|
|
TRMM: Covers Mozambique Floo
…
| Title |
TRMM: Covers Mozambique Flooding Using Monthly Moving Average Rainfall Measurements |
| Abstract |
Monthly average rainfall measurements covering the Mozambique floods, from March 1999 through February 2000. |
| Completed |
2000-12-18 |
|
TRMM: Covers Mozambique Floo
…
| Title |
TRMM: Covers Mozambique Flooding Using Monthly Moving Average Rainfall Measurements |
| Abstract |
Monthly average rainfall measurements covering the Mozambique floods, from March 1999 through February 2000. |
| Completed |
2000-12-18 |
|
TRMM Rainmap Anomalies: Floo
…
| Title |
TRMM Rainmap Anomalies: Flooding in Mozambique |
| Abstract |
Rainmaps derived from nearly three years of TRMM operations. |
| Completed |
2000-12-11 |
|
TRMM Rainmap Anomalies: Floo
…
| Title |
TRMM Rainmap Anomalies: Flooding in Mozambique |
| Abstract |
Rainmaps derived from nearly three years of TRMM operations. |
| Completed |
2000-12-11 |
|
Cyclone Dera
| Title |
Cyclone Dera |
| Abstract |
View of Cyclone Dera in the Mozambique Channel |
| Completed |
2001-03-12 |
|
Cyclone Dera
| Title |
Cyclone Dera |
| Abstract |
View of Cyclone Dera in the Mozambique Channel |
| Completed |
2001-03-12 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
Mozambique Floods from Lands
…
| Title |
Mozambique Floods from Landsat |
| Abstract |
Contrasting Mozambique before (August 22, 1999) and after (March 1, 2000) flooding. |
| Completed |
2000-06-14 |
|
TRMM: Covering Mozambique Fl
…
| Title |
TRMM: Covering Mozambique Flooding Using Daily Rainfall Measurements. |
| Abstract |
Red indicates areas of high rainfall. Blue indicates areas of low rainfall. Mozambique underwent major flooding during this time period. |
| Completed |
2000-12-18 |
|
TRMM: Covering Mozambique Fl
…
| Title |
TRMM: Covering Mozambique Flooding Using Daily Rainfall Measurements. |
| Abstract |
Red indicates areas of high rainfall. Blue indicates areas of low rainfall. Mozambique underwent major flooding during this time period. |
| Completed |
2000-12-18 |
|
Floods in Madagascar
| Title |
Floods in Madagascar |
| Description |
*Floods in Madagascar* Mud-rich water gushes off the northwestern shore of Madagascar in the wake of Tropical Cyclone Elita [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11929 ] in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) image acquired by the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on February 8, 2004. The storm first came ashore near this area on January 29. Elita drifted down the west coast, and then pulled back into the Mozambique Channel, where it hovered offshore for many days, dropping as much as 20 inches of rain in northwestern Madagascar. On February 3, Elita cut across the island for a second time, spinning out into the Indian Ocean on February 4. By the time the storm passed, 18,000 people were left homeless and 6 died, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The intense rains destroyed buildings and pushed rivers to overflowing. When this image was taken, four days after the storm had passed, the rivers were still swollen with reddish mud. A halo of green rings the coast where sediment has washed off the shores and is diffusing in the ocean water. The high resolution image provided above has a resolution of 500 meters per pixel. The image is available in additional resolutions, including MODIS? maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC |
|
Floods in Malawi and Mozambi
…
| Title |
Floods in Malawi and Mozambique |
| Description |
Heavy rain is a part of life in Malawi and Mozambique in December and January. In these southern African countries, the two months fall in the middle of the rainy season, which runs from November to March. Though not quite as predictable as the rain, flash flooding is also common in the river valleys of southern Malawi during the rainy season. In late December 2005 and early January 2006, the rains were far more intense than normal, and true to form, the Shire River ran over its banks, displacing thousands of people, according to news reports. This pair of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) images show what two weeks of heavy rain have done to the region. In the false-color images, both taken by MODIS on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, water is black or dark blue. Clouds are pale blue, and plant-covered land is bright green. Bare earth is pinkish tan. In the two weeks that elapsed between December 20, 2005, lower image, and January 2, 2006, top, the land turned a deep green as plants sprang up. The Shire River, not even visible in December, expanded, soaking the land with a smudge of blue. Disruptive though the floods may be, the rains were a mixed blessing. In 2005, the rains failed during February, and crops suffered [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13273 ]. The ensuing food shortages and hunger caused the government to declare a national disaster in early December. The rich agricultural land surrounding the Shire River was among the regions most severely affected by the drought. The December and early January rains fell just as farmers were planting the primary crop of the year, but continued rainfall will still be needed to guarantee that the harvest will be better in 2006. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_NMozambique ] of the region in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Malawi and Mozambi
…
| Title |
Floods in Malawi and Mozambique |
| Description |
