Narrow Search
 
 
Advanced Search

Browse All : Images of Cameroon and Nigeria

Printer Friendly
1 2
1-50 of 54
     
     
Lake Chad 2001
Title Lake Chad 2001
Abstract Sweep of Lake Chad, February 2001. Located on the edge of the Sahara and bordering four countries--Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger--the immense area of this land locked lake has nearly disappeared in recent years. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world's largest lakes, it is now one tenth its former size. The basin of the lake is not naturally deep, so the surface area of the lake tended to spread out, keeping the total depth to little more 23 feet (7 meters). In recent years, rainfall patterns have begun to change, and tributaries to Lake Chad have not been refilling the basin as rapidly as they used to. The lush, productive flora and fauna fed by the wetlands of the shallow lake have suffered as a result. This has led to significant changes for various communities of people that live in the vicinity of the Lake. While for some the now exposed lake bed has enabled new land to be cultivated, much of the available fresh water that might have been used for irrigation is no longer dependable. As rainfall rates appear to be declining year after year, people living nearby develop even greater dependence on the lake, draining it even faster.
Completed 2001-02-22
Lake Chad 2001
Title Lake Chad 2001
Abstract Sweep of Lake Chad, February 2001. Located on the edge of the Sahara and bordering four countries--Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger--the immense area of this land locked lake has nearly disappeared in recent years. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world's largest lakes, it is now one tenth its former size. The basin of the lake is not naturally deep, so the surface area of the lake tended to spread out, keeping the total depth to little more 23 feet (7 meters). In recent years, rainfall patterns have begun to change, and tributaries to Lake Chad have not been refilling the basin as rapidly as they used to. The lush, productive flora and fauna fed by the wetlands of the shallow lake have suffered as a result. This has led to significant changes for various communities of people that live in the vicinity of the Lake. While for some the now exposed lake bed has enabled new land to be cultivated, much of the available fresh water that might have been used for irrigation is no longer dependable. As rainfall rates appear to be declining year after year, people living nearby develop even greater dependence on the lake, draining it even faster.
Completed 2001-02-22
Lake Chad Evaporation 1973 t …
Title Lake Chad Evaporation 1973 to 1987
Abstract Located on the edge of the Sahara and bordering four countries--Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger--the immense area of this land locked lake has nearly disappeared in recent years. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world's largest lakes, it is now one tenth its former size. The basin of the lake is not naturally deep, so the surface area of the lake tended to spread out, keeping the total depth to little more 23 feet (7 meters). In recent years, rainfall patterns have begun to change, and tributaries to Lake Chad have not been refilling the basin as rapidly as they used to. The lush, productive flora and fauna fed by the wetlands of the shallow lake have suffered as a result. This has led to significant changes for various communities of people that live in the vicinity of the Lake. While for some the now exposed lake bed has enabled new land to be cultivated, much of the available fresh water that might have been used for irrigation is no longer dependable. As rainfall rates appear to be declining year after year, people living nearby develop even greater dependence on the lake, draining it even faster.
Completed 2001-02-22
Lake Chad Evaporation 1973 t …
Title Lake Chad Evaporation 1973 to 1987
Abstract Located on the edge of the Sahara and bordering four countries--Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger--the immense area of this land locked lake has nearly disappeared in recent years. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world's largest lakes, it is now one tenth its former size. The basin of the lake is not naturally deep, so the surface area of the lake tended to spread out, keeping the total depth to little more 23 feet (7 meters). In recent years, rainfall patterns have begun to change, and tributaries to Lake Chad have not been refilling the basin as rapidly as they used to. The lush, productive flora and fauna fed by the wetlands of the shallow lake have suffered as a result. This has led to significant changes for various communities of people that live in the vicinity of the Lake. While for some the now exposed lake bed has enabled new land to be cultivated, much of the available fresh water that might have been used for irrigation is no longer dependable. As rainfall rates appear to be declining year after year, people living nearby develop even greater dependence on the lake, draining it even faster.
Completed 2001-02-22
Lake Chad Evaporation 1973 t …
Title Lake Chad Evaporation 1973 to 1987
Abstract Located on the edge of the Sahara and bordering four countries--Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger--the immense area of this land locked lake has nearly disappeared in recent years. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world's largest lakes, it is now one tenth its former size. The basin of the lake is not naturally deep, so the surface area of the lake tended to spread out, keeping the total depth to little more 23 feet (7 meters). In recent years, rainfall patterns have begun to change, and tributaries to Lake Chad have not been refilling the basin as rapidly as they used to. The lush, productive flora and fauna fed by the wetlands of the shallow lake have suffered as a result. This has led to significant changes for various communities of people that live in the vicinity of the Lake. While for some the now exposed lake bed has enabled new land to be cultivated, much of the available fresh water that might have been used for irrigation is no longer dependable. As rainfall rates appear to be declining year after year, people living nearby develop even greater dependence on the lake, draining it even faster.
