Kosi Rivers were so swollen that it was hard to see exactly where the rivers normally flow. The tributaries that feed the Kosi River, not even visible on June 4, have combined in a vast web of water-covered land. The light blue area under the clouds in the lower left corner of the image is probably water-soaked earth, not standing water. Though destructive, seasonal flooding in the Ganges River system blankets the plain with fertile alluvial soil, making it productive farmland. Because the plain is so fertile, it is one of the most densely populated regions on Earth.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_India3/2007215 ] of northeastern India are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, as shown here, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Flooding in India and Bangla
…
| Title |
Flooding in India and Bangladesh |
| Description |
The summer flood season was coming to an end, and rivers were subsiding when late-season monsoon rain triggered a fresh round of flooding in early September 2007. Water levels on the Brahmaputra and the Ganges Rivers simultaneously rose to dangerous levels displacing more than a million people in India and Bangladesh, reported Agence France-Presse and the BBC. This pair of images, collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] and Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellites, compares September's flood with the earlier summer flood. To compare these flood scenes to conditions during the dry season, see Floods in Bangladesh. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14430 ] Water in these images is blue or black, vegetation is green, and clouds are turquoise and white. The Ganges River and its tributaries, particularly the Sapt Kosi and the Mahananda, were larger on September 10, top, than they had been at the height of the previous summer floods just one month earlier. The most significant flooding, however, was on the Brahmaputra River. In August, the braided channels of the river were still visible despite the floods. By September, the river was so swollen that none of its usual structure was visible. The water was also lighter in color, an indication that it carried more sediment than it did previously. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the floods [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Sep2007/brahmaputra_amo_2007253.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA images created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes data archives (LAADS). [ http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Flooding in India and Bangla
…
| Title |
Flooding in India and Bangladesh |
| Description |
The summer flood season was coming to an end, and rivers were subsiding when late-season monsoon rain triggered a fresh round of flooding in early September 2007. Water levels on the Brahmaputra and the Ganges Rivers simultaneously rose to dangerous levels displacing more than a million people in India and Bangladesh, reported Agence France-Presse and the BBC. This pair of images, collected by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] and Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellites, compares September's flood with the earlier summer flood. To compare these flood scenes to conditions during the dry season, see Floods in Bangladesh. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14430 ] Water in these images is blue or black, vegetation is green, and clouds are turquoise and white. The Ganges River and its tributaries, particularly the Sapt Kosi and the Mahananda, were larger on September 10, top, than they had been at the height of the previous summer floods just one month earlier. The most significant flooding, however, was on the Brahmaputra River. In August, the braided channels of the river were still visible despite the floods. By September, the river was so swollen that none of its usual structure was visible. The water was also lighter in color, an indication that it carried more sediment than it did previously. You can download a 250-meter-resolution KMZ file of the floods [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Sep2007/brahmaputra_amo_2007253.kmz ] suitable for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/ ] NASA images created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes data archives (LAADS). [ http://ladsweb.nascom.nasa.gov/ ] |
|
Flooding in India and Bangla
…
| Title |
Flooding in India and Bangladesh |
| Description |
India's Brahmaputra River was already flooded in early August (bottom image), but those floods turned out to be small compared to the floods that hit the river in early September (top). The river flooded for the third time in 2007 when monsoon rain pounded northeastern India, Bhutan, and Bangladesh in September, reported the BBC [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6988590.stm ] on September 11. As these images illustrate, the September floods were the worst of the year, forcing the Indian government to evacuate some 800,000 people from the banks of the river. An additional 500,000 people were evacuated downstream in Bangladesh. The floods damaged crops that had been replanted after the August floods, said the BBC. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured these images of the swollen river. Both images were made with a combination of infrared and visible light, which makes water appear black or dark blue. Plant-covered land is bright green, and clouds are turquoise and white. In the top image, taken on September 12, the Brahmaputra is more than 25 kilometers wide in places. The braided channels of the river disappeared as water levels rose enough to blend the channels into a single wide, blue ribbon. Tributaries flowing in from the Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan are also swollen. The water is a dusty blue color compared to the dark blue color seen in early August. The lighter shade of blue indicates that the water is thick with sediment, a common sign of recent flooding. MODIS captured the lower image on August 5, 2007, during the year's second round of flooding on the Brahmaputra. The river is wider than it had been during the dry season, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2007123/FAS_Bangladesh.2007123.aqua.721 ] but it is much smaller than it would become a month later. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC, which provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2007255 ] of India and Bangladesh. |
