The Balkans

The Balkans

The Transylvanian Basin in Romania stands out in brilliant green in this image from the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on May 3, 2002. Near the top of the image, the hilly, forested basin is tucked in between the Carpathian Mountains, running northwest-southeast, and the Transylvanian Alps, running west-east. To the right of the image is the Black Sea. The large patch of turquoise water in the Black Sea is a large phytoplankton bloom. At the bottom of the image, the Aegean Sea and the Sea of Marmara is ringed by Greece (left) and Turkey (right).

Please note that the high-resolution scene provided here is 500 meters per pixel. For a copy of this scene at the sensor’s fullest (250-m) resolution, visit the MODIS Rapidfire site.

Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC