Satellite before and after

Sudan 2020: the Nile in flood at Khartoum

A wetter-than-usual rainy season in 2020 raised the Nile to record levels, and the White and Blue Nile broke their banks in Khartoum and Omdurman.

Khartoum, where the Blue and White Nile meet, Sudan · Mid-July to September 2020 · Flood · Sudan

Compare the imagery

Drag the divider, or focus it and use the arrow keys. Left of the divider is 20 Jul 2020, right is 5 Sep 2020, 47 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 Khartoum, where the Blue and White Nile meet, Sudan on 20 Jul 2020, before the event, in false colour (MODIS bands 7-2-1).
Before: Terra, 20 Jul 2020 · Open in NASA Worldview · original from GIBS
Satellite image of Khartoum, where the Blue and White Nile meet, Sudan on 5 Sep 2020, after the event, in false colour (MODIS bands 7-2-1).
After: Terra, 5 Sep 2020 · Open in NASA Worldview · original from GIBS

What the images show

On 20 July the rivers are thin dark ribbons through dry, tan country. On 5 September the Nile and its branches at and around the Khartoum confluence are several times wider, dark-blue channels.

About the event

  • NASA Earth Observatory reported that the Nile crested at a record 17.4 metres, according to Sudan's Ministry of Irrigation and Water Resources.
  • Flooding claimed at least 100 lives and damaged or destroyed more than 110,000 homes from mid-July 2020, and the government declared a three-month state of emergency on 4 September.

Limits of this comparison

Both images are from the same satellite and layer. Much of the green in the later image is the rainy season greening the land, not floodwater. Haze covers the west of the 20 July image.

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 Khartoum, where the Blue and White Nile meet, Sudan show?

On 20 July the rivers are thin dark ribbons through dry, tan country. On 5 September the Nile and its branches at and around the Khartoum confluence are several times wider, dark-blue channels.

When were the two satellite images taken?

The before-image was taken by Terra, 20 Jul 2020 and the after-image by Terra, 5 Sep 2020, 47 days apart.

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

Both images are from the same satellite and layer. Much of the green in the later image is the rainy season greening the land, not floodwater. Haze covers the west of the 20 July image. 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.

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