|
Floods in Bangladesh
| Title |
Floods in Bangladesh |
| Description |
Northeastern Bangladesh disappeared under monsoon floods as rains drenched the region in June 2006. By June 21, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image, the floods stretched across hundreds of kilometers of what had been dry land a month earlier. According to Reuters, [ http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DHA197717.htm ] the floods claimed nine lives, made 10,000 homeless, and marooned more than a million by June 18. The monsoon rains typically last from June to September. These satellite images of the floods combine MODIS' observations of shortwave and near-infrared wavelengths of light with visible light to allow water to stand out against the land. Water is black and dark blue. Plant-covered land is green, and clouds are pale blue and white. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2006172 ] of Bangladesh in both infrared and photo-like natural color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Bangladesh
| Title |
Floods in Bangladesh |
| Description |
Northeastern Bangladesh disappeared under monsoon floods as rains drenched the region in June 2006. By June 21, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image, the floods stretched across hundreds of kilometers of what had been dry land a month earlier. According to Reuters, [ http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/DHA197717.htm ] the floods claimed nine lives, made 10,000 homeless, and marooned more than a million by June 18. The monsoon rains typically last from June to September. These satellite images of the floods combine MODIS' observations of shortwave and near-infrared wavelengths of light with visible light to allow water to stand out against the land. Water is black and dark blue. Plant-covered land is green, and clouds are pale blue and white. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2006172 ] of Bangladesh in both infrared and photo-like natural color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Bangladesh
| Title |
Floods in Bangladesh |
| Description |
By June 20, 2007, the summer's first floods had engulfed northeastern Bangladesh. Monsoon rains routinely flood the low-lying country in the summer, though some years are worse than others. This image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, is centered on the northeast administrative region, Sylhet. Water, dark blue and black in the false-color image, covers most of the region. The floods destroyed several villages, trapped thousands of families, and forced thousands of evacuations, reported the Gulf Times on June 20. Officials were expecting the floods to worsen as monsoon rains continue to fall. The lower image, captured by Terra MODIS, shows Bangladesh on May 1, before the monsoon started. Even during the dry season, the region is spotted with dark pools of water, an indication that the land may be marshy year-round. Both images were made with a combination of infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and earth. Plant-covered land is bright green, bare earth is tan, and clouds are light blue and white. The Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, is a concentrated area of gray in the lower left corner of the image.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh ] of Bangladesh are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, as shown here, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Bangladesh
| Title |
Floods in Bangladesh |
| Description |
By June 20, 2007, the summer's first floods had engulfed northeastern Bangladesh. Monsoon rains routinely flood the low-lying country in the summer, though some years are worse than others. This image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, is centered on the northeast administrative region, Sylhet. Water, dark blue and black in the false-color image, covers most of the region. The floods destroyed several villages, trapped thousands of families, and forced thousands of evacuations, reported the Gulf Times on June 20. Officials were expecting the floods to worsen as monsoon rains continue to fall. The lower image, captured by Terra MODIS, shows Bangladesh on May 1, before the monsoon started. Even during the dry season, the region is spotted with dark pools of water, an indication that the land may be marshy year-round. Both images were made with a combination of infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and earth. Plant-covered land is bright green, bare earth is tan, and clouds are light blue and white. The Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka, is a concentrated area of gray in the lower left corner of the image.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh ] of Bangladesh are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, as shown here, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Bangladesh
| Title |
Floods in Bangladesh |
| Description |