Completed 2001-02-22
Lake Chad Evaporation 1963 t …
Title Lake Chad Evaporation 1963 to 1997
Abstract Located on the edge of the Sahara and bordering four countries--Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger--the immense area of this land locked lake has nearly disappeared in recent years. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world's largest lakes, it is now one tenth its former size. The basin of the lake is not naturally deep, so the surface area of the lake tended to spread out, keeping the total depth to little more 23 feet (7 meters). In recent years, rainfall patterns have begun to change, and tributaries to Lake Chad have not been refilling the basin as rapidly as they used to. The lush, productive flora and fauna fed by the wetlands of the shallow lake have suffered as a result. This has led to significant changes for various communities of people that live in the vicinity of the Lake. While for some the now exposed lake bed has enabled new land to be cultivated, much of the available fresh water that might have been used for irrigation is no longer dependable. As rainfall rates appear to be declining year after year, people living nearby develop even greater dependence on the lake, draining it even faster.
Completed 2001-02-22
Lake Chad Evaporation 1963 t …
Title Lake Chad Evaporation 1963 to 1997
Abstract Located on the edge of the Sahara and bordering four countries--Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger--the immense area of this land locked lake has nearly disappeared in recent years. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world's largest lakes, it is now one tenth its former size. The basin of the lake is not naturally deep, so the surface area of the lake tended to spread out, keeping the total depth to little more 23 feet (7 meters). In recent years, rainfall patterns have begun to change, and tributaries to Lake Chad have not been refilling the basin as rapidly as they used to. The lush, productive flora and fauna fed by the wetlands of the shallow lake have suffered as a result. This has led to significant changes for various communities of people that live in the vicinity of the Lake. While for some the now exposed lake bed has enabled new land to be cultivated, much of the available fresh water that might have been used for irrigation is no longer dependable. As rainfall rates appear to be declining year after year, people living nearby develop even greater dependence on the lake, draining it even faster.
Completed 2001-02-22
Lake Chad Evaporation 1963 t …
Title Lake Chad Evaporation 1963 to 1997
Abstract Located on the edge of the Sahara and bordering four countries--Chad, Cameroon, Nigeria, and Niger--the immense area of this land locked lake has nearly disappeared in recent years. Persistent drought has caused the lake to drop from its former sixth place position in the list of world's largest lakes, it is now one tenth its former size. The basin of the lake is not naturally deep, so the surface area of the lake tended to spread out, keeping the total depth to little more 23 feet (7 meters). In recent years, rainfall patterns have begun to change, and tributaries to Lake Chad have not been refilling the basin as rapidly as they used to. The lush, productive flora and fauna fed by the wetlands of the shallow lake have suffered as a result. This has led to significant changes for various communities of people that live in the vicinity of the Lake. While for some the now exposed lake bed has enabled new land to be cultivated, much of the available fresh water that might have been used for irrigation is no longer dependable. As rainfall rates appear to be declining year after year, people living nearby develop even greater dependence on the lake, draining it even faster.
