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  Image: Geographic Location Direction Photo #: ISS061-E-145772 Date: Jan. 2020
Geographic Region: CHINA
Feature: YAMDROK LAKE, LAKE PUMA YUMCO, HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS, TIBETAN PLATEAU, ICE

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While passing over the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau in January 2020, an astronaut onboard the International Space Station (ISS) looked southwest and shot a photograph of glacial lakes near the Himalayan mountain range. Sitting just northeast of Mount Everest, Lake Puma Yumco and Yamdrok Lake were frozen at the time.

Glacial runoff fills these lakes, which are vital for life in the small villages along their shores. For people in one such village, Tuiwa, the winter ice cover on Puma Yumco creates a walkable surface for herding sheep across to areas where more forage is available.

Puma Yumco and Yamdrok are just two of the many glacial lakes across the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau, which spans 2.5 million square kilometers (approximately 965,000 square miles). With an average elevation of 4500 meters (14,800 feet) above sea level, the plateau is one of Earth’s highest geographic features and often called the “roof of the world.”


 
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Images: All Available Images Low-Resolution 555k
Mission: ISS061  
Roll - Frame: E - 145772
Geographical Name: CHINA  
Features: YAMDROK LAKE, LAKE PUMA YUMCO, HIMALAYA MOUNTAINS, TIBETAN PLATEAU, ICE  
Center Lat x Lon: 28.9N x 90.6E
Film Exposure:   N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus
Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: 10
 
Camera: N8
 
Camera Tilt: 49   LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical
Camera Focal Length: 210  
 
Nadir to Photo Center Direction: SW   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:  
 
Date: 20200126   YYYYMMDD
Time: 093727   GMT HHMMSS
Nadir Lat: 31.4N  
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Nadir Lon: 94.1E  
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft
Sun Azimuth: 235   Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point
Space Craft Altitude: 226   nautical miles
Sun Elevation: 17   Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point
Land Views:  
Water Views:  
Atmosphere Views:  
Man Made Views:  
City Views:  
Photo is not associated with any sequences


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