The setting sun glints off the Amazon River and numerous lakes in its floodplain in this astronaut photograph from August 19, 2008. Large areas of sunglint are common in oblique views. Sunglint images reveal great detail in surface water—in this case the marked difference between the smooth outline of the Amazon and the jagged shoreline of the Uatumã River.
Published Sep 8, 2008
Astronauts use the Sun’s reflection point to reveal features that are otherwise difficult or impossible to see.
Published Dec 1, 2014
Heavy sediment loads play a role in making it one of the most sinuous rivers in the Amazon Basin.
Published Nov 13, 2019
Two rivers meet near the port city of Santarém in the interior of Brazil.
Published Nov 2, 2015
Most of the sediment that flows into the Atlantic Ocean from the mouth of the river comes from thousands of miles upstream.
Published Oct 2, 2020
The impact of severe drought on the Negro River, a tributary of the Amazon River, and other rivers in the basin is dramatically evident in this pair of images, which show that every body of water has shrunk in 2010 compared to 2008.
Published Dec 11, 2010
The largest river on the planet, the Amazon, forms from the confluence of the Solimões (the upper Amazon River) and the Negro at the Brazilian city of Manaus in central Amazonas. At the river confluence, the muddy, tan-colored waters of the Solimões meet the “black” water of the Negro River. The unique mixing zone where the waters meet extends downstream through the rainforest for hundreds of kilometers, and is a famous attraction for tourists from all over the world. The tourism contributes to substantial growth in the city of Manaus. Twenty years ago the large park near the city center (center) lay on the eastern outskirts of Manaus.
Published Feb 12, 2005
This model of the land elevation between the Mississippi, the Atchafalaya, and the Old River show the uphill fight to control river flow.
Published Jun 4, 2011
Lowland rivers that carry large volumes of sediment are on the move.
Published Dec 4, 2014
The wandering river is a boon to farming, but it has no interest in state borders.
Published Jul 19, 2020
Canada’s largest and longest river delivers vast amounts of fresh water and sediment to the sea.
Published Aug 6, 2017
Floods and new infrastructure have long since separated the distinctive bend in the river that was portrayed by landscape painter Thomas Cole in 1836.
Published Oct 15, 2017
As they prepare for a satellite that will measure the height and areal extent of rivers in unprecedented detail, hydrologists have released a better map of North American river widths.
Published Jul 9, 2015
