Photo #: ISS049-E-33726 Date: Oct. 2016 Geographic Region: EGYPT Feature: AGR., PIVOT IRRIGATION, POTATO FIELDS, GREEN HOUSES, SHARQ EL OWAINAT |
Image Caption: Crop Circles in Sharq El Owainat An astronaut aboard the International Space Station captured this photograph of circular farming patterns in Sharq El Owainat in southwest Egypt. The remote agricultural outpost in the Sahara Desert lies approximately 290 kilometers (180 miles) from the nearest city and 210 kilometers (130 miles) from the Toshka lakes. The Nubian Sandstone Aquifer System, buried beneath the sand, allows patches of agriculture to survive in the middle of the desert. The aquifer is the only source of water for Egyptians living away from the Nile River. More than 95 percent of Egypt is uninhabitable desert with an average annual precipitation of 0 millimeters. The crop circles are a result of center-pivot irrigation, an efficient method for water conservation in agriculture. Groundwater from the Nubian aquifer is drawn up from wells in the center of the circles, and it is sprayed or dripped out of long, rotating pipes that pivot around the center. Most of the crops pictured here are likely potatoes (darker green circles), wheat (lighter brown circles), or medicinal and aromatic plants such as chamomile. The light, tan-colored crop circles likely have undergone controlled burning to remove excess plant matter and essentially clean up the land for the next crop. Catering to the populace of the New Valley Governate, these crops are transported on a desert road that leads to Abu Simbel (about 200 miles to the east), Dakhla Oasis (200 miles north), and the Sharq El Owainat Airport. |
Images: | All Available Images Low-Resolution 403k |
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Mission: | ISS049 |
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Roll - Frame: | E - 33726 |
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Geographical Name: | EGYPT |
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Features: | AGR., PIVOT IRRIGATION, POTATO FIELDS, GREEN HOUSES, SHARQ EL OWAINAT |
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Center Lat x Lon: | 22.7N x 28.5E |
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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: | 0 |
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Camera:: | N6 |
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Camera Tilt: | 31 | LO=Low Oblique, HO=High Oblique, NV=Near Vertical |
Camera Focal Length: | 1600 |
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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 |
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Orbit Number: | |
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Date: | 20161006 | YYYYMMDD |
Time: | 131309 | GMT HHMMSS |
Nadir Lat: | 24.5N |
Latitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
Nadir Lon: | 29.7E |
Longitude of suborbital point of spacecraft |
Sun Azimuth: | 246 | Clockwise angle in degrees from north to the sun measured at the nadir point |
Space Craft Altitude: | 214 | nautical miles |
Sun Elevation: | 32 | Angle in degrees between the horizon and the sun, measured at the nadir point |
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Photo is not associated with any sequences |
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