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Okavango Delta, Botswana
Image captured on 10 August 2020, by the MODIS instrument, aboard NASA's Aqua satellite.
False-color image of the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The image was acquired on 10 August 2020 by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument, aboard NASA's Aqua satellite. The image is comprised of the MODIS bands 7-2-1. This band combination is useful for highlighting vegetation. Vegetation is very reflective in the near infrared (Band 2), and absorbent in Band 1 and Band 7. Assigning that band to green means even the smallest hint of vegetation will appear bright green in the image. Naturally bare soil, like a desert, is reflective in all bands used in this image, but more so in the shortwave infrared (SWIR) (Band 7, red) and so soils will often have a pinkish tinge. This combination is also useful for distinguishing burn scars from naturally low vegetation or bare soil and enhancing floods.
The Okavango Delta is a large, swampy, inland delta, fed by the Okavango River and is comprised of grassy plains that floods seasonally.
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