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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.
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.
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.
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/ ].
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.
Fire Season in Central and S …
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
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
Fires in Central and Souther …
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
Seasonal floods along the Za …
Title Seasonal floods along the Zambezi River
Description Heavy rains through the month of March have pushed a section of Africa?s Zambezi River to its highest level since 1958. Just as the mighty river turns east in its path to the Indian Ocean, and immediately before it thunders over the Victoria Falls, it passes through the low-lying plains of Namibia?s Caprivi Strip. This section of the river floods often as the wet-season rains fill the river. This year, the floods have come earlier than normal, and are rising to levels not seen in nearly 50 years. The Namibian government expects to evacuate 40,000 to 50,000 people from the region as the flood waters continue to rise, though only 20,000 have been affected as of April 1. In comparison, last year?s floods, which at the time were declared the worst the region had seen since 1958, forced 12,000 people from their homes. On March 31, 2004, the waters reached 6.89 meters, surpassing the peak of last year?s flood, 6.64 meters. So far, two people have died in this year?s floods. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ] (MODIS) on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured this view of the flood in the Caprivi Strip on March 30, 2004. The false color image shows the flood water in an inky black in sharp contrast to the bright green vegetation. Bare ground is tan and clouds are light blue. The image is available in true-color [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004090-0330/Caprivi.A2004090.1205 ] and additional resolutions [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/?2004090-0330/Caprivi.A2004090.1205.721 ]. The Zambezi River forms at a spring in northern Zambia, and flows south through Zambia and Angola before turning east in Namibia?s Caprivi Strip and flowing through Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. It is Africa?s fourth largest river system after the Nile, Zaire, and Niger Rivers. The high-resolution image also shows floods along the northern section of the river in Zambia 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
Fires in Southeastern Africa
Title Fires in Southeastern Africa
Description The southern Africa biomass burning season is in full swing across (clockwise from top left) Democratic Republic of Congo, Zambia, Tanzania, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Malawi (center). Fires, marked with red dots, are an integral part of the farming and grazing practices in the region. This image was captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Aqua satellite on August 18, 2003. The high-resolution image provided above is 500 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at MODIS' maximum spatial resolution of 250 meters. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Fires Near Lake Malawi, Afri …
Title Fires Near Lake Malawi, Africa
Description In southeastern Africa, scores of fires were burning on September 25, 2004, in Mozambique south of Lake Malawi, whose southern tip is at the top center of the image. Active fire detections made by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA's Aqua satellite are marked in red. The fires created a layer of smoke that darkened the surface of the land beneath it. At upper left in the image, the turquoise-colored body of water is the Cahora Basso Lake, created by a dam on the Zambeze River just inside Mozambique after the river leaves its course along the border of Zambia and Zimbabwe. NASA image by Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA-GSFC
Tropical Cyclone Favio
Title Tropical Cyclone Favio
Description Tropical Cyclone Favio formed in the western Indian Ocean about 1,200 kilometers from Madagascar on February 14, 2007. It gradually moved southwest, passing well offshore of Reunion and Mauritius Islands. By February 20, it was just off the southern shore of Madagascar as a well-formed, mature storm. While the storm system had largely skirted around populated areas to that point, forecasters were concerned about its behavior as it entered the warmer waters of the Mozambique Channel. The storm was forecast to reach Category Four [ http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/aboutsshs.shtml ] strength before coming ashore and tracking inland through Zimbabwe and Zambia, bringing heavy rains to already flooded areas. [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14115 ] This photo-like image was acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] on the Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite on February 20, 2007, at 2:15 p.m. local time (11:15 UTC). The storm was turning north around the southern end of Madagscar, headed for the Mozambique Channel. Favio had the recognizable shape of a southern-hemisphere tropical cyclone, with spiral arms showing its clockwise rotation. The spiral arms are well-defined and tightly wound. A distinct eye at the center of the storm is only partially filled with clouds (a "partially closed" eye). These are all signs of a well-developed and powerful storm, consistent with the cyclone's strength. According to the University of Hawaii's Tropical Storm Information Center, [ http:/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3 www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Tropical/ ] Favio had steady winds of around 160 kilometers per hour (100 miles per hour) around the time MODIS made this observation. The high-resolution image provided above is at MODIS' full spatial resolution (level of detail) of 250 meters per pixel. The MODIS Rapid Response System provides this image at additional resolutions. You can also download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Favio KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Feb2007/Favio.A2007051.1115.250m.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center.
