This false-color image from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the Terra satellite was taken on June 17, 2002, and shows flood waters along the Ob' (large river running from southeast to northwest) and the Irtysh (joining the Ob' from the south) Rivers on the western edge of the Central Siberian Plateau. In the false-color images, water is black, vegetation is in shades of gold and green, and clouds are pale orange.
In the northernmost portion of the Ob' visible in the large image, what is normally a fine mesh of braided streams and branches of the river channel has become almost a lake in places. The floodwaters have engorged the river to 52 kilometers (32 miles) wide in places.
Because many Siberian rivers flow from south to north, they flood regularly in the spring as meltwater from southern latitudes backs up against the still-frozen northern reaches of the rivers. Rivers can back up for miles, and cause devastating flooding for town and villages along the banks. Often, explosives are dropped into ice jams in an effort to free the river and give the floodwaters a chance to escape. The spring and summer floods of 2002 have proven to be quite severe and perhaps as many as 100,000 people have been affected across the country.
In the false-color images rusty orange is land, and water is black. Clouds are white and pink.
Image courtesy Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC
