Suggested Searches

1 min read

Floods in Iran

Instruments:
2004-01-12 00:00:00
January 12, 2004

Two days of intense rain filled the rivers and marshlands of southwestern Iran and southeastern Iraq with pools of water, seen in varying shades of blue in the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) image taken on January 12, 2004, top. In contrast, the image acquired on November 7, 2003, bottom, is dominated by dry, bare ground, seen as pink in the false-color image. A band of green marks the path of the Shatt al Arab from the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers into the northern tip of the Persian Gulf. Flood waters and clouds blur the River’s path in the flood image.

The same storm flooded much of Iran’s western coastal region, claiming the lives of at least six people. To the northwest, over 8000 have been forced to flee as irrigation canals in the marshlands around Nasiriya, Iraq overflow.

The high-resolution images provided above are at MODIS’ maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel.

References & Resources

Image courtesy Jesse Allen, based on data from the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC

You may also be interested in:

Stay up-to-date with the latest content from NASA as we explore the universe and discover more about our home planet.

Wild, Scenic, and Increasingly Rusty
5 min read

Orange streams are now being spotted in hundreds of watersheds in permafrost areas throughout Alaska’s Brooks Range.

Article
Tropical Storm Arthur
2 min read

The first named storm of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season brought intense rainfall and the threat of flash flooding to…

Article
Signs of Thaw in the Bering Sea
3 min read

Drifting sea ice fragments near Alaska’s Saint Lawrence and Nunivak islands and colorful water around the Yukon Delta heralded the…

Article