Flooding in southeastern Afr …
Title Flooding in southeastern Africa
Description Heavy rains across southeastern Africa led to flooding throughout Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique that displaced thousands of people and destroyed hundreds of acres of invaluable crops. This true color image of flooding in Zambia was acquired on January 10, 2003, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA?s Terra spacecraft. The floods looks like bruises on the land just below Lake Bengwuelu. Farther east in Malawi and Mozambique, flooding has driven over 30,000 people from their homes and killed seven people. The fallout from the floods, however, may be worse than the floods themselves. A food shortage currently exists in southeastern Africa, and the floods have now destroyed much valuable cropland along the rivers and lakes. In this false-color image, land is green, water is black and dark blue, and clouds are light blue and white. Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
Flooding in the Zambezi Vall …
Title Flooding in the Zambezi Valley
Description The ribbon of blue flood water that surrounds the Zambezi River in the top image is not unusual. Every year, when the rainy season sets in over southern Angola and western Zambia, the river rises and spreads wide across its flood plain. The intense rains that fell from mid-December through March 2007 caused widespread flooding across southern Africa [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14125 ] from Angola to Mozambique. The floods caused dozens of deaths, displaced thousands, and caused extensive damage to both agriculture and infrastructure, said the Dartmouth Flood Observatory. [ http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7efloods/Archives/2007sum.htm ] Many of the deadly floods have occurred along various sections of the Zambezi and its tributaries. The floods shown here caused agricultural losses. In additional to being heavier than normal, the rains also came early, reported the Dartmouth Flood Observatory. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on March 4, 2007. The lower image was taken on December 1, 2006, by the MODIS sensor flying on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, and is provided here to show the river during the dry season. The images were made with visible and infrared light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. Water is dark blue, while the surrounding plant-covered land is green. Bare or lightly vegetated ground is tan, and clouds are pale blue and white. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided by the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team.
Flooding in the Zambezi Vall …
Title Flooding in the Zambezi Valley
Description The ribbon of blue flood water that surrounds the Zambezi River in the top image is not unusual. Every year, when the rainy season sets in over southern Angola and western Zambia, the river rises and spreads wide across its flood plain. The intense rains that fell from mid-December through March 2007 caused widespread flooding across southern Africa [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14125 ] from Angola to Mozambique. The floods caused dozens of deaths, displaced thousands, and caused extensive damage to both agriculture and infrastructure, said the Dartmouth Flood Observatory. [ http://www.dartmouth.edu/%7efloods/Archives/2007sum.htm ] Many of the deadly floods have occurred along various sections of the Zambezi and its tributaries. The floods shown here caused agricultural losses. In additional to being heavier than normal, the rains also came early, reported the Dartmouth Flood Observatory. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS [ http://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov ]) on NASA's Terra [ http://terra.nasa.gov/ ] satellite captured the top image on March 4, 2007. The lower image was taken on December 1, 2006, by the MODIS sensor flying on NASA's Aqua [ http://aqua.nasa.gov/ ] satellite, and is provided here to show the river during the dry season. The images were made with visible and infrared light to highlight the presence of water on the ground. Water is dark blue, while the surrounding plant-covered land is green. Bare or lightly vegetated ground is tan, and clouds are pale blue and white. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided by the MODIS Rapid Response [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/ ] team.