A large portion of Bangladesh was awash with floods when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on August 3, 2007. The low-lying nation is an alluvial delta, and therefore, is extremely prone to flooding. In July 2007, heavy monsoon rains filled the Brahmaputra, Padma, and Meghna Rivers, leading to the floods shown here. The Jamuna, a branch of the Brahmaputra River, arcs through the center of the scene, its braided waterways woven into a single thread where the river is overflowing. A branch of the Jamuna flows east into the Meghna River. The wetlands that surround these rivers are full of water, and the rivers themselves are swollen. The Padma River, formed by the convergence of the Ganges and Jamuna Rivers, is also flooded. The severity of the floods can be seen in the contrast between the top image and the lower image, which was taken on May 1, 2007, before the monsoon rains began. In the dry season, the course of each river is clearly defined, not blurred by excess water. The images were made with infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and earth. In this type of image, water is black or blue, where colored with sediment. Plant-covered land is bright green, and bare earth or lightly vegetated areas are tan. Light blue and white clouds dot the scene. In the lower image, red dots mark the location of fires. The floods shown here stranded hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated nations, reported BBC News. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6927389.stm ] As of August 3, nearly 20 million people had been displaced by monsoon flooding in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, added BBC. Some of the floods in northeastern India [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14429 ] were visible when Aqua MODIS flew over on August 3. The intense rains of the summer monsoon typically fall between June and October, so additional flooding is likely.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2007215 ] of Bangladesh are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, as shown here, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Bangladesh
| Title |
Floods in Bangladesh |
| Description |
A large portion of Bangladesh was awash with floods when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on August 3, 2007. The low-lying nation is an alluvial delta, and therefore, is extremely prone to flooding. In July 2007, heavy monsoon rains filled the Brahmaputra, Padma, and Meghna Rivers, leading to the floods shown here. The Jamuna, a branch of the Brahmaputra River, arcs through the center of the scene, its braided waterways woven into a single thread where the river is overflowing. A branch of the Jamuna flows east into the Meghna River. The wetlands that surround these rivers are full of water, and the rivers themselves are swollen. The Padma River, formed by the convergence of the Ganges and Jamuna Rivers, is also flooded. The severity of the floods can be seen in the contrast between the top image and the lower image, which was taken on May 1, 2007, before the monsoon rains began. In the dry season, the course of each river is clearly defined, not blurred by excess water. The images were made with infrared and visible light to increase the contrast between water and earth. In this type of image, water is black or blue, where colored with sediment. Plant-covered land is bright green, and bare earth or lightly vegetated areas are tan. Light blue and white clouds dot the scene. In the lower image, red dots mark the location of fires. The floods shown here stranded hundreds of thousands of people in Bangladesh, one of the world's most densely populated nations, reported BBC News. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6927389.stm ] As of August 3, nearly 20 million people had been displaced by monsoon flooding in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal, added BBC. Some of the floods in northeastern India [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14429 ] were visible when Aqua MODIS flew over on August 3. The intense rains of the summer monsoon typically fall between June and October, so additional flooding is likely.Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Bangladesh/2007215 ] of Bangladesh are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System in both false color, as shown here, and photo-like true color. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Deadly Floods Sweep Across N
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
India_AMO_2004286
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2004-10-12 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
India_AMO_2004286 |
|
Flooding in India and Bangla
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
brahmaputra_amo_2007253
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-09-10 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
brahmaputra_amo_2007253 |
|
Deadly Floods Sweep Across N
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
India_TMO_2004287
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2004-10-13 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
India_TMO_2004287 |
|
Cyclone Nargis Floods Burma
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
Myanmar_AMO_2008128
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2008-05-07 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Myanmar_AMO_2008128 |
|
Floods in Bangladesh: Natura
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
Bangladesh_AMO_2007215
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-08-03 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Bangladesh_AMO_2007215 |
|
Fires in Eastern India: Natu
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
On March 5, 2003, the modis.
…
Bangladesh.AMOA2003064.721
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2003-03-05 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Bangladesh.AMOA2003064.721 |
|
Floods in India and Banglade
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Ongoing torrential rain cont
…
Bangladesh_AMO2004204
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2004-07-22 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Bangladesh_AMO2004204 |
|
Floods in India and Banglade
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Ongoing torrential rain cont
…
Bangladesh_AMO2004204
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2004-07-22 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Bangladesh_AMO2004204 |
|
Flooding in India and Bangla
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima
…
Brahmaputra_AMO_2007255
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2007-09-12 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
Brahmaputra_AMO_2007255 |
|
Fires in Southeast Asia: Nat
…
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
The MODIS instrument aboard
…
SEAsia.AMOA2003093
| mediatype |
IMAGE |
| mediatype |
image |
| date |
2003-04-03 |
| creator |
NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day |
| identifier |
SEAsia.AMOA2003093 |
|
|
