Exercise 3 - Annapurna I Region
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|  | Landsat TM image of the Annapurna I region | |
With its altitude of 8,091 m, Annapurna I is one of the highest mountains on Earth. It was the first mountain of over 8 000 m ever to be climbed.
On 3 June 1950, a French team made up of Louis Lachenal and Maurice Herzog reached its summit. According to mountaineers, Annapurna I is the hardest mountain above 8 000 m to climb.
The name Annapurna originates from the Indian Hindu Goddess Anna Purna, which means 'Goddess of Plenty'. She is the goddess of the harvest and the mother of plenty.
The 30 m Landsat TM and MSS images (with the number 2 in the name) show the peak of Annapurna I and the sloping glaciers, as well as four other mountain tops: Annapurna South (7,219 m), Gangapurna (7,454 m), Machhapuchhre (6,993 m) and Khangsar Kang (7,485 m).
Can you imagine 5 mountains, almost all over 7,000 m in height, in such a small area? How much higher is this than your home region?
What is the area actually covered by this Landsat TM image, acquired on 15 December 2000? Let us calculate it.
All necessary information can be obtained using LEOWorks.
Open the image anapurna_landsat_2000_2_band_321.tif in LEOWorks and choose Image Information. A pop-up menu opens showing the dimension of the image in Width and Height, as well as the Pixel Size for the pixels. This information is sufficient to calculate the extension of the image in a north-south and east-west direction and, by multiplication, the area covered by the Landsat TM image.
What is the area covered by this Landsat TM image?
| | | West Annapurna Glacier in 2000 |
The numerous glaciers in the region stand out because of their bright colour - the largest one is the West Annapurna Glacier right in the centre of the image.
How do the glaciers look in different seasons and decades? Are there any differences visible in the satellite images of 1972, 1979 and 2000?
Open the the three following images in LEOWorks:
anapurna_landsat_2000_Top_band_321.tif,
anapurna_landsat_1979_Top_band_231.tif, and
anapurna_landsat_1972_Top_band_231.tif
Compare the images in terms of their colour, form and extension of the glaciers and the adjacent areas, such as the snow and vegetation cover.
Identify possible reasons for the differences.
Another very prominent feature in the image from the year 2000 is the shadow of Annapurna I. The direction of the shadow depends on the local solar time at which the data was acquired within the given time zone.
At what time of the day are shadows pointing towards the West, and at what time do they point towards the East?
Find out the local time at which the Landsat TM image was acquired on 15 December 2000.
We will now look at two further points of interest in this high alpine region:
- distribution of ice and snow, and
- distribution of vegetation.
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