(Click on image for larger view.)
Torrential rains caused flooding in parts of Saudi Arabia and Oman in mid- to late April 2012. News reports blamed the floods for damaged buildings, washed out roads, 18 deaths, and about 12 people missing. As of April 21, police and air force personnel were engaged in search-and-rescue operations.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite observed evidence of flooding along the borders between Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Oman in April 2012. MODIS captured the top image on April 18. For comparison, the bottom image shows the same region on April 9.
These images use a combination of visible and infrared light to better distinguish between water and land. Water appears in shades of blue-green, and bare ground appears in shades of pink-beige. Isolated clouds appear in pale blue-green and cast shadows.
The image from April 18 shows large areas of standing water extending from southeastern Saudi Arabia into western Oman. In addition, Umm as Samim (or Umm al Samim), a salt lake in Oman, apparently holds more moisture on April 18.
This region holds part of the Empty Quarter or Rub’ al Khali. In this vast sand sea, salt flats often separate towering dunes, and much of the flood water visible in the April 18 image appears to rest on those flat areas. Some of the salt flats hold roads used by locals, and the standing water left some of those roads impassable.
References:
Bahrain News Agency. (2012, April 18) 18 killed in Saudi Arabia floods over past week. Accessed April 24, 2012.
Rejimon, K. (2012, April 21) Rain wreaks havoc. Times of Oman. Accessed April 24, 2012.
NASA image courtesy MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Michon Scott with information from G. Robert Brakenridge, Flood Observatory, University of Colorado.
Instrument:
Terra - MODIS - NASA
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