Completed 2001-02-22
Central Africa Dust Storm
Title Central Africa Dust Storm
Description An intense dust storm across Central Africa nearly hides the land from the view of the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite on March 8, 2004. In the heart of Africa, the dust is hanging over the countries of (clockwise from top left) Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic. A few fires (marked in red) were still able to be detected through the thick air, and their smoke may be contributing to the haze. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC
Dust near Lake Chad
Title Dust near Lake Chad
Description *Dust near Lake Chad* Dust clouds the air over Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) image acquired on January 8, 2004, by the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite. The streak of white in the top right corner is dust blowing out of the Bodele Depression. Dust storms in the Bodele depression are common. As recently as the 1960s, the area formed part of Lake Chad on the southern edges of the vast Sahara desert. Lack of rain and increased demand for irrigation water shrank the shorelines of the lake, leaving the Bodele depression dry. The low-lying area is now a major source of windblown dust in Europe, the Middle East, and the Western Hemisphere. The white and tan clouds in the center of the image are probably Saharan dust from previous storms. Hundreds of agricultural fires, shown as red dots, are also burning across the region. Burning is a common method of clearing farmland in central Africa. For more information, see Fires in West Africa [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11876 ]. The high resolution image provided above is 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
Dust Storm from the Bodele D …
Title Dust Storm from the Bodele Depression
Description On January 29, 2007, a characteristic dual-plume dust storm blew out of the Bodele Depression in northern Africa. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture the same day. This image shows two pale beige dust plumes blowing out of the Bodele Depression toward the southwest. The dust partially blurs the satellite's view of Lake Chad, which spans the borders of Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Dust Storm in Central Africa
Title Dust Storm in Central Africa
Description On March 23, 2005, winds were whipping across the sands of the southern Sahara Desert in northern Africa, spreading thick clouds of dust. The thickest plumes of dust are visible in Sudan, Chad and Niger, but dust also reaches southward into Nigeria (south of Niger) and Cameroon (east of Nigeria). On the Atlantic coast, scores of fires (marked in red) are burning in Senegal. Dust storms are frequent hazards to farmers and herders in the semi-arid lands at the southern margin of the Sahara. The winds can reach speeds up to 100 kilometers per hour, reducing visibility to zero, stripping the paint off cars, and causing sands dunes to move like waves across a sandy sea. South of the desert proper is a semi-arid region known as the Sahel, which is continually under threat of desertification, though not necessarily because of direct threats from the Sahara. Direct exposure to the Sahara threatens some farming regions in the West with encroachment of sand dunes, but in many other places, including Niger and the other countries around Lake Chad, cultivated land is buffered from direct exposure to the dunes of the Sahara by a green belt of bushes and trees. Here, the threat of desertification comes from the way people use, and overuse, the landscape. Too-frequent use of fire as an agricultural tool, cutting of trees, and overgrazing exacerbate naturally occurring droughts in this semi-arid landscape. Without vegetation to anchor the soil in place, wind erosion scours away the top soil. The loss of vegetation may even change the micro-climate of these green belts or pockets of vegetation through a reduction of humidity and rainfall. Areas that were once tenuously covered with vegetation become pockets of desert. For more about the processes of land degradation that lead to desertification, read a report on desertification [ http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/deserts/desertification/ ] from the U.S. Geological Survey. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 1 kilometer per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
Dust Storm in Chad
Title Dust Storm in Chad
Description A dust storm blew through part of eastern Chad on June 11, 2006. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this image of the storm as it blew toward Lake Chad. In this image, the dust appears as a wisp of pale beige set against a darker tan background. Lake Chad, near the border with Nigeria and Cameroon, is barely visible in this image, although it has been easily discernible in other [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11952 ] satellite images. Although large, Lake Chad is shallow, and it is not the lowest point in Chad. Sitting at an even lower elevation is the Bodele Depression in eastern central Chad. The Bodele Depression, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=12581 ] part of a former lake bed or inland sea, is one of the world's most active sources of windblown dust, and it was likely the source of this storm. A study published in 2004 demonstrated that dust storms move more rapidly [ http://eobglossary.gsfc.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=16534 ] across the depression than previously assumed. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?NAfrica_2_05/ ] of this region.
Dust Storm in the Bodele Dep …
Title Dust Storm in the Bodele Depression
Description The air over central Africa was bright with blowing dust (top) and what is probably a mixture of dust and smoke (left center) when this image of the area around Lake Chad (large green area above image center) was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite was captured on November 28, 2004. In addition to the dust storm in the Bodele Depression north of Lake Chad, numerous fires (locations marked in red) burning in the Sahel and savannas of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and the Central Africa Republic were contributing to the atmospheric haze. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the Goddard Land Processes DAAC.
