August 16, 2021 - Sahara Desert in Libya
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Sahara Desert in Libya
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Two of Libya’s stunning orange-tinted sand seas were captured by the
Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on board NASA’s
Terra satellite on August 12, 2021. Libya, roughly 2.5 times the size
of the state of Texas, enjoys a comfortable climate along the
Mediterranean Sea. But the interior of the country-about 90 percent of
the landmass-is made up of the extremely dry Saharan Plateau, which is
heavily covered in rock, pebbles, and sand.
The sweeping curves of Awbari (also known as Erg Ubari) sits near the
center of the image. Erg Murzuq (sometimes called Murzuk) sits further
south. The dark coloration between them marks a rugged outcrop of
sandstone. While the textures and colors of this hyper-arid region are
easily appreciated at low resolution, viewing the scene at the 250m
shows numerous parallel ripples in the orange sand that mark a variety
of large, spectacular sand dunes. The western section of the Erg Murzuq
is especially famous for its sand dunes, some of which are ancient.
Image Facts
Satellite: Terra
Date Acquired: 8/12/2021
Resolutions: 1km (224.7 KB), 500m (601.2 KB), 250m (274.3
KB)
Bands Used: 1,4,3
Image Credit: MODIS Land Rapid Response Team, NASA GSFC
https://modis.gsfc.nasa.gov/gallery/individual.php?db_date=2021-08-16
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