Floods continued spreading southward along the Missouri River in early July 2011. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured the top image on June 23, 2011, and the bottom image on July 4, 2011.
Both images use a combination of visible and infrared light to increase contrast between water and land. Water is navy blue. Depending on land cover, land ranges in color from green to brown. Clouds are blue-green.
Both images show flooded conditions along parts of the Missouri River, but the image from early July shows more widespread flooding. The river sprawls over a much larger area around Nebraska City, Brownville, and Rulo on July 4. Flooding has also spread southward into Missouri and Kansas. New flooding is especially evident between Atchison and Leavenworth.
On July 5, 2011, the Advanced Hydrological Prediction Service (AHPS) of the U.S. National Weather Service reported moderate flooding near the Nebraskan communities of Nebraska City and Brownville, and major flooding at Plattsmouth and Rulo. The AHPS also reported major flooding in St. Joseph, Missouri, and moderate flooding in Leavenworth, Kansas. Flood-level readings were not available in Atchison, Kansas, which was awaiting gauge repair.
NASA images courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott.