Dust Storm in the Bodele Dep …
Title Dust Storm in the Bodele Depression
Description A dust storm in Central Africa that began in late December 2004 intensified in the first week of January 2005. In the southern Sahara Desert, a large low-lying area known as the Bodele Depression is one of the largest sources of wind-blown dust on Earth. In this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Terra satellite, captured on January 6, the thick cloud of dust begins in Chad (upper right) and spreads outward over neighboring countries. Along the southern edges of the cloud, smaller rivers of dust weave over the green landscapes of the Sahel and savannas in Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. In the bottom of the scene, an arc of fires spreads across those countries as well. The red dots show the locations where MODIS detected active fires. The widespread nature of the fires and the time of year suggest that these fires are being set intentionally for agricultural purposes. Though not necessarily immediately hazardous, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-Goddard Space Flight Center
Dust Storm off Western Sahar …
Title Dust Storm off Western Sahara Coast
Description In central and western Africa on February 14, 2005, waves of dust billowed outward from interior deserts, blanketing more than a dozen countries with a tan-colored haze that ultimately stretched out over the Atlantic Ocean. Dust is particularly thick in the countries to the south of Lake Chad, including Cameroon and Nigeria. The thickness of the dust in those areas almost completely hides the underlying savanna, giving the image the appearance of a watercolor painting. This image was made by combining observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA?s Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov ] satellite during two consecutive overpasses of the satellite. Image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.s,ci.gfc.nasa.gov ], NASA-GSFC
Dust Storm over Lake Chad
Title Dust Storm over Lake Chad
Description Highly reflective dust was blowing from the northeast over Lake Chad (green splash at bottom of image) on April 9, 2003. Frequent dust storms are just one of the many factors slowly eating away at this prime source of freshwater for people, animals and plants in (counterclockwise from top left) Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad. Increasing demand for irrigation is draining the lake, and blowing sand and desert dust are creating sand dunes that are encroaching on the vegetation along the perimeter of the lake (see high-resolution image). 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
Dust Storms from Africa's Bo …
Title Dust Storms from Africa's Bodele Depression
Description Once serving as part of the floor for a much larger Lake Chad, the area now known as the Bodele Depression, located at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in north central Africa, is slowly being transformed into a desert landscape. In the mid-1960s, Lake Chad was about the size of Lake Erie. But persistent drought conditions coupled with increased demand for freshwater for irrigation have reduced Lake Chad to about 5 percent of its former size. As the waters receded, the silts and sediments resting on the lakebed were left to dry in the scorching African sun. The small grains of the silty sand are easily swept up by the strong wind gusts that occasionally blow over the region. Once heaved aloft, the Bodele dust can be carried for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. The remnants of Lake Chad appear as the olive-green feature set amid the tan and light brown hues of the surrounding landscape where the countries of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon all share borders. The Bodele Depression was the source of some very impressive dust storms that have swept over West Africa [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11939 ] and the Cape Verde Islands [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11935 ] in recent days. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA?s Terra satellite, on February 7, 2004. A similar image was acquired later that same day by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA?s Aqua satellite. The high-resolution image available here is 500 meters per pixel, but both scenes are available at up to 250 meters per pixel?the sensor?s maximum resolution. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] at NASA GSFC
Dust Storms from Africa's Bo …
Title Dust Storms from Africa's Bodele Depression
Description Once serving as part of the floor for a much larger Lake Chad, the area now known as the Bodele Depression, located at the southern edge of the Sahara Desert in north central Africa, is slowly being transformed into a desert landscape. In the mid-1960s, Lake Chad was about the size of Lake Erie. But persistent drought conditions coupled with increased demand for freshwater for irrigation have reduced Lake Chad to about 5 percent of its former size. As the waters receded, the silts and sediments resting on the lakebed were left to dry in the scorching African sun. The small grains of the silty sand are easily swept up by the strong wind gusts that occasionally blow over the region. Once heaved aloft, the Bodele dust can be carried for hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. The remnants of Lake Chad appear as the olive-green feature set amid the tan and light brown hues of the surrounding landscape where the countries of Chad, Niger, Nigeria, and Cameroon all share borders. The Bodele Depression was the source of some very impressive dust storms that have swept over West Africa [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11939 ] and the Cape Verde Islands [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11935 ] in recent days. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), flying aboard NASA?s Terra satellite, on February 7, 2004. A similar image was acquired later that same day by the MODIS instrument aboard NASA?s Aqua satellite. The high-resolution image available here is 500 meters per pixel, but both scenes are available at up to 250 meters per pixel?the sensor?s maximum resolution. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] at NASA GSFC
Northern Africa Fire Season
Title Northern Africa Fire Season
