Satellite before and after

2010 Pakistan floods: the Indus around Sukkur and Jacobabad

Monsoon rain in late July 2010 sent a flood surge down the length of the Indus, in what NASA called perhaps the worst flood in Pakistan's modern history.

Indus valley in upper Sindh and southern Punjab, around Sukkur and Jacobabad, Pakistan · Late July to September 2010 · Flood · Pakistan

Compare the imagery

Drag the divider, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Left of the divider is 18 Jul 2010, right is 24 Aug 2010, 37 days apart.

The interactive comparison needs JavaScript. Both images are shown below.

In this false-colour view water is dark blue to black, vegetation is bright green, bare ground is tan, freshly burned land is red-brown and cloud is cyan.

The two images

Satellite image of Indus valley in upper Sindh and southern Punjab, around Sukkur and Jacobabad, Pakistan on 18 Jul 2010, before the event, in false colour (MODIS bands 7-2-1).
Before: Aqua, 18 Jul 2010 · Open in NASA Worldview · original from GIBS
Satellite image of Indus valley in upper Sindh and southern Punjab, around Sukkur and Jacobabad, Pakistan on 24 Aug 2010, after the event, in false colour (MODIS bands 7-2-1).
After: Aqua, 24 Aug 2010 · Open in NASA Worldview · original from GIBS

What the images show

On 18 July the Indus is a narrow dark line through a strip of green farmland. By 24 August it has spread into a band of dark-blue water many kilometres wide, running down the valley and spilling far to the west of the river.

About the event

  • NASA Earth Observatory reported that floods covered at least 37,280 square kilometres of Pakistan at some time between 28 July and 16 September 2010.
  • It gave the toll as 1,985 deaths, more than 18 million people affected and 1.7 million houses damaged or destroyed.

Limits of this comparison

Both images are from the same satellite and layer, 37 days apart. Cloud covers the north-east corner on 24 August. The flood surge was still moving south towards the sea after this date.

Each image is one satellite pass at about 250 metres a pixel. It shows where water or burned land is visible from space on that day; it does not measure damage, and cloud or haze can hide what is underneath.

Dates were chosen by checking the imagery on both satellites for several days either side and keeping the clearest pass. Both use the same layer, MODIS Corrected Reflectance, bands 7-2-1.

Sources

We acknowledge the use of imagery provided by services from NASA's Global Imagery Browse Services (GIBS), part of NASA's Earth Science Data and Information System (ESDIS). Comparison slider: leaflet-side-by-side (MIT licence). Case last updated 13 Sep 2026.

Questions

What does the satellite image of Indus valley in upper Sindh and southern Punjab, around Sukkur and Jacobabad, Pakistan show?

On 18 July the Indus is a narrow dark line through a strip of green farmland. By 24 August it has spread into a band of dark-blue water many kilometres wide, running down the valley and spilling far to the west of the river.

When were the two satellite images taken?

The before-image was taken by Aqua, 18 Jul 2010 and the after-image by Aqua, 24 Aug 2010, 37 days apart.

What can this before-and-after comparison not show?

Both images are from the same satellite and layer, 37 days apart. Cloud covers the north-east corner on 24 August. The flood surge was still moving south towards the sea after this date. Each image is one satellite pass at about 250 metres a pixel. It shows where water or burned land is visible from space on that day; it does not measure damage, and cloud or haze can hide what is underneath.

Related