Images
April 27, 2020 - Zambezi River
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Every fall, as the wet season draws to a close, Africa’s Zambezi River overflows its banks, covering the broad flood plains with water. In Zambia, the rainy season comes in November and ends in April. On April 24, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the swollen Zambezi, its flood plains, and the surrounding vegetation which has been spurred to green growth thanks to a season of rains.
The Zambezi River forms at a spring in northern Zambia, and flows south through Zambia and Angola before turning east in Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and flows through Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. It is Africa’s fourth largest river system after the Nile, Zaire, and Niger Rivers.
This image captures the river’s course in Zambia (north) through Botswana (south) and a small amount of Angola in the west. The Caprivi Strip, the thin swath of Namibian land that sits between Botswana and the other two countries, can also be seen.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/24/2020
Resolutions:
1km (175.8 KB), 500m (455.5 KB), 250m (754.7 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
Every fall, as the wet season draws to a close, Africa’s Zambezi River overflows its banks, covering the broad flood plains with water. In Zambia, the rainy season comes in November and ends in April. On April 24, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of the swollen Zambezi, its flood plains, and the surrounding vegetation which has been spurred to green growth thanks to a season of rains.
The Zambezi River forms at a spring in northern Zambia, and flows south through Zambia and Angola before turning east in Namibia’s Caprivi Strip and flows through Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Mozambique to the Indian Ocean. It is Africa’s fourth largest river system after the Nile, Zaire, and Niger Rivers.
This image captures the river’s course in Zambia (north) through Botswana (south) and a small amount of Angola in the west. The Caprivi Strip, the thin swath of Namibian land that sits between Botswana and the other two countries, can also be seen.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/24/2020
Resolutions:
1km (175.8 KB), 500m (455.5 KB), 250m (754.7 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