Description The agricultural fire season was underway in northern Africa in late November 2006. Each year around this time, farmers and people who raise livestock set fires across the region to clear dead vegetation and return its nutrients to the soil, preparing farmland for the next season's crops and preparing grazing lands for new growth of pasture grasses. This photo-like image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on November 27 shows scores of active fires (marked in red) burning across several countries of north-central Africa: (clockwise from top left) Niger, Chad, Central African Republic, Cameroon, and Nigeria. Although these fires are not necessarily immediately hazardous, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources. The image also illustrates the transition of vegetation from the Sahel—a semi-arid, sparse savanna landscape that extends roughly across the latitude belt of Lake Chad—to the much wetter, and more lush savannas and woodlands of the Guinea zone in the south. Only a faint tinge of green marks the Sahel in the top part of the image. Vegetation becomes a deeper green farther to the south where annual rainfall is much more abundant. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides twice-daily images of northern Africa at additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/ ] via a clickable map. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center
Northern Africa Fire Season
Title Northern Africa Fire Season
Description In northern Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the agricultural fire season was clearly underway when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead on December 4, 2006, and captured this image. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are marked with red dots. Hundreds of fires are scattered across Nigeria, Cameroon, and the Central African Republic. People in Africa have been using fire to manage agricultural lands for hundreds, possibly thousands of years, and while the fires may not be immediately hazardous, such large-scale burning can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides twice-daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/ ] of sub-sections of northern Africa via a clickable map 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
Fires in Central Africa
Title Fires in Central Africa
Description Fire season in Africa south of the Sahara Desert has roared to life in December 2003. This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite shows the location of more than 7,000 "hot pixels," which means that somewhere in each of those 1-square-kilometer pixels, MODIS detected a fire. In some cases these "hot spots" are isolated fires no larger than 1 square kilometer (and usually much smaller), and in other cases, they are a single large fire spread across several square kilometers. In this scene, these active fire detections have been marked in red. This scene spans three general biomes. In the top of the scene lies the almost-desert region known as the Sahel. Farther from the Sahara, toward the center of the scene, the Sahel becomes savanna. Along the bottom third of the image, tropical forests stretch in a deep green expanse that is punctuated by clearings and roads. Countries shown are (clockwise from top left) Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Congo. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at multiple spatial resolutions, including MODIS? maximum resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Saharan Dust Storm
Title Saharan Dust Storm
Description A dust storm swept across the Sahara Desert on May 10, 2006, moving dust across Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, and Chad. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] flying onboard the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took this picture the same day. In this image, the dust appears as a pale beige plume that sweeps westward over the desert. White clouds dot the skies around the fringes of the storm. NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC
Floods Across Africa's Sahel
Title Floods Across Africa's Sahel
Description A tangle of rivers weaves across the uneven landscape of southwestern Chad, creating the wetlands that surround the Logone River. The backbone of the intersecting rivers in these images, the Logone flows northeast through Chad, forming part of the border with Cameroon, before joining the Chari River and emptying into Lake Chad. On September 26, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image, the wetlands around the Logone were dark with water. Western Chad, like many other countries in Africa's Sahel region, experienced widespread flooding because of unusually heavy rains in August and September. According to the Dartmouth Flood Observatory, [ http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7efloods/Archives/2006sum.htm ] floods in Chad and Nigeria displaced tens of thousands of people and caused extensive agricultural and infrastructure losses. In the top image, floods, not evident two weeks earlier, form dark pools along the Logone River. These images are displayed in false color to highlight the presence of water. Here, water is black or dark blue, clouds are pale blue and white, plant-covered land is green, and lightly vegetated land is tan. Natural-color and false-color [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?NAfrica_3_05/2006269 ] images of Chad are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team twice daily. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Floods Across Africa's Sahel
Title Floods Across Africa's Sahel
Description A tangle of rivers weaves across the uneven landscape of southwestern Chad, creating the wetlands that surround the Logone River. The backbone of the intersecting rivers in these images, the Logone flows northeast through Chad, forming part of the border with Cameroon, before joining the Chari River and emptying into Lake Chad. On September 26, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image, the wetlands around the Logone were dark with water. Western Chad, like many other countries in Africa's Sahel region, experienced widespread flooding because of unusually heavy rains in August and September. According to the Dartmouth Flood Observatory, [ http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7efloods/Archives/2006sum.htm ] floods in Chad and Nigeria displaced tens of thousands of people and caused extensive agricultural and infrastructure losses. In the top image, floods, not evident two weeks earlier, form dark pools along the Logone River. These images are displayed in false color to highlight the presence of water. Here, water is black or dark blue, clouds are pale blue and white, plant-covered land is green, and lightly vegetated land is tan. Natural-color and false-color [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?NAfrica_3_05/2006269 ] images of Chad are available from the MODIS Rapid Response Team twice daily. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC.
