December 5, 2020 - Inner Niger Delta

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   Inner Niger Delta
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   Africa’s Sahel region stretches between the sands of the Sahara Desert
   and the rich tropical grasslands of the savanna. Rainfall dominates
   life in the semi-arid Sahel. The long, hot dry season brings browning
   grasses and thirst. Between July and September, the rains come to green
   the land and fill the riverbanks. A good rainy season waters the land
   deeply enough to allow crops to grow abundantly and it fills lakes and
   rivers deeply enough to store water for livestock and people to use
   through the depth of the coming dry season. Sometimes—often—the rains
   become unending and destructive, dumping so much water that widespread
   flooding damages homes, fields, and even injures people. For some parts
   of the West African Sahel, such as the Inner Niger Delta region of
   Mali, 2020 was a year of exceptional rain and floods.

   According to a situation report from the United Nations Office for the
   Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) published on December 2,
   the rainy season was favorable across most of West Africa, especially
   the Sahel region. In most areas strongly above average vegetation
   emerged during September and October. However, exceptionally heavy
   rainfall during August and September brought severe flooding in many
   areas, including Mali. The report states that the floods “resulted in
   fatalities, material damage, destruction of livelihood, population
   displacements, and deteriorated access. The impact in 2020 is
   particularly severe, and the number of people affected is almost double
   from last year” across the flooded areas. The flooding in Mali began in
   July and by August 6 more than 13,200 people were affected by floods
   and a total of 1,160 homes had been destroyed. Rains continued through
   mid-October this year.

   The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s
   Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the Inland Niger Delta
   on December 4, 2020. A spectrum of green shades, ranging from deep
   emerald to pale Kelly green, mark the river channels, lakes, swamps,
   and floodplains which have been recently blessed with water. Deep blue
   marks marks rivers and areas of open water. The burst of color
   contrasts sharply with the arid tan of the surrounding landscape.

   While this image shows an impressive snapshot of the green flood plains
   of the Inner Niger Delta after the floods, thanks to the NASA Worldview
   App it is possible to compare the image acquired after the floods with
   the region prior to the rains. To view a roll-over comparison between
   two Terra MODIS images of this region, the first acquired on June 1 and
   the second on December 4, click  here.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 12/4/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (51.2 KB),  500m (172.2 KB),  250m (477.7
   KB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2020-12-05
 
