Acquired August 2, 2011, and March 6, 2011, these false-color images compare conditions along part of the Irrawaddy River in Burma, which rises substantially during the summer monsoon.
Dark brown squares mark fields that would ordinarily support irrigated crops in California’s Central Valley in this vegetation image. In 2009, a lack of water meant that the crops were not growing well or the fields lay fallow.
Reservoirs, lakes, and mountainsides are brimming with water and snow, though scientists caution that underground aquifers are a long way from having the same bounty.