Widely Scattered Fires acros …
Title Widely Scattered Fires across Central Africa
Description This pair of images from December 11, 2002, shows the diurnal (daily cycle) fire patterns in central Africa. The top image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the Terra satellite in the morning, while the bottom image was captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite in the afternoon. From left to right, this image spans the countries of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic. At bottom right, a portion of Democratic Republic of Congo is visible. As the day progressed, fire activity (indicated by red dots) increased markedly. The increase is due to both human and environmental factors. Many, if not most, of these fires are set by humans for agricultural purposes: clearing farmland, returning nutrients to the soil, regenerating pasture. People become more active over the course of the day, and fire occurrence increases. Fire activity is also influenced by increasing temperatures and decreasing humidity as the morning progresses to afternoon. This increases the potential for planned fires to get out of control or to burn larger areas than intended. Another interesting difference between the morning and afternoon overpasses is how the relative position of the sun and the satellite during each overpass changes the appearance of the vegetation. Notice that in the Terra overpass, when the light from the sun would have been coming from the southeast, the vegetation at the right of the image appears dark, and the vegetation in the left half of the image appears bright. During the Aqua overpass, the reverse is true: the sun is coming from the southwest, and the vegetation appears bright in the east and dark in the west. This apparent change in surface observations due to change in the relative positions of the sun and the spacecraft is referred to as the bidirectional effect, and scientists must take the effect into consideration when using satellite data to study surface features on Earth. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Widely Scattered Fires acros …
Title Widely Scattered Fires across Central Africa
Description This pair of images from December 11, 2002, shows the diurnal (daily cycle) fire patterns in central Africa. The top image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) sensor on the Terra satellite in the morning, while the bottom image was captured by the MODIS on the Aqua satellite in the afternoon. From left to right, this image spans the countries of Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad, and the Central African Republic. At bottom right, a portion of Democratic Republic of Congo is visible. As the day progressed, fire activity (indicated by red dots) increased markedly. The increase is due to both human and environmental factors. Many, if not most, of these fires are set by humans for agricultural purposes: clearing farmland, returning nutrients to the soil, regenerating pasture. People become more active over the course of the day, and fire occurrence increases. Fire activity is also influenced by increasing temperatures and decreasing humidity as the morning progresses to afternoon. This increases the potential for planned fires to get out of control or to burn larger areas than intended. Another interesting difference between the morning and afternoon overpasses is how the relative position of the sun and the satellite during each overpass changes the appearance of the vegetation. Notice that in the Terra overpass, when the light from the sun would have been coming from the southeast, the vegetation at the right of the image appears dark, and the vegetation in the left half of the image appears bright. During the Aqua overpass, the reverse is true: the sun is coming from the southwest, and the vegetation appears bright in the east and dark in the west. This apparent change in surface observations due to change in the relative positions of the sun and the spacecraft is referred to as the bidirectional effect, and scientists must take the effect into consideration when using satellite data to study surface features on Earth. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Africa's Disappearing Lake C …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Lake Chad, once one of the A …
landsat_chad
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001
creator NASA -- Images courtesy NASA GSFC svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Scientific Visualization Studio and landsat.gsfc.nasa.gov/ Landsat 7 Project Science Office.
identifier landsat_chad
Dust Storms from Africa's Bo …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Once serving as part of the …
Bodele_TMO2004042
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-02-11
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Bodele_TMO2004042
Dust Storm from the Bodele D …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
On January 29, 2007, a chara …
bodele_amo_2007029
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-01-29
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier bodele_amo_2007029
Fires across the Sahel : Ima …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Each year in March and April …
modis_sahel_2001061
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-03-02
creator NASA -- Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, modland.nascom.nasa.gov/ MODIS Land Rapid Response Team.
identifier modis_sahel_2001061
Saharan Dust Storm: Natural …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
A dust storm swept across th …
sahara_tmo_2006130
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-05-10
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier sahara_tmo_2006130
Dust Storms from Africa's Bo …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Once serving as part of the …
Bodele_TMO2004038
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-02-07
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Bodele_TMO2004038
Dust and Smoke near Lake Cha …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
A combination of dust of smo …
aqua_nigeria_08jan04
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-01-08
creator NASA -- Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
identifier aqua_nigeria_08jan04
Northern Africa Fire Season: …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
In northern Africa south of …
NAfrica_chad_AMO_2006338
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-12-04
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier NAfrica_chad_AMO_2006338
Lake Chad and the Sahel : Im …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Lake Chad, shown at the top- …
LakeChad.A2001294.0940
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-10-21
creator NASA -- Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
identifier LakeChad.A2001294.0940
Floods Across Africa's Sahel …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
Chad_TMO_2006269
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-09-26
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Chad_TMO_2006269
Central Africa Dust Storm: N …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
An intense dust storm across …
WestAfrica.A2004068
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-03-08
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier WestAfrica.A2004068
Dust Storm over Lake Chad: I …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Highly reflective dust was b …
Chad.AMOA2003099
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-04-09
creator NASA -- 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 http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2003099-0409/Chad.A2003099.1240.250m.jpg 250 meters. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
identifier Chad.AMOA2003099
Northern Africa Fire Season: …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
The agricultural fire season …
NAfrica_chad_AMO_2006331
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-11-27
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier NAfrica_chad_AMO_2006331
Dust Storm off Western Sahar …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
In central and western Afric …
NAfrica_dust.TMOA2005045
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-02-14
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier NAfrica_dust.TMOA2005045
Dust Storm in the Bodele Dep …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
The air over central Africa …
terra_bodele_28nov04
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-11-28
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier terra_bodele_28nov04
Dust Storm and Fires in Cent …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
A science teacher or college …
aqua_bodele_18nov04
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-11-18
creator NASA -- NASA image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data obtained from the rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ MODIS Rapid Response team.
