|
Perspective
Image of
the Virgin
Islands
St.
Thomas,
St. John,
Tortola
and Virgin
Gorda are
the four
main
islands
(front to
back) of
this
east-looking
view of
the U.S.
and
British
Virgin
Islands,
along the
northeast
perimeter
of the
Caribbean
Sea. For
this view,
a nearly
cloud-free
Landsat
image was
draped
over
elevation
data from
the
Shuttle
Radar
Topography
Mission (SRTM),
and
shading
derived
from the
SRTM data
was added
to enhance
the
topographic
expression.
Elevation
is shown
with 1.5x
scaled
vertical
exaggeration.
Coral
reefs
fringe the
islands in
many
locations
and appear
as very
light
shades of
blue.
Tropical
vegetation
appears
green, and
developed
areas
appear in
shades of
brown and
white.
As in much
of the
world,
topography
is the
primary
factor in
the
pattern of
land use
development
in the
Virgin
Islands.
Topography
across
most of
the
islands is
quite
rugged,
and
although
the steep
slopes
create a
scenic
setting,
they crowd
most
development
into the
small
areas of
low relief
terrain,
generally
along the
shoreline.
The
topographic
pattern
also
affects
water
supply,
wastewater
disposal,
landfill
locations,
road
construction,
and most
other
features
of the
development
infrastructure.
Additionally,
topography
defines
the
natural
drainage
pattern,
which is
the major
consideration
in
anticipating
tropical
storm
water
runoff
dangers,
as well as
the
dangers of
heightened
sediment
impacts
upon the
adjacent
coral
reefs. |
