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			Photo #: ISS010-E-5266 Date: Oct. 2004 Geographic Region: LIBYA Feature: AL KHUFRAH OASIS, AGR., ROADS



	Green circles in the desert frequently indicate tracts of agriculture supported by center-pivot irrigation. The Al Khufrah Oasis in southeastern Libya (near the Egyptian border) is one of Libya's largest agricultural projects, and is an easy-to-recognize landmark for orbiting astronauts aboard the International Space Station. Because only about 2 percent of Libya's land receives enough rainfall to be cultivated, this project uses fossil water from a large underground aquifer. The Libyan government also has a plan called the Great Man Made River to pump and transport these groundwater reserves to the coast to support Libya's growing population and industrial development. The center-pivot irrigation system pumps water under pressure into a gantry or tubular arm from a central source. Anchored by a central pivot, the gantry slowly rotates over the area to be irrigated, thereby producing the circular patterns. Although the field diameters vary, these fields are approximately 0.6 mile (1 kilometer) in diameter. Darker colors indicate fields where such crops as wheat and alfalfa are grown. Lighter colors can indicate a variety of agricultural processes: fields that have been harvested recently; fields that are lying fallow; fields that have just been planted; or fields that have been taken out of production.

Images:	All Available Images Low-Resolution 455k
Mission:	ISS010
Roll - Frame:	E - 5266
Geographical Name:	LIBYA
Features:	AL KHUFRAH OASIS, AGR., ROADS
Center Lat x Lon:	24.0N x 23.5E
Film Exposure:		N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP:	10
Camera:	E4
Camera Tilt:	19	LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length:	180
Nadir to Photo Center Direction:	W	The direction from the nadir to the center point, N=North, S=South, E=East, W=West
Stereo?:		Y=Yes there is an adjacent picture of the same area, N=No there isn't
Orbit Number:	1922
Date:	20041028	YYYYMMDD
Time:	065827	GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat:	23.9N	Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon:	24.6E	Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth:	124	Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude:	195	nautical miles
Sun Elevation:	31	Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:	COAST, DESERT
Water Views:
Atmosphere Views:
Man Made Views:	AGRICULTURE, PIVOT IRRIGATION
City Views:

Photo is not associated with any sequences

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