Under the one-two punch of a dry fall and a frigid winter, winter crops in Ukraine were in poor condition in April and May 2006. This vegetation anomaly (difference from normal) image was created from data collected by MODIS. Widespread brown indicates that plants throughout the region had grown less compared to the average growth for 2000-2005. The Foreign Agricultural Service, a division of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, estimated that only 10 metric tons of winter wheat, the primary crop growing here, would be harvested in July and August. That figure was down about 46 percent from the 18.7 metric tons harvested in 2005.
Published May 25, 2006Native to America, corn is now a staple in diets around the world. This map shows the global distribution of corn in 2000.
Published Nov 25, 2010In the wake of a potent winter storm in late November in the U.S. Midwest, an unusual pattern turned up in satellite imagery.
Published Dec 6, 2019This pair of natural-color (photo-like) images from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite contrasts 2009 conditions in southern Buenos Aires province with the conditions in 2008, a more normal year.
Published Feb 24, 2009This vegetation image shows expansive plant growth in northern and eastern China under nearly ideal weather in June 2010.
Published Jul 21, 2010Many farmers in Maryland plant winter cover crops—a practice that reduces how much pollution flows into Chesapeake Bay.
Published Apr 26, 2017Though the talk in much of the United States was about polar vortices and wicked cold snaps, the wider world was actually warmer than normal.
Published Mar 20, 2014A mild drought set in over the Yellow River Basin and parts of the North China Plain during the first five months of 2006. Dry weather and warmer-than-average temperatures in February, March, and much of April left soil dry.
Published May 24, 2006