image: Captured by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite, these images show the advance of flood waters on the Missouri River between May 30, 2011 (top), and June 27, 2011 (bottom). (FOR MAY IMAGE: http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/view.php?id=51227&src=nha). These images have been rotated so that north is on the right. Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to increase contrast between water and land. Water is navy blue. Land ranges in color from green to brown, depending on land cover. Vegetation greens significantly over the four-week period separating these images. Clouds range from off-white to blue-green. No significant flooding appears along this stretch of the Missouri on May 30. On June 1, flooding had begun to occur near the North Dakota town of Williston, upstream from Lake Sakakawea. In the image from June 27, flooding has swelled the river all along the eastern border of Nebraska. Flood waters are most obvious in the south (left). view more
Credit: NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.