Heavy rain is a part of life in Malawi and Mozambique in December and January. In these southern African countries, the two months fall in the middle of the rainy season, which runs from November to March. Though not quite as predictable as the rain, flash flooding is also common in the river valleys of southern Malawi during the rainy season. In late December 2005 and early January 2006, the rains were far more intense than normal, and true to form, the Shire River ran over its banks, displacing thousands of people, according to news reports. This pair of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) images show what two weeks of heavy rain have done to the region. In the false-color images, both taken by MODIS on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, water is black or dark blue. Clouds are pale blue, and plant-covered land is bright green. Bare earth is pinkish tan. In the two weeks that elapsed between December 20, 2005, lower image, and January 2, 2006, top, the land turned a deep green as plants sprang up. The Shire River, not even visible in December, expanded, soaking the land with a smudge of blue. Disruptive though the floods may be, the rains were a mixed blessing. In 2005, the rains failed during February, and crops suffered [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=13273 ]. The ensuing food shortages and hunger caused the government to declare a national disaster in early December. The rich agricultural land surrounding the Shire River was among the regions most severely affected by the drought. The December and early January rains fell just as farmers were planting the primary crop of the year, but continued rainfall will still be needed to guarantee that the harvest will be better in 2006. The large images provided above are at MODIS' maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_NMozambique ] of the region in a variety of resolutions. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
Widespread floods were evident in central Mozambique 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 January 23, 2007. Water, black against the bright green vegetation in these infrared-enhanced images, spreads in a wide line parallel to the coast. A week earlier, when MODIS on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired the lower image, the water was isolated to the wetlands around the river. According to local news reports, [ http://allafrica.com/stories/200701220205.html ] parts of the provincial capital, Quelimane, were under water after 339.2 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours on January 21, more rain than the region typically receives during the entire month of January. The floods forced at least 400 families from their homes in the city. Though Quelimane was visible on January 16 as a pale brown-gray patch on the north bank of the river, it was covered by clouds on January 23. The clouds are pale blue and white in these false-color images. The silvery color of the Indian Ocean in the lower image is caused by sunlight reflecting off the water's surface. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2007023 ] of Mozambique are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
Widespread floods were evident in central Mozambique 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 January 23, 2007. Water, black against the bright green vegetation in these infrared-enhanced images, spreads in a wide line parallel to the coast. A week earlier, when MODIS on the Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired the lower image, the water was isolated to the wetlands around the river. According to local news reports, [ http://allafrica.com/stories/200701220205.html ] parts of the provincial capital, Quelimane, were under water after 339.2 millimeters of rain fell in 24 hours on January 21, more rain than the region typically receives during the entire month of January. The floods forced at least 400 families from their homes in the city. Though Quelimane was visible on January 16 as a pale brown-gray patch on the north bank of the river, it was covered by clouds on January 23. The clouds are pale blue and white in these false-color images. The silvery color of the Indian Ocean in the lower image is caused by sunlight reflecting off the water's surface. Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2007023 ] of Mozambique are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
A black web of water surrounds the Zambezi River in the top image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on February 10, 2007. Mozambique was experiencing its worst floods in six years when the Zambezi flowed over its banks in January and February 2007, reported the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YZHG-6YCQR4?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=FL-2007-000011-ZMB ]). As of February 12, an estimated 29 people had died and 60,000 had been evacuated from the river's banks. Early and heavy rains fell over the entire Zambezi Basin, pushing the Zambezi and many of its tributaries into flood stage. The floods are likely to worsen as the 2,574-kilometer-long river receives water from its swollen tributaries in Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and Malawi. Releases from the massive Cahora Bassa Reservoir, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14110 ] which is reaching its capacity, are also expected to make flooding worse along the lower Zambezi. These images show the lower Zambezi where it meets the Shire River flowing south from Malawi, one of the most severely affected regions in Mozambique. The top image provides a remarkably cloud-free view of the floods, while the lower image, taken on December 31, 2006, shows the region before the rains started in January. The images were made with a combination of infrared and visible light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. Water is black or dark blue, while plant-covered land is green. Bare earth is tan and pink, and clouds are pale blue and white. Fires are outlined in red. Images such as these and photo-like, true-color images are provided by the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_SMozambique/2007041 ] on a daily basis. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