Victoria Falls, Zambezi Rive …
Title Victoria Falls, Zambezi River
Description high resolution 1000 pixel-wide image (920 kB JPEG) Victoria Falls is one of the most famous tourist sites in subsaharan Africa. Details of the Falls are visible in this image taken with the 800 mm lens by Astronaut Edward Lu from the Space Station on September 4, 2003. A major river in south-central Africa, the Zambezi River flows from western Zambia to the Indian Ocean in Mozambique. In the sector imaged here, it flows southeast (top left to bottom right) in a wide bed before plunging suddenly 130 meters over the Victoria Falls into a narrow gorge. The falls and their famous spray clouds are 1700 m long, the longest sheet of falling water in the world. The falls appear as a ragged white line. The small town of Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe appears just west (left) of the falls, with smaller tourist facilities on the east bank in Zambia. The international railroad bridge over the second gorge (between Zimbabwe and Zambia) can be seen in the detailed view on the bottom (arrow). The positions of the falls are controlled by linear fault lines in the underlying basalt rocks. The falls have moved upstream (bottom to top) by intense river erosion, elongating the zig-zag gorge in the process. Prior positions of the strongly linear falls can be detected. The earliest on this cropped view may have been the longest (dashed line). The zig-zags represent subsequent positions, all with the characteristic water-worn lip on the upstream side. The falls will continue to erode northward. Astronaut photograph ISS007-E-14361 was taken September 4, 2003 with a Kodak DCS760 digital camera equipped with an 800mm lens and provided by M. Justin Wilkinson (Lockheed Martin / Earth Observations Laboratory, Johnson Space Center). The International Space Station Program [ http://spaceflight.nasa.gov/ ] supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth. [ http://eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ ]
2002 December 3 See Explanat …
Title 2002 December 3 See Explanation. Clicking on the picture will download the highest resolution version available.
Explanation On December 4th [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE2002/ TSE2002.html ], for the second time in as many years, the Moon's shadow will track [ http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/eclipse/TSE2002/TSE2002txt/ T02animate.html ] across southern Africa bringing a total solar eclipse [ http://www.mreclipse.com/Special/SEprimer.html ] to African skies. Reaching Africa just before 6:00 Universal Time [ http://aa.usno.navy.mil/faq/ docs/UT.html ], the narrow path of totality - corresponding to the path of the Moon's umbra or dark central shadow - will run eastward through Angola, Namibia (Caprivi Strip), Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa's Kruger National Park [ http://profjohn.com/el/el2002/index.html ], and Mozambique. Moving out across the Indian Ocean it will ultimately cross onto the Australian continent at sunset (around 9:10 UT [ http://www.csiro.au/helix/eclipse/ ]). Observers directly in this path could catch at most a minute or so of the eclipse at its total phase, but at least a partial eclipse will be visible over much of Africa, Australia [ http://astronomy.swin.edu.au/solar_eclipse_2002/ ], some parts of Indonesia, and eastern Antarctica. While watching [ http://www.mreclipse.com/TSE01reports/ TSE01galleryA.html ] last year's June 21 eclipse, astronomer Fred Espenak recorded a series of exposures used to construct this dramatic composite image. The sequence follows the 2001 geocentric celestial event from start to finish above a thorny acacia tree [ http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/ acacia_tortillis.htm ] near Chisamba, Zambia.
Flooding in the Zambezi Vall …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
upperzambezi_tmo_2007063
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mediatype image
date 2007-03-04
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier upperzambezi_tmo_2007063
Drought in Southern Africa: …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Hot, dry weather from Januar …
ge_07590
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007
creator NASA -- 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.
identifier ge_07590
Drought in Southern Africa: …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Hot, dry weather from Januar …
ge_07590
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007
creator NASA -- 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.
identifier ge_07590
Drought in Southern Africa: …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Hot, dry weather from Januar …
ge_07590
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007
creator NASA -- 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.
identifier ge_07590
Drought in Southern Africa: …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Hot, dry weather from Januar …
ge_07590
mediatype IMAGE
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date 2007
creator NASA -- 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.
