This near-vertical, color infrared photograph shows the high plains of the Texas panhandle and Lubbock, a trade center for the surrounding cotton and grain growing region. Barely discernible are runways of Lubbock International Airport to the north and Reese Air Force Base to the west. The high plains of Texas are extremely flat except for some undulations due to generally east-flowing streams. A unique feature of the region is the large number of surface ponds—water fills these nonvegetated, round, flat areas after rainstorms; the water then evaporates or sinks into the ground to recharge the underlying Ogallala Aquifer.