A black web of water surrounds the Zambezi River in the top image, captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on February 10, 2007. Mozambique was experiencing its worst floods in six years when the Zambezi flowed over its banks in January and February 2007, reported the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YZHG-6YCQR4?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=FL-2007-000011-ZMB ]). As of February 12, an estimated 29 people had died and 60,000 had been evacuated from the river's banks. Early and heavy rains fell over the entire Zambezi Basin, pushing the Zambezi and many of its tributaries into flood stage. The floods are likely to worsen as the 2,574-kilometer-long river receives water from its swollen tributaries in Angola, Namibia, Zambia, and Malawi. Releases from the massive Cahora Bassa Reservoir, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14110 ] which is reaching its capacity, are also expected to make flooding worse along the lower Zambezi. These images show the lower Zambezi where it meets the Shire River flowing south from Malawi, one of the most severely affected regions in Mozambique. The top image provides a remarkably cloud-free view of the floods, while the lower image, taken on December 31, 2006, shows the region before the rains started in January. The images were made with a combination of infrared and visible light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. Water is black or dark blue, while plant-covered land is green. Bare earth is tan and pink, and clouds are pale blue and white. Fires are outlined in red. Images such as these and photo-like, true-color images are provided by the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_SMozambique/2007041 ] on a daily basis. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
On February 8, 2007, the government of Mozambique ordered the evacuation of 2,500 people as water levels on the Zambezi River continued to rise, reported the BBC. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6341725.stm ] Floods have threatened many countries in southern Africa since early 2007, when the rainy season got an unusually early and intense start. As rivers in Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe filled, they drained into the Zambezi River, which spilled over its banks in many locations. By early February, the situation continued to deteriorate, driven in part by the vast amount of water being released from the Cahora Bassa Dam in western Mozambique. On February 6, as much as 5,170 cubic meters of water was being discharged from the dam every second, as more than 8,000 cubic meters of water flowed into the reservoir, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-6Y6LWF?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=FL-2007-000011-ZMB ]). The dam was approaching its capacity on February 8, said OCHA, 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 image shows the western shore of the Cahora Bassa Reservoir where the Zambezi and its tributary, the Luangwa River, form the back edge of the lake. The dam itself is beyond the right edge of the above image, but is shown in the large image. The lower image shows the region on December 24, 2006, before the rains started. By February 8, the reservoir had expanded to the confluence of the two rivers. The Luangwa River had also widened well beyond its dry-season banks. The water in the Cohora Bassa Reservoir lightened from blue-black to a dusty blue with the influx of muddy flood water. Both of these images were created with a combination of infrared and visible light that makes water appear dark blue or black. Plant-covered land is bright green, and bare or sparsely vegetated land is tan-pink. Clouds are white and pale blue. The MODIS Rapid Response System [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Zambia/2007039 ] produces similar false-color images as well as photo-like, true-color images of southern Africa daily. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
On February 8, 2007, the government of Mozambique ordered the evacuation of 2,500 people as water levels on the Zambezi River continued to rise, reported the BBC. [ http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6341725.stm ] Floods have threatened many countries in southern Africa since early 2007, when the rainy season got an unusually early and intense start. As rivers in Zambia, Malawi, and Zimbabwe filled, they drained into the Zambezi River, which spilled over its banks in many locations. By early February, the situation continued to deteriorate, driven in part by the vast amount of water being released from the Cahora Bassa Dam in western Mozambique. On February 6, as much as 5,170 cubic meters of water was being discharged from the dam every second, as more than 8,000 cubic meters of water flowed into the reservoir, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-6Y6LWF?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=FL-2007-000011-ZMB ]). The dam was approaching its capacity on February 8, said OCHA, 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 image shows the western shore of the Cahora Bassa Reservoir where the Zambezi and its tributary, the Luangwa River, form the back edge of the lake. The dam itself is beyond the right edge of the above image, but is shown in the large image. The lower image shows the region on December 24, 2006, before the rains started. By February 8, the reservoir had expanded to the confluence of the two rivers. The Luangwa River had also widened well beyond its dry-season banks. The water in the Cohora Bassa Reservoir lightened from blue-black to a dusty blue with the influx of muddy flood water. Both of these images were created with a combination of infrared and visible light that makes water appear dark blue or black. Plant-covered land is bright green, and bare or sparsely vegetated land is tan-pink. Clouds are white and pale blue. The MODIS Rapid Response System [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_Zambia/2007039 ] produces similar false-color images as well as photo-like, true-color images of southern Africa daily. