Plane window gazing

I flew to New York City two years ago to visit my brother, who was living there with his family at the time. It was a great trip. I checked out High Line park for the first time; I reconnected with a friend from my ultimate frisbee playing lifestyle; and I spent quality time with my brother and his family. 

Somewhere over the High Plains, Winter 2010.

This image was shot with of a plane window. Why did I shoot this? Fascination with temperature and elevation; and agriculture. And, obviously, fascination with drainage patterns. 

• Drainage patterns: there are valleys forming, slowly, on top of this mesa. That's cool to think of in itself. The topography here is enhanced by the rising sun.
• Agriculture: note the circles in the upper/left portion of the frame. Anyone who's flown over the western United States has hopefully observed these. These are created from enormous sprinklers that rotate around a central point and are depleting the Ogallala aquifer. Can anyone answer the question of what is done with the corners -- the spaces between the circles -- that don't get irrigated? I'm actually very curious. Someone has done the math that pivoting sprinklers maximize the use of land.
  The limiting factor in the productivity equation is clearly water; I'm assuming most of these unwatered corners are left unused, or planted with an aggressive plant that holds the soil and won't invade the crop areas, or is easily managed with an herbicide that's broadcast via the irrigation system.
• Temperature and elevation: snow can afford to remain only where temperatures remain cool enough. This mesa is right on that threshold, at the time this photo was taken. Maybe the snow fell the night before -- and this is the first daylight the snow has seen...
• And finally, slope effect has allowed some surfaces to remain warm enough to prohibit lasting snow. Since this is in the northern hemisphere, surfaces that face west or south are warmer -- they receive more sunlight throughout any given day of the year. (This photo is not very illustrative of this concept, so I'm putting myself to task to post about this in the future with a better shot).

These are just a few things to think about when gazing out the plane window next time you fly. You've paid for the view -- now take advantage of it!