April 10, 2021 - Northwestern Madagascar

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   Green vegetation, red soils, and muddy rivers color northeastern
   Madagascar at the end of the rainy season in early April 2021. The
   Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s
   Terra satellite acquired this true-color image on April 4.

   Northwestern Madagascar has been described as a mosaic of dry deciduous
   forest, degraded secondary forests, and grasslands. Roughly 2,000 years
   ago—before widespread human habitation and impact on the island—this
   region was thickly covered in forest. Over time, the forest was burned,
   primarily to make way for agriculture and pasturage, leaving secondary
   grasslands behind. While undisturbed dry deciduous forests teem with
   life, giving home to a high number of endemic plant and animal species,
   the grasslands are relatively sterile ecosystems with low diversity and
   a high number of non-native plant species. While remnant forests tend
   to be small and disconnected in a patchwork-like pattern with
   grasslands interspersed, the forests are still vitally important to
   biodiversity on the island.

   Most of Madagascar’s rivers originate in the highlands in the island’s
   interior. They pick up large amounts of sediment there, often from the
   iron-rich red soils and rocks called laterites. Those colorful waters
   flow down toward one of several silty deltas along the coast. The
   largest river in this image (and in Madagascar) is the Betsiboka River.
   It appears muddy-red, with braided channels that pour into the
   Mozambique Channel. The color comes from iron-rich sediment that has
   been washed into the river in the high central plateau region and the
   mountains, then carried northwestward to the broad coastal delta.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Terra
   Date Acquired: 4/4/2021
   Resolutions:  1km (176.3 KB),  500m (482.5 KB),  250m (322.2
   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=2021-04-10
 