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired these two images of the Zambezi River in central Mozambique in February 2007 just four days apart. Over the course of a weekend, floods along the lower Zambezi River in Mozambique spread to a nearby branch, the Cuecue River. According to local news reports released by the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, the floods along the Zambezi started to drop on February 20, though water levels on the lower Zambezi, shown here, remained high. As the top image shows, some of the water is draining into smaller offshoots along the river valley and into the Indian Ocean. These images use both visible and infrared light to increase the contrast between water and land. In this color combination, water is black or dark blue, while bare ground is tan and plant-covered land is green. Clouds are blue and white. The Sun's reflection off the surface of the water turns the river pale blue in the top image, and a web of flood water surrounds the dark line cut by the Zambezi River across the center of both images. South of the fresh floods on the Cuecue River, several dark spots along the Zambezi indicate additional flooding. To see daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2007051 ] of the flood area in central Mozambique, please visit the MODIS Rapid Response web site. The floods started when unusually early and heavy rain pounded southern Africa in January and February 2007. The rains triggered floods that affected nearly 170,000 people in Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-6YLNES?OpenDocument ]). In Mozambique, the United Nations and other organizations were providing food to more than 120,000 evacuees as of February 20, said OCHA. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Floods in Southern Africa
| Title |
Floods in Southern Africa |
| Description |
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite acquired these two images of the Zambezi River in central Mozambique in February 2007 just four days apart. Over the course of a weekend, floods along the lower Zambezi River in Mozambique spread to a nearby branch, the Cuecue River. According to local news reports released by the Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique, the floods along the Zambezi started to drop on February 20, though water levels on the lower Zambezi, shown here, remained high. As the top image shows, some of the water is draining into smaller offshoots along the river valley and into the Indian Ocean. These images use both visible and infrared light to increase the contrast between water and land. In this color combination, water is black or dark blue, while bare ground is tan and plant-covered land is green. Clouds are blue and white. The Sun's reflection off the surface of the water turns the river pale blue in the top image, and a web of flood water surrounds the dark line cut by the Zambezi River across the center of both images. South of the fresh floods on the Cuecue River, several dark spots along the Zambezi indicate additional flooding. To see daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2007051 ] of the flood area in central Mozambique, please visit the MODIS Rapid Response web site. The floods started when unusually early and heavy rain pounded southern Africa in January and February 2007. The rains triggered floods that affected nearly 170,000 people in Angola, Madagascar, Malawi, Mozambique, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, said the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/YSAR-6YLNES?OpenDocument ]). In Mozambique, the United Nations and other organizations were providing food to more than 120,000 evacuees as of February 20, said OCHA. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
|
Food Shortages in Southeast
…
| Title |
Food Shortages in Southeast Africa |
| Description |
By December 1, 2005, many countries in southeastern Africa were facing food shortages for the fourth year in a row. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that as many as 10 million were in need of food aid in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Swaziland. The most severe shortages were in Malawi and Zambia, both of which declared a national disaster, and in Zimbabwe. Though hunger can result from sudden natural disasters like earthquakes, storms, or floods, most famines take months or years to develop. This food shortage is no exception. In February 2005, the rains needed to water developing crops failed to fall, and the drought resulted in a poor harvest. The effects of the drought on the landscape are clear in the images above. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took the top image on March 6, 2005, just after the dry spell in February. The lower image was taken on March 3, 2004. Although clouds cover part of the scene in 2004, most of the region is green with growing plants. In 2005, by contrast, the landscape is largely brown. The contrast between the bright green river-fed plants in Malawi and the surrounding rain-fed lands is much greater than it was in 2004. The preserved Miombo woodlands [ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/at/at0704.html ] in Kasungu National Park in the top of the image remain green while the surrounding human-altered landscape has browned in the drought. The primary crop grown in this region is maize. The images illustrate the value of satellite data in monitoring crops during a drought. Satellite data can show how weather conditions affect crops over a wide region. This big-picture perspective allows organizations like the Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to estimate the size of a harvest months in advance. In this case, FAS lowered production estimates for Zambia, Malawi, and Zambia in April 2005 as the harvest was beginning. Mobilizing the food aid pipeline requires timely crop production estimates at or slightly before harvest time so that food aid can arrive 6-8 months later, when the "hunger season" traditionally sets in. Without the early warning that such estimates give, aid would not arrive until long after it is needed. By December 2005, when the food shortages came to the attention of international media, analysts were already monitoring the next season's crops, to be harvested in April and May 2006. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ], at NASA GSFC. Caption information courtesy Curt Reynolds of the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project, a partnership between NASA, FAS, and the University of Maryland. |
