Return to Earth From Space Home
Earth from Space logo Image Information Earth from Space logo

Display a Screen Layout for Printing

IMAGE: gray corner       IMAGE: gray corner
  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS044-E-44347 Date: Aug. 2015
Geographic Region: LAOS
Feature: MEKONG R., FLOODED AGR., ROADS, VILLAGES

Ordering information for space photography
 
IMAGE: gray corner     IMAGE: gray corner

Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner
  View Low-Resolution Image  
  Flooding on the Mekong River floodplain, Thailand and Laos

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station (ISS) took this detailed image of the Mekong River on the border between Thailand and Laos. The image shows not only roads and buildings in great detail (in an area about 60 km northeast of Laos's capital city Vientiane), but also evidence of flooding. Southeast Asia's largest river winds as a red-brown channel of floodwater resulting from very heavy monsoon rainfall that affected populations from North Vietnam through Thailand and Myanmar to India, starting on 26 July. ISS crews have been specially tasked to document floods photographically---photos such as this represent the best of the kind imagery that NASA tries to gather to assist relief authorities on the ground.

The image shows flooded areas covering thousands of acres affecting farmland on the Mekong floodplain in zones far wider than Mekong River itself (650 meters, 2200 feet). The rectangular grid of fencelines sticks up above the level of the flood water in both images. Red-brown water on the farmland has been washed in from the hills and from the muddy water of the Mekong River. Clearer flood water (image lower center) is rainwater that has ponded in the immediate area, and has collected no sediment to redden it.

 
Image: gray corner     Image: gray corner

Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 333k
Mission: ISS044  
Roll - Frame: E - 44347
Geographical Name: LAOS  
Features: MEKONG R., FLOODED AGR., ROADS, VILLAGES  
Center Lat x Lon: 18.5N x 103.4E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N6
 
Camera Tilt: 39   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 1150  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: NE   The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:   Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:  
 
Date: 20150808   YYYYMMDD
Time: 091108   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 15.9N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 102.0E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 279   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 216   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 34   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views: CHANNEL, FLOODING, RIVER, SEDIMENT  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views: VIENTIANE  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


NASA
Home Page
JSC
Home Page
JSC Digital
Image Collection
Earth Science &
Remote Sensing

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