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May 16, 2026 - St. Louis, Missouri
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The land that would become the modern city of St. Louis was initially part of the land of the Illini Confederacy, a group of up to thirteen Native American tribes that ranged across the upper Mississippi River valley. In the 17th century, the local population was in the tens of thousands, with a major settlement on the Illinois River north of St. Louis.
By the 1760s, a fur-trading outpost sprung up at the bend of the Mississippi, where St. Louis now lies and the site was known as “The Gateway to the West”. The city became a major port and trading center and, starting in the 1800s, expansion of infrastructure and growth of transportation led to intensive suburbanization of the city. The famous Lewis and Clark Expedition, designed to explore the American West, set off from St. Louis in 1804.
Today, St. Louis sprawls along the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, covering about 62 square miles (160.6 sq km) and provides a home for more than 279,000 people, according to U.S. government census data.
The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image centered on St. Louis, Missouri, on May 14, 2026.
In this image, gray pixels that make a spider-web pattern mark the manmade structures of the city. These can be seen reaching from the Mississippi River (center) to the Missouri River, which joins the Mississippi on the left. The city’s structures are also evident on both sides of the Mississippi. The Illinois River, which flows due southward in this section, joins the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis.
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The startling silvery gleam of the rivers is not the actual color of the water but is created by an optical phenomenon known as “sun glint”. It is the glare caused when sunlight reflects off of water and directly back to the satellite sensor. In an area of sunglint, water takes on a mirror-like silver sheen.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 5/14/2026
Resolutions:
1km (106.6 KB), 500m (284.3 KB), 250m (350.3 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
The land that would become the modern city of St. Louis was initially part of the land of the Illini Confederacy, a group of up to thirteen Native American tribes that ranged across the upper Mississippi River valley. In the 17th century, the local population was in the tens of thousands, with a major settlement on the Illinois River north of St. Louis.
By the 1760s, a fur-trading outpost sprung up at the bend of the Mississippi, where St. Louis now lies and the site was known as “The Gateway to the West”. The city became a major port and trading center and, starting in the 1800s, expansion of infrastructure and growth of transportation led to intensive suburbanization of the city. The famous Lewis and Clark Expedition, designed to explore the American West, set off from St. Louis in 1804.
Today, St. Louis sprawls along the confluence of the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers, covering about 62 square miles (160.6 sq km) and provides a home for more than 279,000 people, according to U.S. government census data. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this true-color image centered on St. Louis, Missouri, on May 14, 2026.
In this image, gray pixels that make a spider-web pattern mark the manmade structures of the city. These can be seen reaching from the Mississippi River (center) to the Missouri River, which joins the Mississippi on the left. The city’s structures are also evident on both sides of the Mississippi. The Illinois River, which flows due southward in this section, joins the Mississippi River just north of St. Louis.
s The startling silvery gleam of the rivers is not the actual color of the water but is created by an optical phenomenon known as “sun glint”. It is the glare caused when sunlight reflects off of water and directly back to the satellite sensor. In an area of sunglint, water takes on a mirror-like silver sheen.
Image Facts
Satellite:
Aqua
Date Acquired: 5/14/2026
Resolutions:
1km (106.6 KB), 500m (284.3 KB), 250m (350.3 KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit:
MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
