Severe Flooding in Northern India, Nepal
Posted: Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:03 pm
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=81450 wrote:
Severe Flooding in Northern India, Nepal
Earth Observatory, June 22, 2013
<<In mid-June 2013, unusually severe monsoon rain caused devastating flooding in northern India and Nepal. By June 21, news outlets reported at least 600 people dead and tens of thousands stranded or missing in rugged, inaccessible terrain on the edge of the Himalayas. Extremely high waters, particularly in the state of Uttarakhand, undermined roads and houses, while landslides wiped out others.
Landslide researcher David Petley noted on his blog: “Whilst mid-June is monsoon season in this area, the most intense rainfall usually occurs later than this. Unfortunately, this high intensity rainfall event will have saturated the ground in these areas, making them more vulnerable to landslides later in the summer.”
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite observed the flooding on June 21, 2013 (top). For comparison, the lower image shows the same area on May 30, 2013. These false-color images use a combination of visible and infrared light to make it easier to distinguish between water and land. Water appears blue and vegetation is bright green. Clouds (lower left) are pale blue-green and cast shadows. Glacier ice and snow in the Himalayas are pale blue to cyan.>>
