First cloud-free #Sentinel2 satellite images in a month dropped yesterday. Great to check out snow levels, reservoirs, and wet wet wet in the Butte Basin/Lower Sacramento River. First image compares Colusa area now vs 12/15/2022. #Geography#RemoteSensing#CaWx#CaStorm 1/x
Imagery paints a picture of soil types. Along the River, coarser soils settle quickly once floodwaters slow down. Blue areas have more clay, because super-fine soil particles can stay suspended longer, travel farther in slow-moving floodwaters. Orchards prefer coarse soils. 2/x
Plumes of sediment from the Pajaro and Salinas Rivers are still very visible in the Monterey Bay on 1/19/2023. Two visualizations of sediment in the lower Delta and San Pablo Bay. 3/x
This image shows rice fields in the Northern Sacramento Valley (blue areas). Similarly to the Butte Basin, rice lands in Yuba County (lower-left) are in the longterm floodplain of the Feather and Yuba Rivers while orchards predominate in coarse soils along the Feather River. 4/x
The 'tailwater' from rice on the west side of the Sac Valley (south of about Willows) eventually ends up in the main 'Westside Drain' which dumps back into the Sac River around Knights Landing. This foaming brew flows into the Delta and we pump it south for people to drink. 6/x
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
It's been two years since the #campfire burned here in Butte County. This thread is a narrative about the fire with satellite images I created of the fire at the peak of it's rampage, and aerial photos we flew. This image shows the long-range spotting which spread the fire. 1/x
The fire started in the Feather River Canyon, near Pulga, and raced up Flea Valley Creek. Once the fire reached the rim of the Canyon, it rained embers all over the Concow Basin. It raced thru heavy fuels in the Concow area, which still had tall dead brush from fires in 2008. 2/x
By the time the leapt across the West Branch Feather River, it was nearly 5 miles wide. Every bright yellow dot in this image is a burning structure. This view looks North. Fire spread from right to left. 3/x #WUI#planning#paradiseca