The Sakha Republic
Credit: Jeff Schmaltz; MODIS team; NASA, Posted on: Friday, 25 August 2006, 05:53 CDT Download full size image
The Sakha Republic, in Eastern Siberia, has much in common with Alaska: vast undeveloped and lightly populated lands- tundra in the north to Boreal Forest in south. Yakutsk, featured in this MODIS, Aqua image, acquired July 1, 2006, is the capital of the Sakha Republic and a major port on the Lena River.
The Lena River is the thick, dark wavy line running through the top left of the image – the runs east, than curves back west. Yakutsk is near the middle of the bend.
Yakutsk, the biggest city built on continuous permafrost, is one of the coldest cities on earth, with January temperatures regularly remaining below -40 °C (-40 °F). Despite this however, July temperatures can often exceed 30 °C (86 °F), making the region among the greatest in the world for seasonal temperature differentials.
Red dots represent active fires in the region – there is quite a large fire in the top left of the image. Smoke from it is very visible.
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