Image of the Week - A World of Hops

In southern Germany, autumn is synonymous with beer.



Around six million people visit the Bavarian city of Munich each year for Oktoberfest, a celebration of suds that coincides with the hops harvest.



The world’s largest continuous hops-growing region by area is Hallertau, just north of Munich. More than 80 percent of Germany’s hops come from this 42,000-acre stretch of fertile loess soil.



The fields of Hallertau appear in green and brown between deep green patches of forest in this Landsat 8 image from August of 2017.



Hallertau might be the largest hops-growing region, but the largest producer is 5,200 miles away. The Yakima River Valley grows around 77 percent of the hops in the United States, which harvests more than any country in the world.



Fields of green fan out along the Yakima River in this Landsat 8 image from July of 2018. The river provides irrigation for the semiarid region, which is also known for it’s vineyards and apple orchards.



Each week, the Earth Resources Observation and Science (EROS) Center highlights a new satellite image(s) featuring striking changes to the Earth's surface. Our images come from locations around the world.