Here's another chance to play geographical detective! This natural-color
image from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) represents an area
of about 380 kilometers x 574 kilometers, and was captured by the instrument's
vertical-viewing (nadir) camera in July, 2003. Use any reference materials you
like to answer the following 5 questions.
Name the nation(s) that appear and any national capital cities included
within the image area.
At the top of the image are several large lakes with extensive swamps
and marshlands to the east and southeast. Three of the following four
statements about the marshlands are true. Which one is false?
A large, solitary bird, whose name derives from its unusually-shaped bill
and who is the only known species of its genus, is regularly sighted here in
July.
The end of the wet season occurred less than a month prior to the
acquisition of this image, and water levels in the marshes are still
high.
At least two different kinds of semi-aquatic ruminants can be found in
the swamps and marshlands of this region.
Industrial fishing is not allowed in any of the lakes or swamps.
In the center left-hand portion of the image is a large green-colored
area, bordered by a big river on its northern flank. Three of the following
four statements about this area are true. Which one is false?
Despite intensive copper mining activities to the south, this forested
region does not sit atop a rich deposit of copper ore.
The pattern of bright green and tan situated below the green area
indicates a region of many large-scale commercial farms.
One nation's government is planning to construct a high grade road
northwards across the area, although it is part of a different nation's
territory.
During the 1960s, political leaders of the area made an unsuccessful
attempt to secede as an independent nation.
A steep escarpment traverses the right-hand portion of the image, and a
fertile valley is found to its east. Three of the following four statements
about this region are true. Which one is false?
This escarpment is part of a 6000 kilometer-long fault system.
The strange-looking tree, Adansonia digitata, is commonly found in some
parts of this region.
The soils in the valley are relatively nutrient-rich because of their
volcanic origin.
Both Ceratotherium simum and Loxodonta spp. can be found within these
areas.
In the very bottom right of the image, at the junction of two rivers, is
a large, pale green lake. Three of the following four statements about it are
true. Which one is false?
Give or take a few meters, the average depth of the lake is about 25
meters.
Almost five thousand people living downstream from the lake lost their
homes during the severe floods of 2001.
The "lake" was created by dam construction and is, in fact, a
reservoir boasting the largest holding capacity of any on the continent.
A side effect of the dam is that the floodplain downstream no longer
receives yearly inundation by floodwaters.
MISR was built and is managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena,
CA, for NASA's Office of Earth Science, Washington, DC. The Terra satellite is
managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD. JPL is a division
of the California Institute of Technology.
Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team.
Text acknowledgment: Clare Averill (Raytheon ITSS/ Jet Propulsion Laboratory).