| Liard River Valley, Yukon |
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Natural Resources Canada > Earth Sciences Sector > Priorities > Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Tour Canada from space Liard River Valley, Yukon
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 In this Landsat satellite image, many features are recognizable by colour, shape and texture. The blue river, the Liard, winds across the image, suggesting that there is very little change in elevation. Near the river are oxbow lakes and old meander scars. The green areas are forest, the variations often relating to tree species. Forest clear cuts show up as pink areas along the river. A forest fire burn scar (reddish pink patch at the top) is also visible. Roads and trails show up as white and pink lines while a small airport by the lake in the bottom right corner looks like a pink and purple "X". Borrow pits used for construction purposes show up very clearly in this type of terrain.
Question: Why is the river a different colour than the lakes?
[ Answer ]
About this Image
| Location: |
Liard River Valley, Yukon |
| NTS map(s): |
105A2, 105A3 (1:50,000) |
 Location Map: |
See a detailed map (1:1M) of the region |
| Image Date: |
June 3, 1985 |
| Satellites/Sensors: |
Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM), Bands 5,4,3 (as R,G,B) |
| Resolution: |
30 m pixels |
| Image Area: |
18km by 14km |
| Image Features: |
Meandering river, oxbow lakes, oxbow/meander scars, airport, forest fire scar, clear cut, gravel road, borrow pit, clear lake. |
| Related Tour Images: |
Whiteshell Provincial Park, Manitoba; Treppasey, Newfoundland |
| Related Glossary Terms: |
These terms from the CCRS Glossary may help you to understand this image and its interpretation:
additive colour, brightness, false colour, multispectral scanner, image texture, tone |
| Related Tutorial Sections: |
These sections of the "Fundamentals of Remote Sensing" tutorial by CCRS will help you to better understand this image and its interpretation:
1.5 1.7 4.2 4.5 5.3 5.7
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| Image Credits: |
Received by the Canada Centre for Remote Sensing
Processed by RADARSAT International Inc. |
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Additional
Information: | As in many areas of the Yukon, this region has a great deal of prime moose and caribou habitat. The Yukon Renewable Resource Department used this image to stratify the habitat and caribou foraging areas. |
| Question: |
Why is the river a different colour than the lakes? |
| Answer: |
- The moving water of a river carries more sediment than the still water of the lakes. The sediment content results in the brighter colour.
- The river carries more sediment in suspension, creating increased reflectance, especially in the lower wavelength bands. TM band 3, here represented as blue, has the best water penetration of the 3 bands used in this image.
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