Lukuga River - All Finished! 1,000 Riverine Islands Later.

Lukuga River - Entire River Overview Landsat S-35-05_2000 (1:1,000,000)

I am done! To manually digitize a river is a challenge. Lots and lots of twists and turns make up the river's shoreline, as well as water-inundated areas. One frequently must decide where the river shore ends and the river begins. After one completes the river shore, then comes the islands. The Lukuga River has almost 1,000 island polygons. The majority of this polygons are very small, but the conscientious map maker digitizes every visible feature that might possible belong to a certain layer. Let's take a look at what I was able to accomplish.

Lukuga River - Entire River Overview EVS Precision Map with 100-Meter Contours (1:1,000,000)

At this scale the effort might not look very impressive. However, having digitized this east-west flowing African river and it's many islands, it is an impressive effort. I've added SRTM generated 100-meter contours. Lake Tanganyika makes up the eastern edge and the Lualaba River is the western edge. Now for a few close-ups.

Lualaba and Lukuga Confluence - Landsat S-35-05_2000 (1:50,000)

Lualaba and Lukuga Confluence - 3D View Landsat S-35-05_2000 (1:50,000)

Lualaba and Lukuga Confluence - EVS Precision Map (1:50,000)

This series of images show the confluence of these two rivers. The Lukuga has meandered over relatively flat westward sloping terrain for about 200 kilometers before joining the Lualaba. The large island at the western end of the Lukuga is a water inundated feature that was a challenge to digitize. Water and land quite often blend making digitizing difficult.

Lake Tanganyika and Lukuga Confluence - 3D View Landsat S-35-05_2000 (1:250,000)

Lake Tanganyika and Lukuga Confluence - EVS Precision Map with100-Meter Contours (1:250,000)

These images show the Lukuga flowing from Lake Tanganyika through the town of Kemba. The Landsat image shows agricultural lands throughout this area. The river then courses through a cleft between the hills to the west.

I'm going to go ahead and post this. I have one more series of images to include, but I'll add them when I return after a date with my wife. I hope you all find this effort interesting. I, myself, find it extremely satisfying. This river is mapped at EVS precision, manual digitizing from Landsat ETM+ 14.5-meter resolution base imagery.

Enjoy!

Congo River Journey - Into Africa's "Heart of Darkness"

When I was in 5th grade (10-years old), I told my folks that as soon as school finished, I planned to leave home and do a "Huckleberry Finn" along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. I would construct a raft and float along at a carefree pace. I yearned for that freedom, that independence. Needless to say, I didn't make the raft trip, but a long voyage into uncharted, unexplored waters still holds a fascination for me.

Lukuga River (280-km) - Landsat S-35-05 (1-1,500,000)

The Dark Heart of Africa, the Congo River basin is an expansive, sparsely traveled hydrological highway encompassing the center of Africa. To the west is the Atlantic coast and to the east is the Rift Valley lakes. What a place to explore!

The above image is centered on the Lukuga River, the only major outlet for Lake Tanganyika. It connects to the Lualaba River, which flows into the Congo River. 3067-kilometers later, one would arrive along the Atlantic coast of Africa. What a magnificent journey it would be! The trip of a lifetime.

Lukuga River - Landsat S-35-05 (1-25,000)

My mapping of the Lukuga River, is progressing. I have completed 60% of the river shorelines. The additional 40% of shoreline will be completed before the weekend. Then I will work on the many riverine islands that are found within the river.

Congo River Journey (3067 km) - Lukuga, Lualaba and Congo (1-7,700,000)

Picture yourself in a kayak plenty of supplies and with the assurance you will always have access to necessary supplies. Each day the beauty and magnificence of tropical Africa would be yours to explore.

Unfortunately, this part of Africa is in dramatic turmoil. It is the playground of thugs, killers and miguided fighters that believe a well-aimed bullet solves local, regional, national and multinational problems. Problems that the dead and dying will never solve. An intrepid river explorer would be well-advised to avoid exploring this stretch of river without local guides that have well-established connections with all warring factions. Even then, the trip would be extremely dangerous.

Now let's dream. Image exploring this river system without the fear of death from bullets or machetes. Where the only challenges facing you would be those presented by the rivers, not the people living along the rivers. Maybe a 10-year old kid could seriously dream of exploring these rivers that make up the heart of Africa.

Enjoy!