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Where on Earth...?
MISR Mystery Image Quiz #11

 Image representing the MISR project.
Where is this coast line?
Other formats available at JPL.

Here's another chance to play geographical detective! These images from the Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) were captured by the instrument's nadir camera on November 19, 2001, and show a natural-color (left) and false-color (right) view of a 157 kilometer x 210 kilometer area. The natural-color image is composed of data from the camera's red, green, and blue bands. In the false-color view, the green channel has been replaced with data from the camera's near-infrared band. This emphasizes the appearance of vegetation. North is toward the top.

Use any reference materials you like to answer the following 5 questions:

  1. In the upper left-hand corner, the ocean waters exhibit a murky appearance due to a large amount of sediment being discharged from a river mouth. For whom is the river named and what office did this person hold?

  2. In the upper left-hand quadrant of these images, a small, bright reddish-orange feature is apparent near the coast in both the natural and false-color views. The cause of this reddish-orange feature is:

    1. The recurrence of a bloom of red algae.
    2. An abundance of naturally-occurring iron deposits.
    3. A modern art installation financed by a private consortium.
    4. Waste from a mineral manufacturing and refining process.

  3. A distinctively-shaped, dark-colored reservoir with a sinewy river at one end is located to the south of the aforementioned reddish-orange feature. This reservoir is the main water supply for a nearby industrial and urban region. When these images were acquired, the water level within this reservoir was at about 45% of total capacity. Over the next six months, did the water level in the reservoir rise or fall?

  4. A small seaside town within the image area (situated just over halfway down this length of coastline) was named to commemorate the year when a group of global explorers first set foot in this locality. What is the name of the town?

  5. In the lower right-hand quadrant of these images, a large winding river flows through an agricultural region. Endemic only to the upper reaches of this and a few other nearby rivers is an endangered fish with a peculiar anatomical characteristic. Name the fish.

Mystery Solved!

Image credit: NASA/GSFC/LaRC/JPL, MISR Team.
Text acknowledgment: Clare Averill, David J. Diner, Graham Bothwell (Jet Propulsion Laboratory).

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