SPACEPHOTOS

Illinois/Mississippi Rivers, Illinois, USA June 1996 The largest cultivated field patterns on this color infrared image are visible on the narrow floodplains of the Illinois River (narrower, straighter river in the center of the view) and the Mississippi River (broader and slightly curving river west of the Illinois River). Most of the picture shows smaller, angular agricultural field patterns (in red, pink, and white) concentrated within red-mauve areas that represent the green, forested lands on infrared film. The land between these two south flowing rivers tapers into a peninsula, just north of where the Illinois River joins the Mississippi River (slightly northwest of St. Louis —not in this image). The peninsula is more heavily forested (concentration of reds indicate green woodlands) and less broken up by fields, perhaps because it is more remote from cities and transport routes. Mark Twain Wildlife Refuge is also in the area. The stream channels for several west flowing tributary streams that feed the Illinois River can be traced across the landscape to their entry point into the Illinois River