ISS019 Earth Sciences and Image Analysis Photographic Highlights

TOP PICKS

Click here to view the complete online collection of astronaut photography of Earth >>

ISS019-E-5989

ISS019-E-5989         Click the photo number to access all resolutions available and the database record.

Red River Floods, North Dakota and Minnesota: When this astronaut photo was captured on April 9, 2009, the Red River was experiencing its second round of spring flooding. (Two weeks earlier, the river had crested at very high levels.) The Red River flows north between North Dakota and Minnesota from the confluence of the Bois de Sioux River (south, image lower right) and the less well drained, meandering Otter Tail River (east, image right). Floodwaters in these two tributaries appear as black shapes against a snowy agricultural landscape that is defined by rectangular fields. The largest flooded areas are low parts of fields (image bottom) along a canalized western tributary of the Wild Rice River, which itself becomes a tributary of the Red River just south of Fargo, North Dakota. Wahpeton, North Dakota, and Breckenridge, Minnesota, sit opposite each another on the banks of the Red River, and their city-block patterns stand out as dark gray patches against the snow at image top right. The main runway of the Henry Stern Airport lies angled northwest directly south of Wahpeton, and its 1.3-kilometers (0.8-mile) runway gives a sense of scale to the photo. Access roads to the agricultural fields tend to follow an orthogonal pattern, while larger roads leading to the cities cut across this pattern (image upper left, near Wahpeton). A subtle pattern of drainage ditches and plow lines appears as thin, parallel lines throughout fields in the scene.

< Back

This server is scheduled to be off starting the evening of Thursday October 10 and ending the morning of Tuesday October 15 to accommodate a scheduled power outage.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Astromaterials Research & Exploration Science Directorate. Recommended Citation: Image Science and Analysis Laboratory, NASA-Johnson Space Center. "The Gateway to Astronaut Photography of Earth." .
	NASA Responsible Official: Tracy Calhoun Curator: jsc-earthweb@mail.nasa.gov Contributors: Earth Sciences Web Team	National Aeronautics and Space Administration Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center	International Space Station National Laboratory Last Update:
Server: 1