identifier aqua_bodele_18nov04
Dust Storm in the Bodele Dep …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
A dust storm in Central Afri …
CAfrica.TMOA2005006
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-01-06
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier CAfrica.TMOA2005006
Fires in Central Africa: Nat …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Fire season in Africa south …
CAfrica.A2003341
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-12-07
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier CAfrica.A2003341
Dust Storm in Central Africa …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
On March 23, 2005, winds wer …
Sahara_dust.AMOA2005113
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-04-23
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Sahara_dust.AMOA2005113
Dust Storm in Chad: Natural …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
A dust storm blew through pa …
chad_tmo_2006162
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2006-06-11
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier chad_tmo_2006162
Africa in SRTM 3-D, Anaglyph …
PIA04964
Sol (our sun)
C-Band Interferometric Radar …
Title Africa in SRTM 3-D, Anaglyph of Shaded Relief
Original Caption Released with Image This stereoscopic shaded relief image shows Africa's topography as measured by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) in February 2000. Also shown are Madagascar, the Arabian Peninsula, and other adjacent regions. Previously, much of the topography here was not mapped in detail. Digital elevation data, such as provided by SRTM, are in high demand by scientists studying earthquakes, volcanism, and erosion patterns and for use in mapping and modeling hazards to human habitation. But the shape of Earth's surface affects nearly every natural process and human endeavor that occurs there, so elevation data are used in a wide range of applications. The image shown here is greatly reduced from the original data resolution, but still provides a good overview of the continent's landforms. It is best viewed while panning at full resolution while using image display software. The northern part of the continent consists of a system of basins and plateaus, with several volcanic uplands whose uplift has been matched by subsidence in the large surrounding basins. Many of these basins have been infilled with sand and gravel, creating the vast Saharan lands. The Atlas Mountains in the northwest were created by convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates. The geography of the central latitudes of Africa is dominated by the Great Rift Valley, extending from Lake Nyasa to the Red Sea, and splitting into two arms to enclose an interior plateau and the nearly circular Lake Victoria, visible in the right center of the image. To the west lies the Congo Basin, a vast, shallow depression that rises to form an almost circular rim of highlands. Most of the southern part of the continent rests on a concave plateau comprising the Kalahari Basin and a mountainous fringe, skirted by a coastal plain that widens out in Mozambique in the southeast. Specific noteworthy features one may wish to explore in this scene include (1) the Richat Structure in Mauritania, a "bull's eye" geologic structure, (2) the Velingara Ring in Senegal, a possible meteorite impact crater, (3) the delta of the Niger River in Nigeria, (4) the Cameroon Line of volcanoes, crossing Cameroon and extending offshore, (5) long linear mountain ridges crossing the southern end of Africa, (6) Mount Kilimanjaro and neighboring volcanoes in Kenya and Tanzania, (7) the Afar Triangle in Ethiopia, Djibouti, and vicinity, where Earth's crust is being pulled in three directions by tectonic forces, (8) the Dead Sea fault line, between Israel and Jordan, (9) ancient shorelines, inland from the coast of Libya, and (10) vast seas of sand dunes, particularly across the Sahara Desert and much of the Arabian Peninsula. This anaglyph was created by deriving a shaded relief image from the SRTM data, draping it back over the SRTM elevation model, and then generating two differing perspectives, one for each eye. Illumination is from the north (top). When viewed through special glasses, the anaglyph is a, vertically exaggerated view of the Earth's surface in its full three dimensions. Anaglyph glasses cover the left eye with a red filter and cover the right eye with a blue filter. Elevation data used in this image were acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the German and Italian space agencies. It is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, D.C. Orientation: North toward the top, Mercator projection Image Data: Shaded SRTM elevation model Date Acquired: February 2000
Gotel Mountains, Nigeria and …
PIA04954
Sol (our sun)
C-Band Interferometric Radar …
Title Gotel Mountains, Nigeria and Cameroon, SRTM Shaded Relief plus Height as Brightness