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Food Shortages in Southeast
…
| Title |
Food Shortages in Southeast Africa |
| Description |
By December 1, 2005, many countries in southeastern Africa were facing food shortages for the fourth year in a row. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that as many as 10 million were in need of food aid in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Swaziland. The most severe shortages were in Malawi and Zambia, both of which declared a national disaster, and in Zimbabwe. Though hunger can result from sudden natural disasters like earthquakes, storms, or floods, most famines take months or years to develop. This food shortage is no exception. In February 2005, the rains needed to water developing crops failed to fall, and the drought resulted in a poor harvest. The effects of the drought on the landscape are clear in the images above. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took the top image on March 6, 2005, just after the dry spell in February. The lower image was taken on March 3, 2004. Although clouds cover part of the scene in 2004, most of the region is green with growing plants. In 2005, by contrast, the landscape is largely brown. The contrast between the bright green river-fed plants in Malawi and the surrounding rain-fed lands is much greater than it was in 2004. The preserved Miombo woodlands [ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/at/at0704.html ] in Kasungu National Park in the top of the image remain green while the surrounding human-altered landscape has browned in the drought. The primary crop grown in this region is maize. The images illustrate the value of satellite data in monitoring crops during a drought. Satellite data can show how weather conditions affect crops over a wide region. This big-picture perspective allows organizations like the Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to estimate the size of a harvest months in advance. In this case, FAS lowered production estimates for Zambia, Malawi, and Zambia in April 2005 as the harvest was beginning. Mobilizing the food aid pipeline requires timely crop production estimates at or slightly before harvest time so that food aid can arrive 6-8 months later, when the "hunger season" traditionally sets in. Without the early warning that such estimates give, aid would not arrive until long after it is needed. By December 2005, when the food shortages came to the attention of international media, analysts were already monitoring the next season's crops, to be harvested in April and May 2006. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ], at NASA GSFC. Caption information courtesy Curt Reynolds of the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project, a partnership between NASA, FAS, and the University of Maryland. |
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Food Shortages in Southeast
…
| Title |
Food Shortages in Southeast Africa |
| Description |
By December 1, 2005, many countries in southeastern Africa were facing food shortages for the fourth year in a row. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization reported that as many as 10 million were in need of food aid in Zambia, Malawi, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Lesotho, and Swaziland. The most severe shortages were in Malawi and Zambia, both of which declared a national disaster, and in Zimbabwe. Though hunger can result from sudden natural disasters like earthquakes, storms, or floods, most famines take months or years to develop. This food shortage is no exception. In February 2005, the rains needed to water developing crops failed to fall, and the drought resulted in a poor harvest. The effects of the drought on the landscape are clear in the images above. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite took the top image on March 6, 2005, just after the dry spell in February. The lower image was taken on March 3, 2004. Although clouds cover part of the scene in 2004, most of the region is green with growing plants. In 2005, by contrast, the landscape is largely brown. The contrast between the bright green river-fed plants in Malawi and the surrounding rain-fed lands is much greater than it was in 2004. The preserved Miombo woodlands [ http://www.nationalgeographic.com/wildworld/profiles/terrestrial/at/at0704.html ] in Kasungu National Park in the top of the image remain green while the surrounding human-altered landscape has browned in the drought. The primary crop grown in this region is maize. The images illustrate the value of satellite data in monitoring crops during a drought. Satellite data can show how weather conditions affect crops over a wide region. This big-picture perspective allows organizations like the Food and Agriculture Organization and the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS) to estimate the size of a harvest months in advance. In this case, FAS lowered production estimates for Zambia, Malawi, and Zambia in April 2005 as the harvest was beginning. Mobilizing the food aid pipeline requires timely crop production estimates at or slightly before harvest time so that food aid can arrive 6-8 months later, when the "hunger season" traditionally sets in. Without the early warning that such estimates give, aid would not arrive until long after it is needed. By December 2005, when the food shortages came to the attention of international media, analysts were already monitoring the next season's crops, to be harvested in April and May 2006. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ], at NASA GSFC. Caption information courtesy Curt Reynolds of the Production Estimates and Crop Assessment Division of the USDA Foreign Agricultural Service as part of the Global Agricultural Monitoring Project, a partnership between NASA, FAS, and the University of Maryland. |
