May 9, 2003
Continent prepares for early summer
Along the north boarder of China, stock farmers are busy burning withered grass to make way for new sprouts.
Over the brown continent, a trail of faint white smoke, which can be seen between the white clouds in the north of the image from west to east, is drifting east, south, and north on the wind.
In the south, a carpet of tender green is already laid on the ground crossing the Yangtze (Chang Jiang) River and spreading along the north bank and the North China Plain (Huabei Pingyuan).
Turbid water from the mouth of the Yangtze River is spreading off shore driven by increased run off due to the thawing of the upper stream.
The sun is getting higher, and the continent is rapidly changing. The early summer has come.
This image is a bird's eye view of the East Asia region observed by GLI on April 30, 2003.
Earth Observation Research and application Center, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency
JAXA EORC
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