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Satellite Images Display Extreme Mississippi River Flooding From Space

Saturday, May 14, 2011 14:21

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(Before It's News)

Recent Landsat satellite data captured by the USGS and NASA on May 10 shows the major flooding of the Mississippi River around Memphis, Tenn. and along the state borders of Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas as seen from 438 miles above the Earth.

This is a Landsat 5 image of the Mississippi River in the Memphis, Tenn., area on May 12, 2006.

Credit: USGS/NASA
The flood crest of 47.87 feet on May 10, is the second highest rise in recent history; the highest being 48.7 feet in 1937. Five counties surrounding Memphis have been declared disaster areas, and the costs of the flooding are expected to approach $1 billion. The Mississippi River crest continues to move south and is expected to occur in the Greenville, Miss. Area around May 16 to finally crest in New Orleans around May 23.

When natural hazards like flooding occur, USGS provides the most recent Landsat data to local emergency managers.

“Landsat imagery is crucial in helping to monitor the flood rate and effects of the flooding in the region, and to aid in the decision making process regarding flood control. Decisions such as closing portions of the Mississippi River to shipping and opening flood gates outside of low-lying New Orleans in preparation to the flood wave as it makes its way slowly down the river to the Gulf of Mexico,” said Mark Anderson, Acting Director of the USGS Earth Resources Observation and Science Center.

James Irons, Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM) Project Scientist at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. said, “NASA Goddard has managed the development of all the successfully launched Landsat satellites and is currently developing the next Landsat satellite system, the Landsat Data Continuity Mission, in partnership with USGS.” The launch of LDCM is scheduled for December, 2012.

This is a Landsat 5 image of the Mississippi River in the Memphis, Tenn., area on May 10, 2011.

Credit: USGS/NASA

On May 13, 2011, the Mississippi River was approaching a record level at the city of Vicksburg, Mississippi, and had exceeded the previous record at Natchez, Miss. The Advanced Hydrological Prediction Service (AHPS)reported that the river reached 55.45 feet (16.90 meters) at 3:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time at Vicksburg, and 59.87 feet (18.25 meters) at 2:00 p.m. CDT at Natchez. The previous record for Natchez, set in 1937, was 58.04 feet (17.69 meters). The AHPS forecast that water levels would continue to rise in both locations.

Floodwaters near Natchez

download large image (4 MB, JPEG)acquired May 11, 2011

download GeoTIFF file (65 MB, TIFF)acquired May 11, 2011

download large image (4 MB, JPEG)acquired April 21, 2007

download GeoTIFF file (65 MB, TIFF)

The Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer(ASTER) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured these false-color images of the area around Natchez on May 11, 2011 (top), and April 21, 2007 (bottom).

The images combine infrared, red, and green wavelengths to form a false-color image that distinguishes between muddy water and land. Water is blue, and sediment-laden water is a dull blue-green. Vegetation is red, and the brighter the red, the more robust the vegetation. Red and gray patches west of the river (top edge of each image) are agricultural fields. Clouds are white, and cast shadows onto the land surface below.

In May 2011, the Mississippi River pushed over its banks onto floodplains. In some places, the flood waters almost reached oxbow lakes along the river.

On May 12, 2011, the Natchez Democrat reported that the city was on level two of a four-level evacuation plan. At level two, residents are encouraged to plan for an evacuation by gathering personal belongings that would be irreplaceable in the event of a flood. The paper further reported that authorities were gathering lists of elderly or homebound people so they could be safely moved in an evacuation.

Remotely sensed data are not the only science endeavors occurring due to floods. The USGS collects river data through its network of about 7,700 stream gauges around the Nation. You can receive instant, customized updates about water conditions, including flooding, by subscribing to USGS WaterAlert (› http://water.usgs.gov/wateralert).

General flood information is available at USGS Science Features and USGS Flood Information (› http://water.usgs.gov/osw/floods/).

The scenes captured by Landsat 5 show the Mississippi River in the Memphis, Tenn. area, and along the state borders of Tennessee, Kentucky, Missouri, and Arkansas. The January images show the river before it began to flood. In the May images, the dark blue tones are water, the light green is cleared fields, and the light tones are clouds.

Contacts and sources:

Rob Gutro
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center

For more NASA imagery on the current Mississippi flooding, visit:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/event.php?id=49528