SPACEPHOTOS

Fresno Area, California, USA April 1998 The gridded street pattern of Fresno and Clovis (smaller community north, northeast of Fresno) is discernible near the north corner of the image. California Highway 41 (light colored line) is visible as it runs north and south through the center of Fresno. A section of the San Joaquin River (dark, meandering feature-bottom) is visible as it flows westerly through the central section of the San Joaquin Valley. Although the valley has a desert environment, an elaborate irrigation system enables the dry soils to produce fruits, vegetables, and cereal grains. Notice that the cultivated fields (mainly rectangular in shape) increase in size west and southwest of Fresno. The dark, linear feature that somewhat parallels the right edge of the picture is part of the Delta Mendota Canal that provides water for the intensively cultivated landscape. The two highly reflective offset lines in the south corner of the scene are runways at Lemoore Naval Air Station