<p>It's called center pivot irrigation. A long irrigation rig sprays water over a small part of a crop field to be irrigated. To cover the entire field, the irrigation rig rotates in a very large circle about a central pivot point. The result is circles such as those shown in the question. This technique is used worldwide for agriculture in semiarid areas where water is somewhat abundant but rain is not abundant (or is infrequent). Those circles are even more impressive in desert-like areas. What one sees is circles of green surrounded by brown.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-30T09:44:38.423Z
See [here](https://maps.app.goo.gl/ubZwSgYiKHqjajsy5) for a clearer example in the US, and [here](https://maps.app.goo.gl/b6YpFLge5SiBP3Hs6) for the desert example in Saudi Arabia.
thosphor
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-31T01:17:31.903Z
I thought too that it was center pivot irrigation, but if that's what they are, they are not irrigated any more. The rig is clearly not there any more in these fields, and the grooves in which the wheels of the rig run are not there any more either. Furthermore, most of the fields now have trees growing in them. I think they *used* to be center pivot irrigated, but that that practice has been abandoned there.
Wolfgang Bangerth
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-01-30T00:22:18.777Z
2024-01-30T01:17:11.743Z
2024-01-30T01:17:11.743Z
David Hammen
<p>I was searching for the baobabs in Madagascar and found these wide circles near Avenue of the Baobabs...What are these?<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/XHP2U.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/XHP2U.jpg" alt="enter image description here" /></a></p>
<p>Here's the coordonates 20°16'53&quot;S 44°28'49&quot;E, and here is a link: <a href="https://maps.app.goo.gl/PWqZ6BioBrV1sRbt7" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://maps.app.goo.gl/PWqZ6BioBrV1sRbt7</a></p>

<geography><satellite-oddities>
What are these very wide circles I saw on google map in Madagascar?
Rez
# What are these very wide circles I saw on google map in Madagascar?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-01-29)

I was searching for the baobabs in Madagascar and found these wide circles near Avenue of the Baobabs...What are these?[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/XHP2U.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/XHP2U.jpg)

Here's the coordonates 20°16'53"S 44°28'49"E, and here is a link: <https://maps.app.goo.gl/PWqZ6BioBrV1sRbt7>

**Tags:** geography, satellite-oddities


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-01-30. Score: 18 | Accepted answer

It's called center pivot irrigation. A long irrigation rig sprays water over a small part of a crop field to be irrigated. To cover the entire field, the irrigation rig rotates in a very large circle about a central pivot point. The result is circles such as those shown in the question. This technique is used worldwide for agriculture in semiarid areas where water is somewhat abundant but rain is not abundant (or is infrequent). Those circles are even more impressive in desert-like areas. What one sees is circles of green surrounded by brown.

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: See [here](https://maps.app.goo.gl/ubZwSgYiKHqjajsy5) for a clearer example in the US, and [here](https://maps.app.goo.gl/b6YpFLge5SiBP3Hs6) for the desert example in Saudi Arabia.  
> **username_3**: I thought too that it was center pivot irrigation, but if that's what they are, they are not irrigated any more. The rig is clearly not there any more in these fields, and the grooves in which the wheels of the rig run are not there any more either. Furthermore, most of the fields now have trees growing in them. I think they *used* to be center pivot irrigated, but that that practice has been abandoned there.  

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