Earth from Space - Image Description

STS062-083-057 Mississippi River, Tennessee, U.S.A. March 1994
Featured in this south-looking photograph are the meandering, sediment-laden Mississippi River and its floodplain that extend from Caruthersville, Missouri, in the north to Osceola, Arkansas, in the south. Apparent on either side of the river are several old scars, either oxbow lakes or remnants from old crescent meanders; thin, dark lines that designate levees; and various sized cultivated field patterns. The western floodplain is larger than the eastern in this part of the Mississippi River Valley. Dyersburg is barely discernible (bottom left corner).

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.