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Cyclone Favio Floods Mozambi
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| Title |
Cyclone Favio Floods Mozambique |
| Description |
Cyclone Favio [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14131 ] slammed into Central Mozambique on February 22, 2007, pounding the country with winds over 200 kilometers per hour and drenching rains. After coming ashore in southern Mozambique, the storm tracked northwest over the country. It quickly lost power as it moved inland, but its rains taxed river systems in Central Mozambique. On February 28, 2007, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured its first view of the cyclone-induced floods. The Buzi River and smaller rivers and wetlands to its south are swollen in this image. The image was made with infrared and visible light to enhance the contrast between water and land. In this type of image, water is black, plant-covered land is green, and non-vegetated land is tan. The city of Beira, north of the flood area, is a small tan dot. The lower image shows conditions the day before the storm came ashore. (The cyclone can be seen approaching the shore in the large image.) Though the image is slightly cloudy, it is clear that the region was still dry in the hours leading up to Favio's landfall. Cyclone Favio came on the heels of severe flooding along the Zambezi River, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14125 ] immediately north of the region shown here. The Zambezi floods displaced as many as 140,000 people, while Favio affected an additional 40,000 people, said ReliefWeb. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/JOPA-6YUKLV?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=FL-2007-000011-ZMB ]Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_SMozambique/2007059 ] of the flood region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Cyclone Favio Floods Mozambi
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| Title |
Cyclone Favio Floods Mozambique |
| Description |
Cyclone Favio [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14131 ] slammed into Central Mozambique on February 22, 2007, pounding the country with winds over 200 kilometers per hour and drenching rains. After coming ashore in southern Mozambique, the storm tracked northwest over the country. It quickly lost power as it moved inland, but its rains taxed river systems in Central Mozambique. On February 28, 2007, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured its first view of the cyclone-induced floods. The Buzi River and smaller rivers and wetlands to its south are swollen in this image. The image was made with infrared and visible light to enhance the contrast between water and land. In this type of image, water is black, plant-covered land is green, and non-vegetated land is tan. The city of Beira, north of the flood area, is a small tan dot. The lower image shows conditions the day before the storm came ashore. (The cyclone can be seen approaching the shore in the large image.) Though the image is slightly cloudy, it is clear that the region was still dry in the hours leading up to Favio's landfall. Cyclone Favio came on the heels of severe flooding along the Zambezi River, [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14125 ] immediately north of the region shown here. The Zambezi floods displaced as many as 140,000 people, while Favio affected an additional 40,000 people, said ReliefWeb. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/JOPA-6YUKLV?OpenDocument&rc=1&emid=FL-2007-000011-ZMB ]Daily images [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?FAS_SMozambique/2007059 ] of the flood region are available from the MODIS Rapid Response System. NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] at NASA GSFC. |
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Drought in Africa
| Title |
Drought in Africa |
| Description |
February is a key month for developing crops in southern Africa. Corn, the major crop, is in its critical tassel/silking stage where the plants require more water to successfully develop ears of corn. A lack of moisture at this point results in fewer, smaller ears, greatly reducing the yield of the crop. Just as the plants reached this critical stage, a dry spell settled over southern Africa. The reduced harvest may lead to food insecurity in parts of Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Swaziland, reports a recent brief released by the Famine Early Warming Systems Network [ http://www.fews.net/centers/innerSections.aspx?f=r3&m=1001535&pageID=monthliesDoc ]. The drought has not been limited to southern Africa. Further up the coast, many countries are dealing with a multi-year drought that has caused food shortages from Tanzania in the south to Ethiopia and Eritrea in the north. Both drought-affected regions are draped in shades of red in the above image. The image shows outgoing longwave radiation, the heat emitted from the Earth?s surface. Because clouds are much cooler than land, outgoing longwave radiation can tell scientists where clouds are or, more importantly for drought monitoring, where clouds are not. Without clouds, there is no rain. The above image shows a comparison between February 2005 and a long-term average of outgoing longwave radiation measurements made between 1979 and 1995. Regions that were cooler than normal, probably because of cloud cover are blue, while areas that were normal than normal because of a lack of clouds are red. The image, derived from measurements made by the TIROS Operational Vertical Sounder (TOVS) onboard the NOAA-POES satellite series, clearly shows a lack of cloud-cover in the drought-affected regions. OLR anomaly image created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data analyzed by Assaf Anyamba and provided by NOAA National Center for Environmental Prediction [ http://www.ncep.noaa.gov/ ]. |
