Earth from Space - Image Description

STS094-746-011 Rio Branco, Acre State, Brazil July 1997
The rural town of Rio Branco (concentrated light area left of center), located near the eastern end of Acre State, is visible on this image that shows both cleared lands (lighter green terrain) and the remaining rainforest (darker green). The runway of Presidente Medici Airport (light colored, linear feature) south of the town helps to identify the location of the small urban area. The deforested areas show a variety of clear-cutting patterns that include large angular fields (possibly plantations), paralleling cuts through the densely forested landscape, and randomly spaced, generally smaller fields.

This service is provided by the International Space Station program and the JSC Earth Science & Remote Sensing Unit, ARES Division, Exploration Integration Science Directorate.