Rice Fields in California

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Text, Earth Watch, Exploring the Blue Planet by Satellite

 

An aerial view of rice fields in California on December 26, 2018

 

Text, the meandering Sacramento River once wound through marshy wetlands in the Sacramento River Valley, becoming a vast temporary lake during major winter and spring floods.

 

Over the past century, however, urban and agricultural development have changed water flow patterns and resulted in the loss of most of the wetlands.

 

In spite of the changes, one crop, rice, helps preserve some of the valley's watery history.

 

Growing rice requires flooding fields for several months in the summer.

 

Many rice growers also flood their fields in the winter to make them easier to till in the spring.

 

In this false-color Landsat image captured in December 2018, inundated fields appear dark blue and vegetation is bright green.

 

Raised levees form the grid pattern between the fields.

 

Rice fields are important not just to the regional economy.

 

They also provide food and a resting place for nearly 230 wildlife species, including the millions of ducks and geese that migrate through the region each year.

 

Researchers have found that early spring, which is peak migration season, is a particularly difficult period for migrating birds.

 

Fields that remain flooded during this key part of the year are able to support more birds than neighboring fields.

 

To learn more, go to: earth observatory dot nasa dot gov