Subj : MODIS Pic of the Day 20 April 2022
To   : All
From : Dan Richter
Date : Wed Apr 20 2022 12:00:40

April 20, 2022 - Taklamakan Shrouded in Dust

    Follow @NASA_MODIS

   Taklimakan Desert
    Tweet
    Share

   Sitting in western China and cradled on three sides by tall mountain
   ranges, the Taklamakan Desert is one of the most barren and driest
   areas on Earth. Created by the rain shadow of the surrounding
   mountains, parts of the Taklamakan receive only 10 millimeters (0.4
   inches) of rainfall in an entire year. It is also the world’s second
   largest shifting sand desert, with about 85 percent of its area filled
   with towering sand dunes, measuring up to 200-300 meters (650 to 900
   feet) that move with the prevailing winds. Thanks to its location close
   to frigid Siberia, the Taklamakan Desert experiences some of the
   Earth’s record cold temperatures in winter. Even in summer, nighttime
   temperatures remain chilly. Thanks to the topography, strong winds
   frequently blow across the expansive desert. And these winds create
   massive sandstorms, especially in the spring and summer.

   On April 18, 2022, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer
   (MODIS) on board NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired a true-color image of
   the Taklamakan Desert veiled by a large dust storm. Snow tops the
   Kunlun Shan mountains to the south and the Tian Shan mountains to the
   north. Lake Issyk-Kul sits in the Tian Shan mountains of eastern
   Kyrgyzstan. The air over the mountains is dust-free, allowing a crisp,
   clear view of the landscape. In sharp contrast, dust covers the entire
   area over the Taklamakan Desert and, in the east, a band of dust
   completely obscures the land from view.

   Image Facts
   Satellite:  Aqua
   Date Acquired: 4/18/2022
   Resolutions:  1km (296.4 KB),  500m (852.3 KB),  250m (3.1 MB)
   Bands Used: 1,4,3
   Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC



https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2022-04-20
 
--- up 7 weeks, 2 days, 20 minutes
 * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)

.