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Drought in Southern Africa
| Title |
Drought in Southern Africa |
| Description |
Hot, dry weather from January through March 2007 wilted crops in southern Africa. The severe drought produced near-record temperatures that, combined with a lack of rainfall, caused extensive crop damage, particularly in western crop areas, reported the United States Department of Agriculture's Foreign Agricultural Service. [ http://www.pecad.fas.usda.gov/wap_arch.cfm ] In South Africa, the anticipated yield from the corn crop dropped from ten million tons in December to six million tons in April because farmers couldn't plant in the dry conditions and many of the crops that were planted wilted in the dry heat. The last South African drought of this magnitude occurred in 1992. The impact of the drought on vegetation throughout southern Africa is illustrated in this image. The image shows vegetation conditions in March 2007 compared to conditions during the average March between 1999 and 2006 as measured by the SPOT satellite. Brown areas show where plants were less thick or where fewer plants grew than average. Green areas, by contrast, indicate that vegetation was thicker and more lush than average. The prevalence of brown indicates that plants were growing poorly throughout the region because of the drought. Green dominates in Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique along the top edge of the image, where heavy rains triggered floods [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14125 ] during January and February. Some of the most severe flooding occurred along the Zambezi River, which is outlined in dark green in the upper-right corner of the image. Clearly, January and February's excess rain fed dense vegetation in March. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided by the United State Department of Agriculture Foreign Agriculture Service and processed by Jennifer Small, NASA GIMMS Group at Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Dry-season Fires in Mozambiq
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| Title |
Dry-season Fires in Mozambique |
| Description |
The climate of Mozambique is dominated by a wet (November-April) and dry (May-October) monsoon. Fires increase in number, size, and intensity as the dry season progresses. A small number of fires start naturally, but people start the majority of fires either intentionally for agricultural purposes or accidentally. This Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] image of coastal Mozambique on August 16, 2005, shows hundreds of fires (marked in red) that were detected by MODIS as it passed overhead. Though intentional agricultural fires are not necessarily immediately hazardous, they can have strong negative impacts on human health and natural resources. The high-resolution image provided above has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response Team provides this image at additional resolutions. [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/?Mozambique/2005228/ ] NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Dry-season Fires in Mozambiq
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| Title |
Dry-season Fires in Mozambique |
| Description |
This image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite on September 28, 2005, shows scores of fires (marked in red) in central Mozambique, on the southeastern coast of Africa. Most of the upper left quadrant of the scene shows southern Malawi, including the southern tip of Lake Nyasa. These fires are likely part of the seasonal burning that accompanies local agriculture. Though such fires are not necessarily immediately hazardous, they can have a negative impact on human health and natural resources. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center |
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Earthquake in Eastern Africa
| Title |
Earthquake in Eastern Africa |
| Description |
A strong earthquake rattled East Africa on December 5, 2005. Measuring 6.8 on the Richter scale, the earthquake was centered under Lake Tanganyika, the oldest and deepest of the Rift Valley lakes, and was felt as far away as Nairobi, the capital of Kenya some 975 kilometers (600 miles) from the epicenter. Though the region has been relatively quiet in recent years, the same forces that shook eastern Africa in December 2005 also carved out Lake Tanganyika and the surrounding landscape. The lake lies along the western edge of the Great Rift Valley, a 5,000-kilometer-long geologic feature that runs north-south from Lebanon to Mozambique. The Great Rift is being created as the Arabian, Nubian, and Somalian tectonic plates move apart, stretching and thinning the Earth's crust as they do. The result is a long chain of depressions, valleys, and deep lakes alongside towering volcanoes like Mount Kilimanjaro and steep mountains. The volcanoes [ http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/East_Africa.html ] form as magma pushes its way through the thinned crust. Volcanic tremors and the forces that are pulling the plates apart combine to break the weakened and thinned crust into earthquake-generating faults. When the faults slip, one side rises while the other falls. Over time, steep mountains form along one side of the fault. As a result, Africa's tallest mountains line the Great Rift. The complex topography of the Great Rift around Lake Tanganyika is shown in this image, created using data from the Shuttle Radar Topography Mission. The lake is hemmed in by mountains, shown in white and pink, that run parallel with its shores. The mountains and the lake are all oriented northwest to southeast along the boundary of the Somalian and Nubian plates. The most dramatic elevation changenot visible in this imageis beneath the surface of the lake. Offshore, Lake Tanganyika plunges to a depth of 1,470 meters, making it the second deepest lake in the world, after Lake Baikal. If the geologic forces that created Lake Tanganyika continue, eastern Africa will eventually break away from the rest of Africa and the Great Rift Valley will become ocean. SRTM data obtained from the University of Maryland's Global Land Cover Facility. |
