Photo #: ISS017-E-19616 Date: Oct. 2008Geographic Region: TURKMENISTAN
Feature: AMUDARYA RIVER,HINDU KUSH MTS,DUST STORM
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Photo #: ISS017-E-19616 Date: Oct. 2008 Geographic Region: TURKMENISTAN Feature: AMUDARYA RIVER,HINDU KUSH MTS,DUST STORM |
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| Dust storm, Turkmenistan, Central Asia This west-looking astronaut photograph, taken with a short focal length lens from the International Space Station, spans a wide swath of central Asia--from Afghanistan, along the length of Turkmenistan, and beyond to the Caspian Sea. Winds blowing down the largest river valley in the region, the Amudarya, were strong enough to raise a large dust storm. Dust appears as a light brown mass extending into the center of the image from the lower right. Diffuse dust from prior windy weather appears over much of the area making a regional haze that hides landscape details. The haze partly obscures the irrigated agriculture in Turkmenistan and entirely obscures the Caspian Sea. Numerous rivers rise in the Hindu Kush range (lower left). The Band-i Amir River is a major tributary of the main regional river, the Amudarya, which it reaches via a deep canyon. The Amudarya River was the major historical contributor of water to the Aral Sea, but today extensive diversion of river water for agricultural purposes has led to desiccation of the sea bed. The exposed sea bed is a major source of saline dusts contaminated with agricultural chemicals, and it poses a significant environmental and human health hazard to central Asia. To a lesser extent, dusts are also mobilized from sediments along the Amudarya River channel. The Paropamisus Range and the Amudarya (also known as the Oxus River) are mentioned in histories of Alexander the Great's famous military expedition from Greece to India. His horsemen are described as having made a fast side excursion from near the Caspian Sea (image top right) as far as the Amudarya (image lower right). |
| Images: | All Available Images Low-Resolution 209k |
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| Mission: | ISS017 |
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| Roll - Frame: | E - 19616 |
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| Geographical Name: | TURKMENISTAN |
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| Features: | AMUDARYA RIVER,HINDU KUSH MTS,DUST STORM |
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| Center Lat x Lon: | 36.0N x 63.4E |
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| Film Exposure: | N=Normal exposure, U=Under exposed, O=Over exposed, F=out of Focus |
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| Percentage of Cloud Cover-CLDP: | 10 |
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| Camera:: | N2 |
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| Camera Tilt: | HO | LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical |
| Camera Focal Length: | 28 |
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| 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 |
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| Orbit Number: | 761 |
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| Date: | 20081016 | YYYYMMDD |
| Time: | 105953 | GMT HHMMSS |
| Nadir Lat: | 33.8N |
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
| Nadir Lon: | 72.5E |
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
| Sun Azimuth: | 245 | Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point |
| Space Craft Altitude: | 188 | nautical miles |
| Sun Elevation: | 18 | Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point |
| Land Views: | MOUNTAIN, RANGE, VALLEY |
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| Water Views: | CHANNEL, RIVER, SEA |
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| Atmosphere Views: | DUST, HAZE |
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| Man Made Views: | AGRICULTURE |
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| City Views: | |
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Photo is not associated with any sequences | ||
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