Ob River, Russia (before floods) - related image preview

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Ob River, Russia (before floods) - related image preview

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Ob River, Russia (before floods)

The Ob River in Southern Siberia is running high after heavy rain and snow pushed it over its banks. Across the region, 18 people have died in the floods, and over 20,000 have been affected. As of April 21, 2004, the Ob River and the Tom River, a tributary of the Ob north of the region shown in this Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image pair, had inundated 2,800 houses. Though the floods had begun to recede by April 23, when the flood image was taken by the Aqua satellite, the region was bracing for more snowmelt. Ice jams in the river also contributed to the flooding, and bombs had been dropped to clear the ice.

The image taken on April 11 by the Terra satellite shows the winter-time extent of the Ob River. In the false color image, light blue snow covers much of the region. It had largely disappeared by April 23. The tan and brown bare earth is marked with streaks on bright green vegetation. Clouds are light blue.


Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team, NASA/GSFC

Published April 27, 2004
Data acquired April 11, 2004

Source:
Terra > MODIS
Collections:
MODIS Rapid Response
Visible Earth