ISS048-E-67483
| NASA Photo ID | ISS048-E-67483 |
| Focal Length | 290mm |
| Date taken | 2016.08.28 |
| Time taken | 09:37:03 GMT |
3280 x 4928 pixels 720 x 540 pixels 3280 x 4928 pixels 426 x 640 pixels
Photo center point: 49.9° N, 31.4° E
Photo center point by machine learning:
Country or Geographic Name: | UKRAINE |
Features: | KANIV RESERVOIR, ALGAE BLOOMS, DNIEPER RIVER |
| Features Found Using Machine Learning: | |
Cloud Cover Percentage: | 10 (1-10)% |
Sun Elevation Angle: | 48° |
Sun Azimuth: | 177° |
Camera: | Nikon D4 Electronic Still Camera |
Focal Length: | 290mm |
Camera Tilt: | 42 degrees |
Format: | 4928E: 4928 x 3280 pixel CMOS sensor, 36.0mm x 23.9mm, total pixels: 16.6 million, Nikon FX format |
Film Exposure: | |
| Additional Information | |
| Width | Height | Annotated | Cropped | Purpose | Links |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3280 pixels | 4928 pixels | No | No | NASA's Earth Observatory web site | Download Image |
| 720 pixels | 540 pixels | Yes | No | NASA's Earth Observatory web site | Download Image |
| 3280 pixels | 4928 pixels | No | No | Download Image | |
| 426 pixels | 640 pixels | No | No | Download Image |
While flying over eastern Europe, an astronaut aboard the International Space Station took this photograph of Kaniv Reservoir on the Dnieper River, approximately 72 kilometers (45 miles) south of Kiev, Ukraine. Neon green algae blooms, young forests that cover old crops, and variegated patches of agriculture - each of these unique features of the landscape are connected through history and its consequences.
In the early 1920s, a policy known as "collectivization" was adopted by the Soviet Union. For Ukrainians, the agricultural policy meant that most farming took place in kolkhozes (collective farms), with a large percentage of harvests being sent to urban centers. After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, land in Ukraine was divided into small sections among the rural population, with each plot representing a former kolkhoz farmer.
Today agriculture is still a major part of the Ukrainian economy, with more than 70 percent of the country's land area devoted to husbandry. Most of the agricultural plots are still used for growing crops, though some are fallow or abandoned and some overgrown with young forests. As a consequence of the pervasive agricultural land use, an abundance of fertilizer runs off into the nearby rivers and reservoirs, leading to phytoplankton (often algae) blooms. The algae seen here, and the nutrients they consume, also travel down the Dnieper River and its tributaries to the Black Sea, where larger phytoplankton blooms can occur.