identifier ge_07590
Floods in Southern Africa: N …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
Mozambique_AMO_2007051
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mediatype image
date 2007-02-20
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Mozambique_AMO_2007051
Drought in Southern Africa: …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Hot, dry weather from Januar …
safricandiva_spt_200703_pale …
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-03-31
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier safricandiva_spt_200703_palette
Drought in Southern Africa: …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Hot, dry weather from Januar …
safricandiva_spt_200703_pale …
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-03-31
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier safricandiva_spt_200703_palette
Drought in Southern Africa: …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Hot, dry weather from Januar …
safricandiva_spt_200703_pale …
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mediatype image
date 2007-03-31
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier safricandiva_spt_200703_palette
Floods in Southern Africa: N …
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* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
Mozambique_TMO_2007041
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-01-10
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Mozambique_TMO_2007041
Floods in Southern Africa: N …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
Zambezi_TMO_2007039
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-02-08
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Zambezi_TMO_2007039
Food Shortages in Southeast …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
zambia_TMO_2005065
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-03-06
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier zambia_TMO_2005065
Fires Near Lake Malawi, Afri …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
In southeastern Africa, scor …
aqua_mozambique_25sep04
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-09-25
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier aqua_mozambique_25sep04
Fires in Central and Souther …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Even for a region that sees …
Mozambique.AMO2002268
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2002-09-25
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Mozambique.AMO2002268
Smoke in Southern Africa : I …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
This SeaWiFS true-color imag …
seawifs_safrica_smoke
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2000-09-04
creator NASA -- Image courtesy Gene Feldman, SeaWiFS Project and Orbital Sciences
identifier seawifs_safrica_smoke
Victoria Falls, Zambezi Rive …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Victoria Falls is one of the …
ISS007-E-14361_lrg
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-09-04
creator NASA -- Astronaut photograph eol.jsc.nasa.gov/scripts/sseop/photo.pl?mission=ISS007&roll=E&frame=14361 ISS007-E-14361 was taken September 4, 2003 with a Kodak DCS760 digital camera equipped with an 800mm lens and provided by M. Justin Wilkinson (Lockheed Martin / Earth Observations Laboratory, Johnson Space Center). The spaceflight.nasa.gov/ International Space Station Program supports the laboratory to help astronauts take pictures of Earth that will be of the greatest value to scientists and the public, and to make those images freely available on the Internet. Additional images taken by astronauts and cosmonauts can be viewed at the NASA/JSC eol.jsc.nasa.gov/ Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth.
identifier ISS007-E-14361_lrg
Unusually Intense Rain Flood …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Heavier-than-normal rainfall …
ge_08439
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-12-24
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier ge_08439
Unusually Intense Rain Flood …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Heavier-than-normal rainfall …
ge_08439
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2007-12-24
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier ge_08439
Fires in Tanzania and Mozamb …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
Like many countries, the sou …
Mozambique_fire_2001312
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2001-11-08
creator NASA -- Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, modis-land.gsfc.nasa.gov/ MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
identifier Mozambique_fire_2001312
Fires Across Tanzania: Natur …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Numerous fires (marked with …
EastAfrica.AMOA2003161
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-06-10
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier EastAfrica.AMOA2003161
Flooding in southeastern Afr …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Heavy rains across southeast …
zambia.TMO2003010
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-01-10
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier zambia.TMO2003010
Flooding in southeastern Afr …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Heavy rains across southeast …
zambia.TMO2003010
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-01-10
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
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Seasonal floods along the Za …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
Heavy rains through the mont …
aqua_zambezi_30mar04
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004-03-30
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier aqua_zambezi_30mar04
Fires in Southeastern Africa …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
The southern Africa biomass …
Mozambique.AMOA2003230
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2003-08-18
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Mozambique.AMOA2003230
Fire Season in Central and S …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
In eastern Africa, numerous …
Zambia.AMOA2005128
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2005-05-08
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Zambia.AMOA2005128
Intense Seasonal Floods in S …
nasa, nasanaturalhazards
* eoimages.gsfc.nasa.gov/ima …
Mozambique_AMO_2008004
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2008-01-04
creator NASA -- NASA Image Of The Day
identifier Mozambique_AMO_2008004
Drought Brings Food Shortage …
nasa, nasaimageofthedaygalle …
As many as ten drought-stric …
safrica_ndvi_200401
mediatype IMAGE
mediatype image
date 2004
creator NASA -- Image based on data provided by Matthew C. Hansen, University of Maryland
identifier safrica_ndvi_200401
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