Browse All : Images of Zimbabwe from 2007

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.

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.

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.

Tropical Cyclone Favio

Title	Tropical Cyclone Favio
Description	Tropical Cyclone Favio came ashore on the coast of Mozambique on the morning of February 22, 2007. At the time it crossed the shoreline, Favio had lost some strength from its peak the previous day, but still had extremely powerful winds. The cyclone continued to weaken as it passed over land, becoming a tropical depression. As of 8:00 a.m. local time (0600 UTC), winds were down to 60 kilometers per hour (38 miles per hour), according to the South African Weather Service. [ http://www.weathersa.co.za/ ] 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 23, 2007, at 1:45 p.m. local time (11:45 UTC), as the tropical depression was crossing into Zimbabwe. The storm still has a distinct balled-up form left over from its cyclone state the previous day, but once over land, the strong circular eye and powerful eyewall storms typical of a cylone were gone. As it traveled farther inland towards the Zambezi River valley, the storm brought heavy rains to Zimbabwe. This region had already suffered from heavy rains associated with the onset of the monsoon, and severe flooding along the Zambezi River [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=14115 ] in mid-February killed dozens of people and forced more than a hundred thousand people to evacuate, according to reports [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/RWB.NSF/db900SID/LSGZ-6YMDSC?OpenDocument ] from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies posted online by ReliefWeb. [ http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/dbc.nsf/doc100?OpenForm ] There had been widespread additional evacuations ahead of Cyclone Favio's arrival. You can download a 250-meter-resolution Cyclone Favio KMZ file [ http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/Archive/Feb2007/favio_amo_2007054.kmz ] for use with Google Earth. [ http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html ] NASA image by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response Team, [ http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov ] Goddard Space Flight Center.

Drought in Southern Africa: Image of the Day

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
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