To get an even more detailed view of this region, we can actually go back to satellite imagery from 1967. This pre-Landsat imagery, while black-and-white, helps to extend the record of land change on the Earth. These images are declassified reconnaissance satellite images and show detailed and informative views of the Seno Plain.

Comparing WorldView-2 with Corona shows the pattern of change that we see in Landsat, only in more detail. In the grayscale Corona imagery, bright areas are cultivated cropland. Dark gray is grass with shrubs and trees. In the natural color WorldView-2 images in 2011, much of that fallow or grassy land has converted to agriculture, indicated by light tan.

The resolution of the Corona image is 6 feet. For Landsat, it’s 30 meters. So in Corona, even single trees can be distinguished.

The more up close images show a few villages in higher detail and demonstrate that they have expanded with the growing population. The darker gray at the bottom of the 1967 image gives way to tan in 2011, which is intensive cropland. Those cattle corridors are also clearly visible in this WorldView-2 image.