Original Caption Released with Image River drainage patterns provide clues to the rock types and erosional processes involved in landscape evolution. Here in the Gotel Mountains along the border between Nigeria and Cameroon two distinct and highly contrasting patterns are evident. The lowlands in the northern and northwestern parts of the scene exhibit "dendritic" patterns, while the highlands in the southern and southeastern parts of the scene show "rectangular" and other linear drainage patterns. Dendritic drainage patterns appear almost random. Moving upstream, streams split into smaller and smaller channels, with finer and finer spacing, and they show little preference for map orientation other than to complete the pattern. In contrast, rectangular and other linear drainage patterns show a distinct preference for certain orientations in map view. In this scene, the two major preferred orientations are rotated slightly clockwise of north-south and east-west. Linear drainage patterns usually match the cracking patterns that can occur in relatively hard rocks, including igneous rocks such as granite and basalt. Stream erosion typically follows such lines of weakness in these hard rocks. Meanwhile, the randomness of dendritic patterns indicates that no such cracks nor any other geologic structure controls the erosion where that pattern occurs. Given the above, the topographic pattern in this scene appears to tell us the following about the geology of this location. The lowlands are composed of poorly consolidated (relatively soft) rocks or sediments that are at least 100 meters (330 feet) thick and are "massive" (uniform, with no prominent layering at the observed scale). The randomness of the dendritic patterns further indicates that stream erosion is the only significant dynamic process altering the lowland landscape. Forces such as volcanism and tectonics are not altering these landforms. Meanwhile, the neighboring highlands are composed of crystalline rocks, such as granite, that are very hard (generally resistant to erosion) and probably very old. Sometime through their history these rocks cracked, perhaps when they cooled, perhaps under tectonic stress, or perhaps when pressure upon them was relieved when they were unearthed by erosion. Now at the surface, these cracks are zones of weakness as these hard rocks otherwise resist stream erosion. But while the topographic data gives clues, it does not always provide definitive answers. Are the lowlands made up of soft sediments washed in from elsewhere or are they simply rocks "softened" by weathering (disintegration into sand) in place over time. If the latter, might they in fact have been granite also? The two patterns interfinger geographically, suggesting that the rugged highlands may be evolving into the dendritic lowlands. Weathering products (loose sands) tend to accumulate in place in low relief terrain because erosion there is slow to remove them. Also, granites are typically "massive" and cracking patterns, vanish when the rocks disintegrate. The topographic data indeed provide thought provoking evidence, but definitive answers will require fieldwork or other additional evidence. This image was created directly from an SRTM elevation model. A shade image was derived by computing topographic slope in the north-south direction. Northern slopes appear bright and southern slopes appear dark. The shade image was then merged with a height-as-brightness image, which helps clarify the continuity of the drainage networks. Elevation data used in this image was acquired by the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission (SRTM) aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour, launched on February 11, 2000. SRTM used the same radar instrument that comprised the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) that flew twice on the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1994. SRTM was designed to collect three-dimensional measurements of the Earth's surface. To collect the 3-D data, engineers added a 60-meter-long (200-foot) mast, installed additional C-band and X-band antennas, and improved tracking and navigation devices. The mission is a cooperative project between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), and the German and Italian space agencies. It is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., for NASA's Earth Science Enterprise, Washington, D.C. Size: 144.8 kilometers (89.8 miles) by 131.5 kilometers (81.5 miles) Location: 7 degrees North latitude, 10 degrees East longitude Orientation: North toward the top Image Data: SRTM elevation shaded plus height-as-brightness Date Acquired: February 2000
Lake Chad, Chad, Africa
Title Lake Chad, Chad, Africa
Description Once a great inland lake, Lake Chad (13.0N, 14.0E) in the Sahara Desert at the intersection of the African nations of Chad, Niger, Nigeria and Cameroon, is now in decline. The larger northern lobe is almost totally dry and slowly filling in with encroaching sand dunes. The southern lobe, still retains some water in the lower center but the water surface area is less than 2000 square kilometers and sand dunes are filling in the north end.
Date Taken 1982-11-16
1 2
1-50 of 54