Early Snow on Russia's Putorana Plateau

Credit: Image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Land Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC, Posted on: Tuesday, 30 September 2003, 06:00 CDT Download full size image

A fresh blanket of snow traces out the highlands on Russia’s Putorana Plateau, signaling the onset of autumn. This true-color image of the plateau, situated in Northwestern Siberia, was acquired on September 25, 2003, by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aboard NASA’s Aqua satellite. The bright white highlighting provides a striking contrast to the deep brown hues of the ancient volcanic plateau. A number of lakes —- including the Khantayskoye (left), the Ozera (center), and the Keta and Lama (moving northward from image center) —- appear dark blue in this scene. Parts of the Khantayskoye, and one of the smaller lakes to the north, has a much lighter blue-green appearance, which is probably due to sediments suspended near the surface from runoff flowing into the lakes.

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