Louisiade Archipelago, Papua New Guinea

  • Credit

    Jacques Descloitres, MODIS Rapid Response Team,NASA/GSFC

Offthe southeast tip of Papua New Guinea lies a string of small volcanicislands and coral reefs collectively called the Louisiade Archipelago. This true-color MODIS image from September 11, 2002, is centered on theisland chain, with Papua New Guinea at the left edge. Moving westward fromeastern end of the chain are the islands of Rossel and Tagula. (MisimaIsland, which harbors the largest village in the region, is obscured by apatch of clouds northeast of image center.) To the north of the chain liesthe Solomon Sea, and to the south is the Coral Sea. Most of theundisturbed land is covered by tropical rainforest, and despite theirsmall size, the islands harbor a number of plant and animal species foundnowhere else.

Metadata

  • Sensor

    Terra/MODIS

  • Visualization Date

    2002-10-06