August 27, 2022 - Sweltering Heat and Drought in Romania

Carpathian Mountains
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Farm fields and forested mountains fill the heartland of Romania, a
country situated on the Black Sea in Southeastern Europe. Nestled
between Ukraine, Moldova, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Hungary, Romania is
home to the horse-shoe-shaped arc of the Carpathian Mountains which
partially enclose the richly agricultural Transylvanian Depression. The
ridges that form southern arc of the Carpathians are more famously
known as the Transylvanian Alps—the home of Vlad “The Impaler”, who was
the historical basis of the Dracula myth.

August is typically the warmest month in Romania, and also the time
when many crops, including wheat, corn, and sunflower, ripen for
harvest. Like much of Europe, Romania has suffered several heat waves
in both July and August 2022. Temperatures spiked to 103˚F (39.4˚C) in
Bucharest on July 24 while the town of Sinai, a mountain resort sitting
about 2,800 feet above sea level, hit 101˚F (38.3˚C) on July 24. Still
sitting under a heat dome, Romania is currently experiencing another
heat wave, with temperatures expected to remain at or above 90˚F
(32.2˚F) across much of the country through the end of the month.

The high heat has brought severe drought to much of Romania, with
reports of low water levels in many lakes and rivers, including the
lake of Movila Miresei (Bride’s Mound), a saline, shallow lake in the
eastern part of the country, which became little more than a
salt-encrusted flat by August. The extended heat waves and prolonged
drought have hit many crops hard. On August 24, government reports
estimated that 420,380 hectares of crops had been damaged to date. The
Agriculture Ministry has estimated that wheat harvest will be 18
percent smaller this year than last, but that the total wheat harvest
should meet domestic needs and still permit some exports. The sunflower
and corn harvests are estimated to be reduced 3 percent and 27 percent
from last year, respectively.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board
NASA’s Terra satellite acquired a true-color image of the heart of
Romania sweltering in summer heat on August 26, 2022. While the
forested mountains remain dark green, with no visible sign of heat
stress, the Western Plain, Western Hills, and the Romanian Plain
(located in the south and east) all carry a heavy tint of tan, a sign
of dry vegetation and/or open land, all of which are common in drought.
Even the Transylvanian Plain, which remains predominantly green, shows
heat stress, with patches of tan visible scattered throughout.

Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 8/26/2022
Resolutions: 1km (460.1 KB), 500m (1.2 MB), 250m (861.7 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-08-27

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