In the three weeks that passed between April 14, 2005, and May 7, 2005, the icy landscape of Southern Russia has melted away into the soggy green of spring. The Volga River and its tributaries are swollen with melting snow and ice. According to local news reports, as many as 700 homes have been flooded throughout Russia, with the worst flooding occurring in the south.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) flying aboard NASA’s Terra satellite captured the above images of one flooded region along the Volga River. In the top image, acquired on May 7, 2005, the black Volga River is grossly swollen, particularly in the southern part of the bend shown here. The lower image was taken on April 14, 2005, when the river was still covered with a layer of ice in places and the ground was dusted with snow. In these false-color images, snow and ice are light blue. Clouds are also light blue, vegetation is green, and bare ground is tan or pink. South of the river is a clear grid of farmland. Some of the fields had already begun to green with life by April 14, but many remain bare and unplanted in both images. As the top image shows, spring not only brought floods, but it also brought fresh green plant life to the entire region. Red boxes mark the locations of fires burning on May 7, and the flames of the top fire glow pink in the sensor’s infrared bands.
The large images provided above are at MODIS’ maximum resolution of 250 meters per pixel. The images are available in additional resolutions from the MODIS Rapid Response Team.
References & Resources
NASA images courtesy the MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC.
