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October 11, 2020 - Pakistan
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The Indus River gently curves across Pakistan, first rising in Tibet then travelling about 1,800 miles (3000 km) to meet the Arabian Sea near the city of Karachi. The Indus basin spans about 364,702 square miles (944,574 sq km) and encompasses the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains as well as the semi-arid plains of Pakistan where its waters create a wide green valley in which agriculture thrives. It is the 12th largest river in the world and carries an annual flow twice that of the Nile River.
The Indus is fed by the southwest Asian monsoon, which pours through the riverbanks most heavily between June and late September each year. In typical years, the rising waters irrigate agricultural crops and, through various dams, create hydroelectricity. The monsoon rain and rushing river sweeps sediment into the Indus as well, carrying it to deposit it near the Arabian Sea in the expansive Indus Delta.
While heavy rains are a part of life along the Indus during the monsoon, in some years exceptionally heavy downpours cause severe flooding. Such was the case in 2020, when flooding of the Indus caused more than 400 fatalities between mid-June and mid-September, with 400 more injured and more than 200,000 homes damaged or destroyed. The hardest-hit province, Sindh, was drenched by sporadic rains in July followed by record-breaking downpours in August. Karachi, the provincial capital and Pakistan’s most populous city, received about 19 inches (490 mm) of rain in August – the heaviest August rainfall ever recorded in that city. The government has reported that nearly one million acres of crops have also been destroyed by flooding, including cotton, vegetables, onions, tomatoes, and sugarcane.
On October 9, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image centered on Pakistan and the Indus River Valley.
A lush carpet of green colors the areas that have been watered by rains and floods, contrasting sharply to the tans found in the more arid regions, including the rugged, rocky and dry Sulaiman Range in the west. The waters of the Indus as well as its largest tributaries (Jhelum and Sutlej) appear muddy brown from copious suspended sediment. While flooding continued through mid-September, on September 24 the Pakistan Meteorological Department reported normal flow along the Indus and, as of October 10, the Indus remains at normal flow.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 10/9/2020
Resolutions:
1km (56.6 KB), 500m (223.5 KB), 250m (743.8 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The Indus River gently curves across Pakistan, first rising in Tibet then travelling about 1,800 miles (3000 km) to meet the Arabian Sea near the city of Karachi. The Indus basin spans about 364,702 square miles (944,574 sq km) and encompasses the foothills of the Himalaya Mountains as well as the semi-arid plains of Pakistan where its waters create a wide green valley in which agriculture thrives. It is the 12th largest river in the world and carries an annual flow twice that of the Nile River.
The Indus is fed by the southwest Asian monsoon, which pours through the riverbanks most heavily between June and late September each year. In typical years, the rising waters irrigate agricultural crops and, through various dams, create hydroelectricity. The monsoon rain and rushing river sweeps sediment into the Indus as well, carrying it to deposit it near the Arabian Sea in the expansive Indus Delta.
While heavy rains are a part of life along the Indus during the monsoon, in some years exceptionally heavy downpours cause severe flooding. Such was the case in 2020, when flooding of the Indus caused more than 400 fatalities between mid-June and mid-September, with 400 more injured and more than 200,000 homes damaged or destroyed. The hardest-hit province, Sindh, was drenched by sporadic rains in July followed by record-breaking downpours in August. Karachi, the provincial capital and Pakistan’s most populous city, received about 19 inches (490 mm) of rain in August – the heaviest August rainfall ever recorded in that city. The government has reported that nearly one million acres of crops have also been destroyed by flooding, including cotton, vegetables, onions, tomatoes, and sugarcane.
On October 9, 2020, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image centered on Pakistan and the Indus River Valley.
A lush carpet of green colors the areas that have been watered by rains and floods, contrasting sharply to the tans found in the more arid regions, including the rugged, rocky and dry Sulaiman Range in the west. The waters of the Indus as well as its largest tributaries (Jhelum and Sutlej) appear muddy brown from copious suspended sediment. While flooding continued through mid-September, on September 24 the Pakistan Meteorological Department reported normal flow along the Indus and, as of October 10, the Indus remains at normal flow.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Terra
Date Acquired: 10/9/2020
Resolutions:
1km (56.6 KB), 500m (223.5 KB), 250m (743.8 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
