full-size images:
May 22, 2001 (1.4 MB)
May 28, 2001 (1.4 MB)
What a difference a week can make! This pair of true-color imagesacquired by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) onNASA's Terrasatellite show the spring thaw and resulting flooding ofthe Lena River, a principal waterway of eastern Siberia. The firstimage, acquired on May 22, 2001, shows the Lena as a mostly frozen,white ribbon running north. An eastward flowing tributary, the Vilyuy,also appears frozen. In the second image, taken only 8 days later, largesections of the Lena, as well as the Vilyuy appear to be almostcompletely thawed. The formerly whiteribbon of the river now appears decidedly brown, likely indicatingsediment churned up by high water.
The region is experiencing its worst flooding in one hundred years, withhundreds of thousands of people being affected by the floodwaters thathave resulted from the melting of the snow pack accumulated over aparticularly harsh Siberian winter. Explosives are being detonated inmany places to dislodge huge blocks of ice that are backing up riversand exacerbating flooding.
The Lena River is one of the longest rivers in the world. It flowsnortheast and then north from its source in the Baikal Mountains southof the Central Siberian Plateau, and it empties into the Arctic Oceanvia the Laptev Sea. At the mouth of the Lena River is a delta that isabout 250 miles wide. The delta is frozen tundra for about 7 months ofthe year, but spring transforms the region into a lush wetland for theremainder of the year. Part of the area is protected as part of the LenaDelta Wildlife Reserve.
References & Resources
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team
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