Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, CA

The Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, CA (or California Delta) has an area of about 3000 km2, and provides a large fraction of all the water used in California. The Delta drains about 50% of the water coming from the Sierra Nevada Mountains, and channels it through San Francisco's Golden Gate to the Pacific Ocean. Thousands of miles of levees now carefully control the Delta's flow, to maximize water use. The image combines a false color infrared composite (with vegetation depicted in red) with a colorized thermal infrared band to show the water temperature for the larger water bodies. Warmer temperatures are red and yellow, cooler water temperatures are blue and green. The image was acquired July 3, 2012, covers an area of 46.5 by 57.5 km, and is located at 38.1 degrees north, 121.3 degrees west. https://photojournal.jpl.nasa.gov/catalog/PIA24691