January 2, 2021 - Bale Mountains, Ethiopia

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   Ethiopia and Kenya
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   Ethiopia’s Bale Mountains are cloaked in greens, tans, and russet—a
   range of colors that mirrors the diversity of ecosystems found in the
   region. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on
   board NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image on December
   28, 2020.

   The Bale Mountains are found about 250 miles (400 km) southeast of
   Ethiopia’s capital city, Addis Ababa. The range is basically made up of
   mountains built upon mountains. First the towering Sanetti Plateau was
   formed tens of millions of years ago by successive outpourings of lava.
   The plateau spreads across thousands of square kilometers in
   southeastern Ethiopia and much of it rises to 3,000 meters (10,000
   feet) above sea level. It is the largest area of Afroalpine habitat on
   the African continent.

   Sitting on top of the high base of the Sanetti Plateau, several
   volcanic cones reach more than 4,000 meters (13,123 feet) high. It is
   here, in these dramatic highlands, that Tullu Demtu rises to 4,377
   meters (14,360 feet) to capture the title of the second-highest
   mountain in Ethiopia. Remnants of volcanic activity are scattered
   around the volcanic cones, including trachyte, rhyolites, and basalts.

   In the south, the height of the Plateau drops rapidly from 4,000 meters
   (13,123 feet) to 2,000 meters (6,562 feet) in just 8 km (5 miles). This
   steep drop is called the Harenna escarpment and leads to the
   second-largest section of moist tropical forest in Ethiopia—the Harenna
   forest. It is also the largest cloud forest in the country and home to
   the largest natural stand of wild coffee genetic stock—the plants that
   gave rise to famous Ethiopian coffee. The northern reaches of the
   Sanetti Plateau hold the Gaysay grasslands and juniper woodlands.

   The Bale Mountains are an area of critical importance for many reasons.
   Many endemic and endangered species call this region home, including
   the elegant mountain nyala, reedbuck, the African Golden Wolf, and the
   rare Ethiopian wolf. More than 40% of the 1,000 known species of
   medicinal plants found in Ethiopia live in these mountains. The
   biodiversity is so impressive that, according to UNESCO, it has been
   estimated that more mammal species would go extinct if the habitats of
   the Bale Mountains to disappear than if any other area of equivalent
   size on the globe were to disappear. In addition, more than 12 million
   people and their livestock that live in southeastern Ethiopia, northern
   Kenya, and Somalia, rely on water that originates from this mountainous
   region.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 12/28/2020
   Resolutions:  1km (71 KB),  500m (272.4 KB),  250m (906.5 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=2021-01-02
 