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Fire Season in Central and S
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| Title |
Fire Season in Central and Southern Africa |
| Description |
In eastern Africa, numerous fires were burning in Mozambique and Zambia on May 8, 2005. The fires (marked in red) are located in the plains between the Luangwa River in Zambia and the Zambezi River in Mozambique. In this corner of Mozambique, the Zambezi fills a long, thin reservoir behind the Cahora Bassa Dam. This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite. The widespread nature of the fires, their location, and the time of year suggest these are agricultural fires being used to clear or renew pasture or farmland. While they are not necessarily immediately hazardous, such fires can have a strong impact on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources. NASA image courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ], NASA-GSFC |
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Fires Across Tanzania
| Title |
Fires Across Tanzania |
| Description |
Numerous fires (marked with red dots) were burning across eastern Africa on June 10, 2003. The fires appear most heavily concentrated east of Lake Tanganyika (left edge), but are also scattered across Zambia (bottom left) and Mozambique (bottom right). The fires are part of the typical agricultural burning that occurs in the region, where people set fires to clear land and prepare it for planting and ranching. This Aqua MODIS image was acquired on June 10, 2003. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC |
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Fires along the Southeast Af
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| Title |
Fires along the Southeast African coast |
| Description |
A line of fires (red dots) is spread across the Drakensberg Mountains along Africa's southeastern coastline in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image from November 17, 2003. A few of the fires have noticeable smoke plumes. The image shows parts of southern Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland, and Lesotho. Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Numerous Fires in Southeast
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| Title |
Numerous Fires in Southeast Tanzania |
| Description |
Through a patchwork of clouds, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite detected numerous fires (red dots) burning in Tanzania, Africa, on November 25, 2002. Fires appear to be most heavily concentrated on the Makonde Plateau, north of the Tanzania-Mozambique border. At image right is the Indian Ocean. Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC |
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Fires in Central and Souther
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| Title |
Fires in Central and Southern Africa |
| Description |
Even for a region that sees a lot fires during the agricultural season, this scene seems to reveal an exceptional number of fires for countries from east-central to southern Africa. This true-color image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on September 25, 2002. Hundreds of fire detections are indicated by red dots. In the top center of the image is Lake Malawi, which is bounded on the west by Malawi, on the northeast by Tanzania, and on the southeast by Mozambique. Other countries visible in the image are (north-south along left edge) Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Republic of South Africa, and Swaziland (bottom center). Agricultural fires have been part of the ecological cycles in Africa for perhaps thousands of years, used to clear land and regenerate pasture. Scientists are studying these cycles to assess their impact on air quality, global warming, and ecosystem change. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC |
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Fires in Mozambique
| Title |
Fires in Mozambique |
| Description |
Scores of fires were burning in Mozambique on August 4, 2006, when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite passed overhead. Places where MODIS detected actively burning fires are outlined in red. Smoke streams eastward over the Mozambique Channel, at the right side of the image. The widespread nature of the fires suggests that these are intentional agricultural fires that people are using to clear or renew crop or range land. Although it is 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 has a spatial resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center. |
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Fires in Mozambique and Tanz
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| Title |
Fires in Mozambique and Tanzania |
| Description |
East of where Lake Malawi fills one of the many cracks in the earth that mark Africa's Great Rift Valley, scores of fires were burning on October 1, 2006. The winds at the time of this image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov ] satellite were pushing smoke southwest, creating a grayish haze over the western part of the image. The fires are scattered across southern Tanzania and northern Mozambique, places where the peak seasonal burning typically occurs in September or October. African savanna fires are mostly caused by humans for agricultural activities such as clearing pasture or cropland or driving game. Although the fires are not necessarily immediately hazardous, the frequency and wide extent of the burning can have strong influence on weather, climate, human health, and natural resources. NASA imagery created by Jesse Allen, Earth Observatory, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team. |
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