Photograph Identification: P-44705Chernobyl, Ukraine
B&W, L-band
This is an image of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant and itssurroundings, centered at 51.17 north latitude and 30.15 west longitude. Theimage was acquired by the Spaceborne Imaging Radar-C/X-Band SyntheticAperture Radar (SIR-C/X-SAR) aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on its 16th orbit on October1, 1994. The area is located on the northern border of the Ukraine Republicand was produced by using the L-band (horizontally transmitted and received)polarization. The differences in the intensity are due to differences invegetation cover, with brighter areas being indicative of more vegetation. These data were acquired as part of a collaboration between NASA and theNational Space Agency of Ukraine in Remote Sensing and Earth Sciences. NASA included several sites provided by the Ukrainian space agency as targets ofopportunity during the second flight of SIR-C/X-SAR. The Ukrainian spaceagency also plans to conduct airborne surveys of these sites during themission. The Chernobyl nuclear power plant is located toward the top of theimage near the Pripyat River. The 12-kilometer (7.44-mile)-long cooling pondis easily distinguishable as an elongated dark shape in the center near the topof the image. The reactor complex is visible as the bright area to the extremeleft of the cooling pond, and the city of Chernobyl is the bright area justbelow the cooling pond next to the Pripyat River. The large dark area in thebottom right of the image is the Kiev Reservoir just north of Kiev. Alsovisible is the Dnieper River, which feeds into the Kiev Reservoir from the topof the image. The Soviet government evacuated 116,000 people within 30kilometers (18.6 miles) of the Chernobyl reactor after the explosion and fireon April 26, 1986.
![[CHERNOBYL]](CHERNOBY.GIF)