Floods in California - related image preview

650 x 850
185 KB - JPEG

Floods in California - related image preview

1300 x 1700
684 KB - JPEG

Floods in California - related image preview

2600 x 3400
2 MB - JPEG

Floods in California

In this pair of true- and false-color Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) images taken by the Terra satellite on December 27, 2003, flooding surrounds the Sacramento river in northern California. In the false-color image, dark blue and black colors represent flood waters brought on by days of rain filling already-swollen waterways. The flooding extends down to where the Sacramento River flows into the San Francisco Bay. In the true-color image, the flooding is less-apparent, looking like a darker brown stain sitting in the middle of the Sacramento Valley.

Snow coats the Sierra Nevada Mountains to the east of California’s central valleys, and continues into the high-altitude deserts of Nevada. In the false-color image, these snows appear bright turquoise against the shocking greens and subdued tans of snow-free land. Clouds appear white in both images, though high-altitude clouds appear light blue in false-color. Also showing more clearly in false-color are bright red-orange burn scars from recent large fires.

The true-color image uses bands 1, 4, and 3; the false-color image uses bands 7, 2, and 1.


Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published December 29, 2003
Data acquired December 27 - 27, 2003

Source:
Terra > MODIS
Topics:
Agriculture > Forest Science > Forest Fire Science
Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Fire Characteristics
Biosphere > Ecological Dynamics > Fire Occurrence
Biosphere > Terrestrial Ecosystems > Deserts
Biosphere > Terrestrial Habitat > Desert
Biosphere > Vegetation > Reclamation/Revegetation/Restoration
Biosphere > Vegetation > Vegetation Cover
Human Dimensions > Natural Hazards > Fires
Hydrosphere > Surface Water > Floods
Collections:
MODIS Rapid Response
Visible Earth