MSGID: 1:317/3 62e571d9   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   July 30, 2022 - South Africa   
      
      South Africa   
       Tweet   
       Share   
      
      On July 28, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer   
      (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of a   
      sunny mid-winter day on the southern tip of South Africa. Clear skies,   
      punctuated only by a few clusters of cloud over high mountain peaks,   
      allowed a detailed view of the diverse topography of the Western Cape   
      region, all set against the dark waters of the South Pacific Ocean   
      (west) and Indian Ocean (east).   
      
      The finger-like projection off the southwestern coast is the Cape   
      Peninsula, a mostly mountainous outcrop of sandstone. The peninsula   
      curves around False Bay, home to a wide variety of marine life   
      including four species of whale and five species of dolphin.   
      Gray-tinted pixels along part of the northern shore mark the city of   
      Cape Town, the second-largest city in South Africa. Cape Town spreads   
      across the Cape Peninsula, also stretching along Table Bay in the   
      north. The Cape of Good Hope sits at the tip of the Cape Peninsula, a   
      historical landmark for ships traveling off the western coast of Africa   
      as it is the location where those ships finally turned eastward.   
      
      Just inland from the coastline, swaths of green mark the Southern and   
      Southwestern Coastal Belts, ecoregions that contain a wide variety of   
      vegetation. This is where the remarkable and unique Cape Floristic   
      Region is found. The Cape Floristic Region has the distinction of being   
      among the most diverse on Earth, with more than 9,000 species of   
      vascular plants. About 69 percent of these are endemic, meaning they   
      are found nowhere else. A large number of plants found in the fynbos   
      and renosterveld ecoregions found in the Cape Floristic Region are very   
      rare and in danger of becoming extinct.   
      
      Moving inland, the landscape shoots upward and becomes arid. From the   
      coast, the land first rises into the individual mountain ranges of the   
      Cape Fold Belt, which are interrupted by wide valleys that run from   
      east to west. Moving inland, the Great Escarpment rises steeply   
      upwards. Black shadows at the edge of the Great Escarpment can be seen   
      in this image, giving a sense of the dramatic and sudden elevation   
      change. In the northern section of the Western Cape Province is the   
      area known as the Great Karoo, a semi-desert plateau that provides home   
      for many species, including springbok, gemsbok, Cape mountain zebra,   
      bat-eared fox, and ostrich.   
      
      Image Facts   
      Satellite:  Aqua   
      Date Acquired: 7/28/2022   
      Resolutions:  1km (192 KB),  500m (521.8 KB),  250m (360.5 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=2022-07-30   
       
   --- up 21 weeks, 5 days, 21 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 129/330 331 153/7715 229/110   
   SEEN-BY: 229/111 112 113 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 292/854 298/25   
   SEEN-BY: 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426