OBSERVATION / 005

Branches at the edge of the world.

False-color Landsat view of the Lena River Delta, its branching violet channels threading green and gold islands.

USGS / EROS Data Center · Landsat Earth as Art

Location: Lena River Delta / Russia
Image acquired: July 27, 2000
Platform / instrument: Landsat 7 / ETM+
Image type: False-color satellite image

Field notes

The Lena River breaks into a web of channels across its Siberian delta. Seen from orbit, the waterways resemble branching veins, threading islands and pools at the northern end of one of the world’s great rivers.

The colors are a deliberate way of seeing beyond ordinary vision. This Landsat composite combines shortwave infrared, infrared, and red wavelengths; the violet water and vivid land are not natural colors. The delta also provides important refuge and breeding habitat for Siberian wildlife.

Read NASA’s full account ↗

This is dated source imagery. The homepage overlay is a graphic treatment, not a georeferenced measurement.