Severe Drought Grips Southern Russia

Volga region, a major wheat-growing area in Russia, plagued by persistent drought

Severe drought persisted in southern Russia in June and July 2010. “Low rainfall and hot temperatures damaged 32 percent of the country’s grain crops, said Russian Agriculture Minister, Yelena Skrynnik on July 23.” The above satellite vegetation index image, generated from data collected by MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite, shows the extent of crop damage in southern Russia (world’s 4th largest wheat exporter).    “The vegetation index is a reflection of photosynthesis. The index is high in areas where plants are dense, with plenty of photosynthesizing leaves. The index is low when plants are thin or not present. This image is a vegetation index anomaly image that compares photosynthesis between June 26 and July 11, 2010, to average conditions observed in late June and early July between 2000 and 2009. Below-average plant growth is shown in brown, while average growth is cream-colored. If there had been above-average growth in the region, it would have been represented in green.” Image and quotes from NASA E/O.  Acquired June 26, 2010 – July 11, 2010. Click image to enlarge. Download large image (6 MB, JPEG).

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