• MODIS Pic of the Day 22 March 2023

    From Dan Richter@1:317/3 to All on Wed Mar 22 12:00:34 2023
    March 22, 2023 - Water receedes on the Darling River

    [image03222023_rollover.jpg] [image03222023_main.jpg]
    Tweet
    Share

    In 2022, New South Wales suffered both a wet spring and an
    exceptionally soggy winter, creating widespread flooding, especially in
    the Murray and Darling Rivers. According to Australia’s ABC News, more
    than 200 kilometers (124 miles) of the Darling River had burst its
    banks since the middle of 2022, bringing flood levels not since 1976.
    By March 2023, the floodwaters along the Darling River have finally
    begun to recede.

    Today’s Image of the Day shows a comparison of two false-color images
    acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS)
    on board NASA’s Terra satellite. The first was acquired on January 17,
    2023, when the Darling River remained in heavily flood stage. In the
    second, acquired on March 18, 2023, the water in the Darling has
    returned to nearly normal, except for some large pockets of water along
    the river’s course. In this type of false-color image, water appears
    dark blue, vegetation bright green, and open land is tan.

    Flood-and-drought cycles are common along the Darling. As recently as
    2019, drought reduced the river to such low levels that hundreds of
    fish died. Now, after a good water year in 2021 and exceptional floods
    in 2022, fish populations are on the rise, especially the invasive carp
    species that lives in the river channel. As the river begins to slowly
    return to its bank, it is likely that many of the carp will get trapped
    on land and perish—creating a stench at first, but ultimately enriching
    the soils.

    Much of the floodplains along the Darling are used for agriculture,
    such as croplands or pasture. In dry years, high air temperature and
    low soil moisture can make for scrubby pasture and low crop yields.
    This year, farmers are have reason to be hopeful of bumper crops and
    rich pasture, thanks to the moisture brought by the floods.

    Image Facts
    Satellite: Terra
    Date Acquired: 3/18/2023
    Resolutions: 1km (150.6 KB), 500m (369 KB), 250m (207.6 KB)
    Bands Used: 7,2,1
    Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



    https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2023-03-22

    --- up 1 year, 3 weeks, 2 days, 20 minutes
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)