April 29, 2022 - Flooding on the Red River

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Each spring, as warming temperatures spur rapid melt of winter’s
accumulated snow, people living along the Red River in Minnesota and
North Dakota keep a wary eye on water levels and prepare for the
all-too-common likelihood of flooding.

A typical spring thaw begins in the middle of March in the
southern-most portions of the Red River basin and continues through
mid- to late-April in the north. Although substantial flooding doesn’t
occur every year, notable and damaging floods occur every few years.
The flood of 1826, which devastated parts of Manitoba, Canada, is
considered the largest flood of the Red River Valley, but it’s hardly
the last extreme flooding event in the valley. Despite flood control
measures along the river, the flood of 1997 destroyed almost all of
Grand Forks, North Dakota and East Grand Forks, Minnesota, caused the
evacuation of about 50,000 people, and caused about $3.5 billion
dollars (U.S.) in damages along the Red River Valley in the United
States. By these historical standards, the current flooding of the Red
River is short of record-setting, at least so far. Nonetheless, the
combination of heavy and rapid snow melt, combined with heavy rain in
April 2022, has once again created a severe flooding in North Dakota
and Minnesota.

On April 27, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
(MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a false-color image
that shows the extent of flooding along the Red River. This type of
false-color image uses visible, near-infrared, and short-wave infrared
(MODIS bands 7,2,1) to help distinguish water from the surrounding
landscape. In this band combination, water appears dark inky-blue or
black, vegetation looks bright green, and open land shows as tan or
brown. In addition, snow and ice appears bright electric blue while
cloud typically shows as bright white. However, small ice crystals
carried in high-level clouds will give that type of cloud a light blue
tint. With this image, it is clear that the Red River, which is
normally described as a “slow moving and picturesque” river, with a
channel that varies from 100-500 feet (30-150 meters) in width, has
abundantly overflowed its banks to create substantial flooding all
along the border between North Dakota (west) and Minnesota (east).

Although the impressive flooding is easily viewed in this single
false-color image, to fully understand the extent of the flood this
year as compared to a normal April, it is necessary to compare two
views of the same region in two different years. In 2021, the spring
melt was relatively mild, resulting in little flooding. Thanks to the
NASA Worldview App, it is easy to view a roll-over comparison between
two Aqua MODIS, false-color images of the same region on April 17,
2021, and the image above. In addition to the difference in river
width, the 2022 image shows more snow and ice than 2021. To view the
comparison, simply click here.

The NASA Worldview app provides a satellite's perspective of the planet
as it looks today and as it has in the past through daily satellite
images. Worldview is part of NASA’s Earth Observing System Data and
Information System. EOSDIS makes the agency's large repository of data
accessible and freely available to the public.

Image Facts
Satellite: Aqua
Date Acquired: 4/27/2022
Resolutions: 1km (158.5 KB), 500m (407.2 KB), 250m (253.8
KB)
Bands Used: 7,2,1
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-04-29

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