Forest buffers help protect grazing land and animals from the Japanese island's cold, windy winters.
From above, the Konsen Plateau in eastern Hokkaido offers a remarkable sight: a massive grid that spreads across the rural landscape like a checkerboard. As seen in this pair of natural-color images, the pattern is clear year-round—even under a blanket of snow. Both images were acquired by the Operational Land Imager (OLI) on Landsat 8.
The strips are forested windbreaks—180-meter (590-foot) wide rows of coniferous trees that help shelter grasslands and animals from Hokkaido’s sometimes harsh weather. In addition to blocking winds and blowing snow during frigid, foggy winters, they help prevent winds from scattering soil and manure during the warmer months in this major dairy farming region of Japan. The thinner, less regular strips are forested areas along streams.
Continue reading at NASA Earth Observatory
Image via NASA Earth Observatory
